{% include "opengraph_partial.html" with url="/sustainer/" title="Support Conservancy!" description="Software freedom is critical to many of today’s most pressing social issues, but it’s only effective when FOSS is for everyone. Support Conservancy today to help make that happen!" %}
<p>We are so proud that we're funded by individuals and stay unbeholden to corporate interests and pressures. We stand up for developers, consumers and those who have been historically excluded. We work to make technology truly fair for all. </p>
<li>Standing up for consumer rights in <ahref="/copyleft-compliance/">copyleft compliance</a></li>
<li>Supporting <ahref="https://outreachy.org">Outreachy</a> with its increasing number of interns</li>
<li>Bringing <ahref="/vizio">legal action against prolific license violators</a></li>
<li>Hiring team members to get projects <ahref="https://reproducible-builds.org/news/">like Reproducible Builds</a> to continue pushing the forefront of software reproducibility</li>
don't permit us to disclose at the moment) and launched a <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/02/conservancy-launches-copyright-assignment-system/">self-service
copyright assignment form</a> so that FOSS contributors can, without overly
burdensome paperwork, entrust their copyrights to a nonprofit dedicated to
software freedom and rights of users all over the world.</p>
<p>As software based technology becomes more pervasive in our lives, it's vital
that we communicate the importance of software freedom to the wider population.
In that vein <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/12/introduction/">we've created a video</a>
(narrated by our Executive Director Karen Sandler) that introduces
the ideas of software freedom, and specifically what Software Freedom
Conservancy does. We also did a lot of public writings about some of the
important issues this year. From <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/mar/30/neo4j-v-purethink-open-source-affero-gpl/">interesting legal developments</a>
to <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/01/biden-foss-security-sbom-copyleft-right-to-repair/">political outreach</a>
as well as <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/jul/18/foss-for-sale-in-ms-app-store/">leading a conversation</a>
standing up for developers and distributors of free software.</p>
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<divclass="picture-small right">
<ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/videos/sfc-introduction_1080p.mp4"><imgsrc="https://sfconservancy.org/videos/sfc-introduction-video_poster.jpg"alt="Thumbnail of video showing a tree and Software Freedom"/></a>
</div>
<p>As software based technology becomes more pervasive in our lives, it's vital
that we communicate the importance of software freedom to the wider population.
In that vein <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/12/introduction/">we've created a video</a>
(narrated by our Executive Director Karen Sandler) that introduces
the ideas of software freedom, and specifically what Software Freedom
Conservancy does. We also did a lot of public writings about some of the
important issues this year. From <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/mar/30/neo4j-v-purethink-open-source-affero-gpl/">interesting legal developments</a>
to <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/01/biden-foss-security-sbom-copyleft-right-to-repair/">political outreach</a>
as well as <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/jul/18/foss-for-sale-in-ms-app-store/">leading a conversation</a>
standing up for developers and distributors of free software.</p></div>
<p>We also started a campaign to <b><ahref="https://giveupgithub.org">Give Up
GitHub</a></b>. With more and more corporate interest and investment into FOSS,
we see a trend of community resources being bought up and controlled by
singular corporate entities. Having lived through multiple acquisitions and
extinctions of gratis code forges before, GitHub is just the most recent holder
of the title. Contrary to it's namesake project, <ahref="https://git-scm.com/">git</a>
GitHub remains a proprietary, centralized
and hierarchical method of working on software. Stripping the underlying power
and versatility that has allowed it to become the canonical tool for
distributed software development. A single corporation controlling this piece
of critical infrastructure is clearly a harmful idea, a corporation will always
serve it's shareholders and not the community that it depends on growing and
keeping within it's walled garden. Please check out our <ahref="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/jun/30/give-up-github-launch/">blog post</a>
about the issue to find alternatives and other ways you can help this
<p>Our staff has been presenting and speaking about software freedom all year.
Our Executive Director Karen Sandler gave a remote keynote address at the 2022
Public Domain & Open Source SW License Conference in Seoul, Korea. We also
<ahref="https://av.sfconservancy.org/vizio-update-from-karen.mp4">published a talk</a>
Karen gave to update folks on the Vizio law suit. Karen was also at
All Things Open for the <ahref="https://2022.allthingsopen.org/sessions/open-source-law-policy-and-practice-book-panel/">Open Source Law Policy and Practice Book Panel</a>.
She was joined other experts who
contributed to <ahref="https://academic.oup.com/book/44727">the book</a> and
they had a conversation about current state and best practice for legal policy
around free and open source software in addition to conducting a book signing
(You can check out another book that Karen contributed a chapter to along with
Marie Moe, <ahref="https://www.amazon.com/Modified-Living-Chris-Hables-Gray/dp/0815364016">"Modified: Living as a Cyborg"</a>,
which became more widely available this year.)</p>
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<imgsrc="/img/scalex19-booth.jpg"alt="Booth with banners and merch at SCaLEx19"/>
<p>Pono took a photo of the SFC booth at SCaLEx19</p>
</div></div>
<p>Pono gave a <ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrJX1XYICmc">keynote at
Git Merge</a> this October. Speaking on how the Git project is a canonical
model for free software development and the ways it teaches by leading the way.
He also boothed at <ahref="https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/19x">SCaLE
19x</a>, which was great to have the community centered conference back in
action.</p>
<p>Sage spoke at the September 2022 Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative EOSS, sharing
advice on how Outreachy has improved its own inclusive processes, and the group
discussed potential solutions for unresolved DEI issues in open science
communities. Karen and Bradley co-organized the FOSDEM Legal & Policy DevRoom,
which was held remotely. In addition to helping to organize the room, they also
participated in a panel with the other organizers about the most critical
topics facing FOSS today. SFC staffers also participate in key meetings to
represent community interests in a variety of FOSS related discussions
concerning security, governmental use of FOSS and in critical infrastructure
discussions and also presented in classroom to educate students about software
<imgsrc="/img/scaled-LLW-2015-Conservancy-Supporters-by-Carlo-Piana-CC-0.jpg"alt="Zack, Karen, John and Jim pose, mostly wearing the vintage t-shirt!"/>
<p>Vintage-shirt-wearing Sustainers pose with Karen! <br/>From left: Stefano “Zack” Zacchiroli, Karen M. Sandler, John Sullivan, and Jim Wright</p>