Tux Machines

Do you waddle the waddle?

Other Sites

LinuxGizmos.com

RISC-V Embedded Board Features TH1520 SoC, Dual GbE, and 4TOPS AI

The HH-SCDAYU800A is another RISC-V development board built around the Alibaba T-Head TH1520 system-on-chip. With its dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, multiple camera interfaces, and industrial-grade design, the board targets applications requiring multimedia features, edge inference, and smart device integration.

RISC-V-Based FireBeetle 2 with ESP32-P4 Starts at $11.90

The FireBeetle 2 ESP32-P4, previewed earlier this year, is now available from DFRobot starting at $11.90. This compact board handles real-time image processing and video streaming, combining the ESP32-P4 SoC with an ESP32-C6 co-processor for wireless projects.

Radxa Fanless Network Router Offers 4 GbE Ports and NVMe Storage Up to 4TB

The Radxa E24C is a fanless network computer based on the Rockchip RK3528A processor, designed for routing, edge networking, and industrial tasks. It combines four RJ45 ports, 4K HDMI output, and an M.2 NVMe slot for high-speed storage in a compact enclosure.

Low-Cost WT99P4C5-S1 Pairs ESP32-P4 SoC with ESP32-C5 Wi-Fi 6 Module

Wireless-Tag’s WT99P4C5-S1 is a versatile multimedia development board built around the WT0132P4-A1 core module, which integrates Espressif’s ESP32-P4 dual-core RISC-V SoC. According to the company, this board targets applications such as AIoT, Human-Machine Interfaces, and edge computing, offering extensive connectivity, audio features, and multimedia expansion options.

9to5Linux

Canonical Plans for a Fully Functional Desktop Session on RISC-V with Ubuntu 25.10

Last month, Canonical announced a significant change for RISC-V users that will drop support for most of the existing RISC-V hardware, as the company plans to raise the required RISC-V ISA profile family from RVA20 to RVA23. This means that about 90 percent of RISC-V devices won’t be able to run Ubuntu 25.10.

GStreamer 1.28 Promises Vulkan H.264 Encoder, AMD HIP Plugin, and More

GStreamer 1.28 looks like another big update promising new features like a Vulkan H.264 encoder, an AMD HIP (Heterogeneous-compute Interface for Portability) plugin, basic colorimetry support for Wayland, and a new wpe2 plugin for Webkit that makes use of the “WPE Platform API”.

KDE Frameworks 6.16 Improves Plasma’s Ability to Detect the Most Powerful GPU

The monthly KDE Frameworks releases continue with KDE Frameworks 6.16, a release that promises to improve your system’s ability to detect which GPU is the most powerful one for the “Run this program using the more powerful GPU” feature.

Calibre 8.6 Open-Source E-Book Manager Improves Database Restore Performance

Coming just a week after Calibre 8.5, the Calibre 8.6 release promises to significantly improve the database restoring performance, adds support for the La Presse news source, and adds ‘Search “not in”‘ and ‘Filter “not in'” buttons to the Manage Authors and Manage Items options.

Forty Years of GNU and the Free Software Movement

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 24, 2023

Forty years of GNU

Original by the Free Software Foundation


Copyright © 2004-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Privacy Policy.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 license (or later version)


On September 27, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) celebrates the 40th anniversary of the GNU operating system and the launch of the free software movement. Free software advocates, tinkerers, and hackers all over the world will celebrate this event, which was a turning point in the history of computing. Forty years later, GNU and free software are even more relevant. While software has become deeply ingrained into everyday life, the vast majority of users do not have full control over it.

Computer hackers and users from across the world will celebrate GNU's anniversary with special events. These include a specially convened GNU Hackers Meeting in Biel, Switzerland and a hackday for hackers of any skill level at the FSF's headquarters in Boston, MA.

On September 27, 1983, a computer scientist named Richard Stallman announced the plan to develop a free software Unix-like operating system called GNU, for "GNU's not Unix." GNU is the only operating system developed specifically for the sake of users' freedom, and has remained true to its founding ideals for forty years. Since 1983, the GNU Project has provided a full, ethical replacement for proprietary operating systems. This is thanks to the forty years of tireless work from volunteer GNU developers around the world.

When describing GNU's history and the background behind its initial announcement, Stallman (often known simply as "RMS") stated, "with a free operating system, we could again have a community of cooperating hackers -- and invite anyone to join. And anyone would be able to use a computer without starting out by conspiring to deprive his or her friends."

"When we look back at the history of the free software movement -- or the idea that users should be in control of their own computing -- it starts with GNU," said Zoë Kooyman, executive director of the FSF, which sponsors GNU's development. "The GNU System isn't just the most widely used operating system that is based on free software. GNU is also at the core of a philosophy that has guided the free software movement for forty years."

Usually combined with the kernel Linux, GNU forms the backbone of the Internet and powers millions of servers, desktops, and embedded computing devices. Aside from its technical advancements, GNU pioneered the concept of "copyleft," the approach to software licensing that requires the same rights to be preserved in derivative works, and is best exemplified by the GNU General Public License (GPL). As Stallman stated, "The goal of GNU was to give users freedom, not just to be popular. So we needed to use distribution terms that would prevent GNU software from being turned into proprietary software. The method we use is called 'copyleft.'"

The free software community has held strong for forty years and continues to grow, as exemplified by the FSF's annual LibrePlanet conference on software freedom and digital ethics.

Kooyman continues, "We hope that the fortieth anniversary will inspire hackers, both old and new, to join GNU in its goal to create, improve, and share free software around the world. Software is controlling our world these days, and GNU is a critique and solution to the status quo that we desperately need in order to not have our technology control us."

GNU Hacker's Meeting in Biel, Switzerland

On September 27, GNUnet e.V. is celebrating GNU's fortieth anniversary with a hacker meeting in Switzerland, which will feature presentations about various GNU packages, hacking, and making new releases. Among the speakers are Richard Stallman, the founder of GNU; Free Software Award winner Sébastien Blin of GNU Jami; the president of the Free Software Foundation Europe, Matthias Kirschner; and several GNU developers. There have been few if any other occasions where so many GNU maintainers will be present in person.

Hackday at the FSF Headquarters

In honor of GNU's fortieth anniversary, its organizational sponsor the FSF is organizing a hackday for families, students, and anyone interested in celebrating GNU's anniversary. It will be held at the FSF's offices in Boston, MA on October 1.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to run, edit, share, contribute to, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at https://fsf.org and https://gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org.

More information about the FSF, as well as important information for journalists and publishers, is at https://www.fsf.org/press.

About the GNU Operating System and Linux

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a free software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only operating system developed specifically for the sake of users' freedom. See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html.

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for one, the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under the GNU GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux formed a complete free operating system, which made it possible for the first time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination is the GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html.

Media Contacts

Greg Farough
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942

Other Recent Tux Machines' Posts

KDE Plasma 6.4 Desktop Environment Officially Released, This Is What’s New
The KDE Project released today KDE Plasma 6.4 as a major update with exciting new features and enhancements for all fans of the KDE Plasma desktop environment.
Ethical Hacking Distro Parrot OS 6.4 Is Out with Linux Kernel 6.12 LTS, New Tools
Parrot Security released Parrot OS 6.4 today as a new ISO snapshot of this Debian-based, security-oriented GNU/Linux distribution for penetration testing and ethical hacking.
Rhino Linux 2025.3 Rolls Out with RPK2, KDE Option
Rhino Linux 2025.3 is now available with the RPK2 package management tool by default, UBports sponsorship, and the KDE Plasma 6 UBXI desktop
KDE Frameworks 6.16 Improves Plasma’s Ability to Detect the Most Powerful GPU
The KDE Project released today KDE Frameworks 6.16 as the latest update to this collection of more than 70 add-on libraries for Qt, providing commonly needed functionality to KDE apps and the KDE Plasma desktop.
Calibre 8.6 Open-Source E-Book Manager Improves Database Restore Performance
Calibre developer Kovid Goyal released Calibre 8.6 today as the latest version of this open-source, free, and cross-platform e-book management software for GNU/Linux.
 
Self-Hosted, Homelab-based, and Locally-Governed Home Servers
on controlling one's computing
Today in Techrights
Some of the latest articles
Canonical Plans for a Fully Functional Desktop Session on RISC-V with Ubuntu 25.10
With the upcoming Ubuntu 25.10 (Questing Quokka) release, Canonical plans to achieve a fully functional desktop session on the RISC-V architecture.
GStreamer 1.28 Promises Vulkan H.264 Encoder, AMD HIP Plugin, and More
The GStreamer project released the first development version of the upcoming GStreamer 1.28 stable series of this widely used open-source multimedia framework for handling audio and video streams.
NethServer 8.5
Release notes - Distribution Release
DebEX KDE Plasma based on Debian Trixie (upcoming Debian 13) with Refracta Snapshot and Calamares Installer :: Build 250707
NEWS 250707 about DebEX KDE Plasma – a Refracta Build
MocaccinoOS v1.8.3
The team hopes you enjoy our effort
Linux Kamarada 15.6: integrated to your smartphone and complete with utilities
Linux Kamarada 15.6 is ready for everyone to use!
today's leftovers
some GNU/Linux and mostly FOSS
Databases: PostgreSQL and European Autonomy
PostgreSQL mostly
BSD Leftovers
BSD picks
Standards and More
XML and more on such matters
Security Leftovers
Security picks
Development and Programming Leftovers
R and more
GNU and Linux Leftovers
including games
Open Hardware/Modding: GNU/Linux, ESP32, and More
Some hardware picks
Red Hat and Fedora Leftovers
Fedora picks and more
This Week in GNOME and Parental Controls in GNOME
GNOME leftovers for today
today's howtos
many howtos
Kernel: Lustre at Google, RDNA 3.5 by AMD
linux news
Operating Systems: Outline of Distros in Use, EasyOS Containers, and MINIX
3 stories of note
The price of software freedom is eternal politics
The new fork of the X.org X11 server is conservative… and we don't mean just technologically conservative.
Release of Wine 10.12
Wine 10.12
Android Leftovers
Leak reveals Samsung Auto DeX as an alternative to Android Auto for over 8,500 vehicle models
The software we have to use at work must respect our freedom
Many free software supporters worldwide are forced to give up their freedom when they log in or go to work
Lenovo readies WMI driver for gaming handhelds with Linux 6.17
New kernel patch brings native power controls to Legion Go S on Linux
Want to Customise GNOME Shell Notifications? Try This Extension
You may have noticed that Ubuntu (rather, GNOME Shell) doesn’t provide many notification customisation options out of the box
today's leftovers
GNU/Linux and more
Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi and Weekly GNU-like Mobile Linux
Hardware picks
today's howtos
idroot mostly
Videos About GNU/Linux and Free Software
via Invidious
Best Free and Open Source Software
We recommend the best free and open source alternatives
This Week in Plasma: tablet dials and day/night cycles
Welcome to a new issue of This Week in Plasma
Radxa Fanless Network Router Offers 4 GbE Ports and NVMe Storage Up to 4TB
On the software side, the E24C supports both Debian Linux and Flippy OpenWrt
Games: Fanatical, SuperWEIRD, Steam Deck, and More
10 latest from GamingOnLinux
Today in Techrights
Some of the latest articles
GNU/Linux Leftovers
4 more stories regarding GNU/Linux
Hardware: Fairphone, Arduino, and More
some hardware picks
today's leftovers
Events/'Linux' Foundation and pgmoneta 0.18 released
Programming Leftovers
Development with R and more
Security and Windows TCO
mostly the latter, Windows TCO
Games: Godot, FEX, and Lossless Scaling Frame Generation
Games-related picks
Red Hat Offers Free RHEL Access for Business Developers
Red Hat’s new dev program, Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Business Developers
Ubuntu 24.10 (Oracular Oriole) reached End of Life on 10th July 2025
forced upgrade
Miracle-WM 0.6 Released with Rounded Corners Support
Miracle-WM 0.6.0 tiling Wayland window manager lands with rounded corners
GNU/Linux and BSD Leftovers
mostly GNU/Linux
Free, Libre, and Open Source Software and Sharing
FOSS and more
Programming Leftovers
in games and more
Security Leftovers
Security picks
Applications: E-mail, Karton, and More
software leftovers
Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi, Bootlin, and More
devices and gadgets
System76’s Adder WS Linux Laptop Gets Intel Core Ultra i9 and NVIDIA 50 Series
System76 informs 9to5Linux.com today about the availability of a new version of their Adder WS Linux-powered notebook that features newer Intel CPUs and NVIDIA graphics.
today's howtos
mostly idroot
Red Hat Leftovers
latest in redhat.com
Linux Magazine: Latest Edition
But paywalled
Wayland 1.24 Is Now Available for Download with New Features and Improvements
Wayland, an open-source replacement for the X11 window system protocol and architecture, has been updated to version 1.24 today with various new features and improvements.
Android Leftovers
Google launches Android Canary program for Pixel users who want to live on the bleeding edge
Ubuntu 24.10 “Oracular Oriole” Reached End of Life, Upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04
This is your friendly reminder that Ubuntu 24.10 “Oracular Oriole” reached end-of-life today, July 10th, 2025, and it is no longer supported by Canonical with software and security updates.
5 Ways I Fight Linux’s App Gap and Use All the Software I Need
Do you want to use Linux but feel worried that your favorite apps won’t work
Wayback Becomes Part of the FreeDesktop.org Ecosystem
The Wayback project, a X11 compatibility layer that allows running X11 desktop environments using Wayland
I Use This 17-Year Old Linux App to Easily Back Up My Files
Looking for an easy-to-use but flexible method of backing up your files on a Linux desktop
Red Hat sweetens the RHEL deal for biz devs – just don't put it in prod
Up to 25 instances for free, but only to play with
I Use Fedora Linux Daily, but These 3 Things Drive Me Nuts
To me, most Linux distros are essentially the same
4 things Linux does better than Windows for the average user
As much as I'd like to see it change, Windows 11 remains a far more popular choice for consumers at large than Linux is
Mozilla VPN Linux App is Now Available on Flathub
Linux users can now install the official Mozilla VPN client from Flathub
Ubuntu 24.04.3 HWE Stack Provides a Major Mesa Upgrade
Existing users of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will receive an updated hardware enablement (HWE) stack this month
Project Seeks Input on Future of 32-bit ARM
The openSUSE Project is seeking community input to determine whether it should continue supporting 32-bit ARM architectures
Free and Open Source Software
This is free and open source software
Diving into Plasma Bigscreen
I have been a long time Plasma Mobile contributor
Stable kernels: Linux 6.15.6, Linux 6.12.37, Linux 6.6.97, Linux 6.1.144, and Linux 5.15.187
I'm announcing the release of the 6.15.6 kernel
Bluestar Linux: Arch Power, User-Friendly Polish
Think Arch is only for the hardcore? Bluestar Linux rewrites the rules—delivering power, polish, and zero intimidation
ExTiX's new release is an even better Windows 11-like Linux desktop
I find the latest version of ExTiX to be an elegant desktop that any user would feel right at home on
Games: RTS Rush Humble Bundle, Blessed Burden, and More
GamingOnLinux's latest 7 stories
"LLM Coding is a Scam" [original]
From libreplanet-discuss
Politics Inside Free Software [original]
Free Software is about technical things and also the philosophy of sharing, or ethics limited to the idea of sharing
Today in Techrights
Some of the latest articles