Software Freedom Conservancy

In one hour, there will be a hearing in the VIzio law suit!

It's about a motion VIzio made, asking the court to rule (without any discussion at trial) that there is no installation right in #gplv2. The "tentative" ruling published this morning denies VIzio's request! The parties will discuss further at the hearing to see if the tentative becomes final.

If you're comfortable using proprietary software (zoom via browser), you can watch:

https://occourtsapp.occourts.org/aci/checkin-results?dept=C33

Big hearing today in #Vizio case re: their violations of #GPL.

Vizio requested summary adjudication, arguing users have no right to install their own software onto their devices.Judge has already tentatively DENIED their motion: https://www.occourts.org/sites/default/files/oc/default/tentative-rulings/slealrulings.pdf

The hearing to determine if her tentative ruling is official occurs in 2 hours (10:00 US/Pacific). You can watch¹:
https://occourtsapp.occourts.org/aci/checkin-results?dept=C33

¹ This requires proprietary software, but Zoom for Government terms are less onerous than standard terms.

https://sfc.ngo/diabetes, is an article I wrote last night to coincide with my colleague, @karen's excellent keynote¹ #SFSCON 2025 earlier this morning.

This year I faced an eerily similar medical experience to her story. I now wear a proprietary medical device, but fortunately control it fully w/ #FOSS.

I was angry though not surprised that #Abbott (a $200+ billion company) worked with #Google to attempt to take #Juggluco out of Google's store last year.

Juggluco won & it's back for patients!

Oh, @bshaurette , thanks for asking. @conservancy *is* still accepting applications for travel grants, but you are quite correct that the trial date has changed. The #Vizio trial is *not* in September.

The next event in the case is a scheduling hearing one week from today, on Thursday 4 September 2025 at the Santa Ana, CA court house at 13:30 local time. The public is welcome to attend; I'll be there & would be glad to greet supporters, but the hearing is administrative in nature.

… I was quoted quoted in *The Register*:
> “The problems w/ #GitHub have been growing for some time. We at #SFC have always been concerned about the issue of using proprietary software to write #FOSS. However, the integration w/ #Copilot so deeply into the platform, and #Microsoft's flagrant use of content hosted on GitHub to train their own LLMs makes a departure from GitHub urgent for all FOSS developers.”
https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/codeberg_beset_by_ai_bots/
I hope it inspires you to #GiveUpGitHub! https://giveupgithub.org

😲🤬 re: what's happened to @Codeberg today
The AI ballyhoo *is* a real DDoS against one of the few code hosting sites that has taken a stand against slurping #FOSS code into LLM training sets — in violation of #copyleft licenses.
This is what lawless & deregulation bring us. ∃ plenty of blame to go around, but #Microsoft & #GitHub deserve the bulk of it as they trailblazed the idea that FOSS code-hosting sites are lucrative targets.
https://giveupgithub.org
#GiveUpGitHub #FreeSoftware #OpenSource

3 yrs ago, @downey wrote:
> “💡 Today is a perfect day to exercise your independence from #BigTech, & #GiveUpGitHub.
> ☣️ #GitHub is the equivalent of #Twitter & #Facebook for software development -- creators of the most enticing proprietary walled garden ever made for #FOSS…
> Don't be stuck when #Microsoft…change[s] the rules on you.“
> https://GiveUpGitHub.org
…now ∃ more reasons to stop procrastinating & GiveUpGitHub *now*…
https://social.kernel.org/objects/bd3ddc58-31ee-41df-a326-e6619b3960e9
https://mastodon.social/@glyph/114995950245874315

Try @Codeberg today!

Thank you, Open Signal PDX (https://www.opensignalpdx.org/), for your support of @conservancy's #FOSSY Conference AND for all your work developing completely Free and Open Source Software solutions for video/media production. Your work serves as a proof of concept for those who doubt the capabilities of #opensource as an "industry standard."

At #FOSSY25, I participated in a panel¹ discussion w/ @allison (SFC's Board Chairperson), Denver Gingerich, & Rick Sanders (SFC'S GC) about SFC's #Vizio case…
https://sfc.ngo/vizio
… There were lots of interesting questions both during the session & from the crowd that gathered afterward.

If you are not at #FOSSY & have questions of your own, feel free to ask them in this thread.

Also, *come to the trial*!!
https://sfconservancy.org/news/2025/jul/24/travel-grants-for-vizio-trial-to-foss-community/

¹ Sadly @karen couldn't travel here due to recent ❤️surgery.