In this article, For Clarity's Sake, Please Don't Say "Licensed under GNU GPL 2"!, Free Software Foundation president Richard Stallman (RMS) explains how to properly identify what GNU license your work is under. Whenever a developer releases their work under a GNU license, they have the option to either release it under that version of the license only, or to make it available under any later version of that license. This option ensures that software can remain compatible with future versions of the license. But what happens if someone just says their program is under GNU GPL version 2, for example?

[T]hey are leaving the licensing of the program unclear. Is it released under GPL-2.0-only, or GPL-2.0-or-later? Can you merge the code with packages released under GPL-3.0-or-later?

Thus, it is vitally important that developers indicate in their license notices whether they are licensing their work under that version "only" or under "any later version." Of course, these days it is also helpful for license notices to be machine-readable. The Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) specification sets a standardized way of identifying licenses on software packages. They are updating their license identifiers to include this distinction in their upcoming version. For example, for GNU GPL version 2, the identifiers are now "GPL-2.0-only or GPL-2.0-or-later." The old identifiers (e.g. "GPL-2.0") are now deprecated and should no longer be used. Based on the changes SPDX says are coming in the SPDX specification and its Web site, the FSF expects to endorse the new version of the SPDX. We thank SPDX and their community for making these helpful changes.

Help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. Every Friday we meet on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers. When a user comes to the Directory, they know that everything in it is free software, has only free dependencies, and runs on a free OS. With almost 16,000 entries, it is a massive repository of information about free software.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for many years now, it has the potential to be a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help! And since it's a MediaWiki instance, it's easy for anyone to edit and contribute to the Directory.

This week, our focus is on fleshing out the scope of two projects to improve the Directory, which will be a group project of the community and FSF efforts. The first is with the Privacy page. It seems that the information is stale, as well as arguably misguided, so we would like to come up with an outline and a possible road map. The second project is to fix the license list. Currently, there are a few errors. Come this new year, I am going to start working on the templates. So what I think would be great is to put together a team to catalog the issues. One type of error deals more with the content of the license, while other errors are simply editing issues -- for example, the word license is repeated inappropriately in some drop-down menus.

If you are eager to help, and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.

Help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. Every Friday we meet on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers.

When a user comes to the Directory, they know that everything in it is free software, has only free dependencies, and runs on a free OS. With almost 16,000 entries, it is a massive repository of information about free software.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for many years now, it has the potential to be a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help! And since it's a MediaWiki instance, it's easy for anyone to edit and contribute to the Directory.

This week we're back to adding even more entries to the Directory, We are getting really close to 16,000 entries, and we hope to break through that barrier by the end of the year. Come join in the fun, and find out who adds the 16,000th entry!

If you are eager to help, and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.

As software permeates more and more aspects of society, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) must expand our work to protect and extend computer user freedom. We launched our annual fundraiser with the goal of welcoming 700 new Associate Members and raising $450,000 before December 31st. Please support the work at the root of the free software movement: make a donation or –- better yet –- join us and become a member today.

In 2017, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3. A lot has changed in the world of free software in the last decade. Thousands of software packages have been released, court cases affecting the interpretation of licenses have come and gone, and new threats to software freedom have risen and fallen. More importantly, technology has transformed the way we live, taking the importance of free software far beyond the established tech world: computing has gone mobile via smartphones, and the Internet has infiltrated every aspect of daily life.

Through it all, the FSF's licensing team was there to help people to understand these changes and how they affect users. From our work answering licensing questions from the public, to managing certification programs like Respects Your Freedom, to handling license compliance for the GNU Project, to providing resources like our list of free software licenses, we were there to lend a guiding hand. But if we want to continue this work, and do an even better job in 2018, we need your help. We want to share a bit about the work that we do on the licensing team, and let you know why it is so vital that this work continues.

Helping users understand licensing

Working with a team of volunteers, we answered almost 600 licensing questions from the public in 2017. These can range from the very simple (“Can I sell free software?” Answer: yes, you can!), to the more involved task of choosing the right license for a project. One such request resulted in our helping the Defense Digital Service set up a system for regularly releasing free software, which kicked off with eMCM, released under the GNU Affero GPL version 3 license. Helping governments, other organizations, and individuals to understand free licenses so that they can distribute their software in a way that respects user freedom is one of the most rewarding benefits of having an open channel for answering licensing questions.

Others write to us trying to understand the licenses of existing projects, whether they're established GNU licenses or licenses created by other organizations. While we maintain a list of licenses and our thoughts on them, some projects still choose to draft new licenses. Even for licenses on which we've publicly commented, there can be questions about what they mean, or how they can interact with one another. These situations can be confusing if you are trying to sort them out all on your own. We are here to guide you.

We also provide context and background for the flood of news happening daily in the world of free software licensing. If a topic is particularly important, like an interesting GPL compliance case or a pressing licensing issue, we often end up publishing an article on it.

Our team is always ready to answer these and other questions from users all around the world. Providing users with a direct line lets us share the gift of free software licensing on a personal level. But our team is small, and we're trying to serve millions of free software users across the globe. This means that we need to create and maintain informational Web sites and other resources and reference materials that are easy to find and to use.

Helping users find free software

The licensing team maintains the Free Software Directory, a massive listing of almost 16,000 freely licensed packages. This a resource for users to find free software, and helps maintainers of free software packages discover potential licensing issues with their code. We work with volunteers every Friday via IRC to review free software package licenses for inclusion in the Directory. If there's an issue, we file a bug with the project about the licensing problem. The Directory is a wiki that anyone can edit, and we welcome more volunteers.

Helping users find free distros

In addition to individual packages, users need to know that their systems as a whole are free. Through our List of Free GNU/Linux distributions, users can find a complete operating system that contains and recommends only free software. We work with maintainers, helping them remove nonfree software, and we point out other potential issues with the distro. For many users, running a fully free distro is the easiest way to ensure that they have complete control over their own computing.

Helping users find freedom-respecting devices

Once a user has selected a fully free operating system, they'll need hardware on which to run it. For general hardware needs, users can turn to h-node, a volunteer-run project from the FSF. Being able to purchase hardware that only comes with free software takes more effort, which is where our Respects Your Freedom certification program comes in. In 2017 we certified 18 devices, with 15 from Technoethical and 3 from Vikings GmbH

Helping everyone ethically share free software

When all of these educational resources aren't enough, and someone fails to provide the rights guaranteed under a free license like the GPL, FSF staff take special care to teach them how to come back into our community. Where necessary, we uphold free software by enforcing the license according to the Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement, which we co-developed with the Software Freedom Conservancy. With a little guided instruction, we help these distributors come back into compliance.

Help us share even more!

The licensing team shares its expertise with users all around the world. From answering questions directly from the public, to publishing articles on current events in software licensing, to providing materials on free software and the hardware it runs on, our work helps users to share their own work as well. But to continue this work, and do even more in the year to come, we need your support. Can you help us to share the power of free licenses with users everywhere?

We have two more days to do everything we can to make our voices heard on this monumental issue. Below we have a sample script for calling the United States Congress, ideas for social media posts, and a bit about why free software needs net neutrality. If you want to read even more about why the Free Software Foundation (FSF) loves net neutrality, you can view this post on our blog.

Call, call, call

If you are in the US, call Congress today. Nervous? Try using the following script:

Hello, I live in CITY/STATE. I am calling to urge you to support net neutrality and stop the FCC from removing common carrier status from Internet Service Providers like Comcast and Verizon. This is the only thing we have protecting a free Internet, which everyone needs. Thank you for your time.

Don't know who to call?

• You can find your Representative and call them.

• Dial the House of Representatives at (202) 224-3121 and they will connect you.

• Call your Senator directly. Find their number here.

• Dial the Senate at (202) 224-3121 and they will connect you.

(Note: The number for the House and the Senate is a switchboard that will direct your call.)

Post and share

No matter where you live, if you use social media, you can join others in making as much noise as you can in support of net neutrality. Share your favorite articles, change your profile photos, tell people you care about a free Web, and that, today, net neutrality is the way to maintain a free Web in the United States.

Need a sample message?

• I support #netneutrality and #freesoftware!

• #Freesoftware needs #netneutrality

• I need #netneutrality because I need a free Web

You can also share this post, or look though our social media history for more ideas.

Why net neutrality?

There are so many reasons why we think net neutrality is important--and why it's necessary for free software. We'll briefly mention that:

• Free software is built collaboratively by using Web tools and Internet connections around the world.

• Free software is most easily discoverable thanks to pages like the Free Software Directory.

• Need to update your system or software quickly? You need an Internet connection to make that happen.

• Organizations like the FSF use the Web to educate and share free software ideology and tools.

• The FSF itself is run by a small team spread across the globe. Every day we use tools like IRC to communicate and work for user freedom together, with one another, and with you.

• We promote decentralized free software replacements for centralized software services, and that losing net neutrality means the centralized services will have a huge built-in advantage.

Without a free Web and free Internet, what we--this includes you--can do online will be limited by what ISPs like Comcast and Verizon want you to be able to do. They will have the legal right to control which Web sites we can access and how fast that access will be--and they will take advantage of their new ability to extort even greater fees from Web site and consumers alike.

We're asking you to take the time today and tomorrow to call Congress. Make some noise online. Tell your friends. Save the Internet.