[vox-announce] July 20th - Linux User Group of Davis - Electronic Frontier Foundation!

[nbs]

[-- I encourage everyone who can, to come to this talk! --]


The Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD), will be holding a meeting on:

  Monday
  July 21st, 2003
  6:30pm - 9:00pm
  (Doors open at 6:00pm; please try to arrive on-time!)


The meeting will be held at our normal location:

  Davis Library
  Blanchard Room
  315 East 14th Street
  Davis, CA 95616


The topic will be:

  "The Empire Strikes Back: Constraining Free Software Development"

  presented by: Seth Schoen, Electronic Frontier Foundation
                http://www.eff.org/

  The astonishing success of free software systems in changing the face of the
  computer world -- in under twenty years -- has led many free and open source
  software advocates to see our movement as an unstoppable force.
  Created around the same time as the Macintosh, the GNU system has been said
  to have a comparable market share, even though it was largely created by
  volunteers.  Apache has not just a plurality but even a majority of the
  web server market, and Linux adoption continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

  These successes in market share, corresponding successes in mind share, and
  a robust, growing, and increasingly sophisticated developer community can
  make the free software world look like a force of nature.  Some unwary
  advocates now see the triumph of free software as a foregone conclusion,
  or an inevitability.

  "Historical inevitability" is no more reasonable in engineering than it has
  been in other contexts.  Free software has been viewed from the outside as
  an anomaly (or, sometimes, as a threat).  It is increasingly the focal point
  of political struggles, and it is too early to say what the outcome of those
  struggles will be.  Seth will review the story of the DVD Wars, the broader
  debates over copyright policy, current regulatory initiatives.  He will also
  discuss new technologies such as software-defined radio and trusted
  computing, and emphasize that free software's future is far from assured.

  Seth Schoen is one of the lead developers of the LNX-BBC rescue system
  (formerly the Linuxcare Bootable Business Card).  He worked as a
  Senior Linux Consultant at Linuxcare for two years; he has also been an
  intern at Toronto Dominion Bank and at the Lawrence Berkeley National
  Laboratory.  His long-time interest in civil liberties led him to his
  current position as Staff Technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
  a non-profit organization based in San Francisco.  He has been active in the
  Bay Area free software community since he moved to the Bay Area in 1997 from
  Massachusetts.

  The Electronic Frontier Foundation is comprised of passionate people --
  lawyers, volunteers, and visionaries -- working in the trenches, battling
  to protect your rights and the rights of web surfers everywhere.
  The dedicated people of EFF challenge legislation that threatens to put a
  price on what is invaluable; to control what must remain boundless. 


Book Raffle!

  LUGOD will also be raffling off a number of books at this event,
  so be sure to arrive on time to get your raffle ticket!
 

For details on this meeting, visit:

  http://www.lugod.org/meeting/


For maps, directions, public transportation schedules, etc., visit:

  http://www.lugod.org/meeting/library/


LUGOD is a non-profit organization dedicated to the Linux Operating System,
and which holds meetings twice a month in Davis, CA.
Meetings are always free, and open to the public.


Please visit our website for details:

  http://www.lugod.org/



-bill!
pr@lugod.org
http://www.lugod.org/


(Your address: vox-announce@lists.lugod.org )