LibrePlanet (literally, "Free Planet") is a community project created and supported by the Free Software Foundation. Its objective is the promotion of free software around the world by bringing every year an international conference to local communities[1] and organizations.[2]

LibrePlanet
FrequencyAnnually, usually during late March
Location(s)Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Inaugurated2009
FounderFree Software Foundation
Most recent4-5 May 2024
Previous event18-19 March 2023
Next event2025
Organised byFree Software Foundation
PeopleRichard M. Stallman
SponsorsAudeo, OpenInventionNetwork, Whole Foods Market Charles River Plaza Boston MA, Google, openSUSE, redhat, EFF
Websitelibreplanet.org

History

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The project was born in 2006,[3] at a gathering of members associated with the Free Software Foundation and the will to organize into geographical groups. The wiki serves as the primary portal for people who want to become involved in free software activism in local, grassroots modes of cooperation.

LibrePlanet conference

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The conference is organized annually by the Free Software Foundation in or around Boston, Massachusetts and staffed by a mixture of foundation staff and community volunteers. The conference replaces and incorporates the FSF annual members meeting which ran around the same time each year.

Each conference has its own theme and a website. The event typically includes a speech from FSF president, Richard Stallman and FSF executive director John Sullivan, the Free Software awards well as members of the wider free software community and the free software awards ceremony[4]

Notable events

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  • LibrePlanet 2020 13-15 March: In-person components were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Instead a virtual conference and livestream was held.[8]
  • Richard Stallman announced he would be rejoining the FSF board of directors at the 2021 conference.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ LibrePlanet teams. Teams are groups in various cities and towns across the world that host local meetups and conferences and other events.
  2. ^ "LibrePlanet: Conference/2011". LibrePlanet. Archived from the original on Sep 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "2006 Member Meeting". LibrePlanet. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  4. ^ "libreplanet's media". GNU MediaGoblin - LibrePlanet. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  5. ^ Edward Snowden; Daniel Kahn Gillmor (Mar 23, 2016). "Libreplanet 2016: The Last Lighthouse: Free Software In Dark Times" (video, WebM). GNU MediaGoblin - LibrePlanet. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  6. ^ Gold, Jon (19 March 2016). "Edward Snowden: Privacy can't depend on corporations standing up to the government". Network World. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  7. ^ Popa, Bogdan (22 March 2016). "Snowden Used Free Software Because He Was Afraid of Backdoors in Microsoft Apps". SoftPedia News. Retrieved 2 June 2016. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden attended the Free Software Foundation LibrePlanet 2016 conference remotely from Russia to discuss the advantages of free applications, explaining that he couldn't trust Microsoft software when revealing government's surveillance programs in 2013.
  8. ^ Kooyman, Zoë (Mar 9, 2020). "LibrePlanet 2020: In-person component canceled, but we'll see you online". Free Software Foundation. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023.
  9. ^ Stallman, Richard (May 5, 2021). "Unjust computing clamps down". GNU MediaGoblin - LibrePlanet. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
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