Free Software Australia

 
A network of Australians working together to advance free software and free culture for social justice.

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About Free Software

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." - Frank Herbert (Dune)

Our society has become completely dependent on the use of computers and software for many activities. From buying groceries, playing music, conducting business and keeping in contact with friends and family.

For a society to enjoy freedoms of associate, expression and privacy, people need to have control over the technology they use in their homes, schools, businesses and government. For society to control technology, it needs to use software that respects the users' freedom. This means that the user can run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price1.

Free software ensures equal rights of the programs to their users.

1 https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

We are not focused on the technology but the ethics and morals of how software is used.

We are a passionate free software group dedicted to supporting the community. While there are plenty of computing meet-ups and user groups in Australia (which we also attend), most are about the technology rather than the social issues like freedom and privacy. We feel there is a clear niche for people wanting less technical and more ethics flavoured meet-ups.

We hold physical meet-ups to work and socialise with other free software activists. We share the values of the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project  - a worldwide network of free software groups. We also work alongside other local and national GNU/Linux groups to spread the word about software freedom.

We are always looking for new members to help spread knowledge of free software. Helping others to use it in their lives. Please join us at our phsical meetings or contact us via this sites Contact us form.

Hardware and Software Recommendation

Issues exsist in the following areas.

Privacy - Digital Rights Management - Environment - Restictive hardware - Cloud computing & Streaming Services -  Free Speech - IoT (Internet of things) - Education - Government - Java Script Issues - Browser Add-ons

What is free software?

Free-software that respects and protects users freedoms provides the following “four freedoms”

1. Freedom to run the program as you wish.

2. Freedom to study how the program works.

3. Freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour.

4. Freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

These four freedoms help a society to be free to share, collaborate and help others. Otherwise, the technology society uses can be used to infringe on peoples privacy, liberty and freedoms.

The FSA values the freedoms of all software users to run, copy, distribute and change software that enables society to improve, evolve and achieve great things.

For more information, read What is free software, by the Free Software Foundation.

Disclaimer - Free Software Australia is not linked to the Free Software Foundation in any fashion. While we share the same ideals and goals, all works presented here represent Free Software Australia only. If we reference the Free Software Foundation, a link will be provided to their works.

 

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