Software Freedom Conservancy
Software Freedom Conservancy is a not-for-profit charity that helps promote, improve, develop, and defend Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects. Conservancy provides a non-profit home and infrastructure for FLOSS projects. This allows FLOSS developers to focus on what they do best — writing and improving FLOSS for the general public — while Conservancy takes care of the projects' needs that do not relate directly to software development and documentation.
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Recent News
A new chapter for PyPy: Transitioning away from a Charitable Model
Conservancy Winds Down Its Involvement in PyPy
August 12, 2020
PyPy has been a member project of Software Freedom Conservancy since 2010 and although it's been a mutually successful partnership, nothing lasts forever — especially in software. Today, Conservancy and PyPy announce that they are winding down their ten year relationship. PyPy will remain free software, but the community's structure and organizational underpinnings will change. Conservancy provides a fiscal and organizational home for projects that find the freedoms and assurances that come along with a charitable home advantageous for their community goals. While this framework was a great fit for the early PyPy community, that community has changed such that this is no longer the case. PyPy's leadership are exploring non-charitable options for its next phase of growth.
Conservancy Applies to Renew Key DMCA Exemption
July 30, 2020
Conservancy has once again pushed for a renewal of the exemption to smart TV's, effectively allowing people to install and use free software on their own televisions. As part of a coalition with a group of researchers, our Executive Director, Karen Sandler also participated in filing the renewal application to continue the exemption for medical devices filed by the USC's Gould School of Law. Both of these exemptions must refiled in the triennial review process to ensure that interacting with the software in these devices does not become unlawful.
The Institute for Computing in Research Joins Conservancy!
Program Uses Software Freedom and Mentorship to Bridge Inequities in Scientific Research
July 21, 2020
Conservancy is proud to welcome in a new member project that both fills in a critical opportunity gap for young scientists and introduces the next generation of researchers to essential free software tools. The Institute for Computing in Research runs a mentoring program that trains students finishing 10th, 11th and 12th grade to do rigorous scientific research using free software. This year's round of internships began last week with ten students and, while based in New Mexico, is fully remote for 2020.
Regarding Git and Branch Naming
June 23, 2020
Both Conservancy and the Git project are aware that the initial branch name, ‘master’, is offensive to some people and we empathize with those hurt by the use of that term.
Clojurists Together Foundation Launches!
Conservancy Sunsets Charitable Donations for Clojurists Together Grants
May 18, 2020
Clojurists Together, in conjunction with Software Freedom Conservancy, announces today the formation of the Clojurists Together Foundation, a new trade organization, dedicated to funding and supporting open source software, infrastructure, and documentation that is important to the Clojure and ClojureScript community. For the past four years, Conservancy, a charitable 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, managed Clojars' development grant program, known as “Clojurists Together” has been managed by Conservancy, a charitable 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Clojurists Together program, under Conservancy's auspices, funded creation of free and open source software, infrastructure, and documentation that the Clojure/ClojureScript community relies on, licensed freely for use, modification, and redistribution by the general public.
Conservancy Blog
In free software, you're still not alone: the evolution of our weekly chats
by on July 29, 2020
We began our weekly chats in mid-March to give people a dedicated place and time each week to talk with fellow free software enthusiasts during the pandemic. During that first month, mostly we talked about what events were being cancelled and how frustrating it was that so many entities immediately embraced non-free tools for connecting remotely. We were also starting to contend with the financial effects of a global pandemic and some in our community wondered about job security and shared some information on who was doing layoffs and who might be hiring -- for remote work, of course.
Conservancy Staff at Virtual GUADEC
by on July 17, 2020
This year's GUADEC — the GNOME community's annual conference — will be virtual. Two Conservancy staffers are participating and the conference will be run using the free (as in freedom) Big Blue Button platform. We're especially looking forward to being part of an event that doesn't encourage attendees to engage with proprietary software.
Organizational Proliferation Is Not the Problem You Think It Is
by on July 9, 2020
This week, I've been concerned about the aggressive negative reaction to the formation of an additional organization to serve the Free and Open Source (FOSS) community. Thus it seems like a good moment to remind everyone why we all benefit when we welcome newcomer organizations in FOSS. We must avoid NIH tendencies and monoculture, while still vetting orgs and holding them accountable for their policies.
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