[Announce] Bradley M. Kuhn of the FSF speaking at Purdue on 10/25/2002

[Michael Schultheiss]

       Bradley Kuhn of Free Software Foundation to Deliver Speech at
                Purdue University; Advocates Software Freedom


West Lafayette, IN, USA - Wednesday, 09 October, 2002 - The Computer Society
of Purdue University announced today a visit by the executive director of
the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Bradley M. Kuhn.

Kuhn will deliver a speech, "Software Freedom and the GNU Generation", on
Oct. 25 at 6:00PM in the Class of 50 Lecuture Hall on the Purdue West
Lafayette campus. The speech is open to the public. Kuhn is also available
for interviews and private meetings by appointment during the day of Oct. 25.
Please contact Justin Miller <millerjp at purdue.edu> to schedule a time.

        Friday, October 25, 2002
        6:00PM in the Class of 50 Lecture Hall

Kuhn explained the primary thesis of his speech: "Through anecdotes,
ethical consideration, and historical perspective, I will explain how Free
(as in freedom) Software builds and augments cooperating communities that
share and help each other to make software better, and how, by direct
contrast, proprietary software tears down and impedes the creation of such
communities."

Kuhn continued: "Some people get Free Software without paying for it, and
others pay.  The issue of price is not central; the key is that all users
get the freedom to copy, share, modify, and redistribute the software.
When you think of Free Software, think of free speech, not free beer."

In his speech, Kuhn will explain the Free Software Movement's responses to
direct legal attacks against Free Software brought about by the Motion
Picture Association of America (and its members), and the continuing
negative public relations campaigns from proprietary software companies
such as Microsoft aimed at the principles of software freedom.


About the Free Software Foundation:

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, 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.  Their web site, located at
http://www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.

About the Computer Society:

The Purdue University Computer Society is a student chapter of the national
IEEE Computer Society. The Computer Society is dedicated to spreading
knowledge about compouter engineering and technology, to getting students
involved outside of class, and providing computing resources to students
and student organizations. Every year, the Computer Society is involved
with organizing events related to the fields of Computer Science and
Engineering. Stop by our office in Electrical Engineering 014 for more
information.
http://www.csociety.org/

About GNU/Linux:

GNU/Linux is the integrated combination of the GNU operating system with
the kernel, Linux, written by Linus Torvalds in 1991. The various versions
of GNU/Linux have an estimated 20 million users.

"GNU/Linux" system is often called just "Linux", but this misnomer leads
to confusion (people cannot tell whether you mean the whole system or the
kernel, one part), and spreads an inaccurate picture of how, when, where,
and why the system was developed.  See
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html for more explanation.