We're having an event for Software Freedom Day. It is a world-wide educational event, and we are having one right here at Montclair State University. We'll have talks about what free software is, and why it's important for everyone. What kind of software is available for your existing computer, and how you can use Free Software to use your computer past the date that the manufacturer wants to keep updating it. There will be a talk on self hosting, so that you can run services that reduce or replace your reliance on outside big tech companies, and keep better control of your data. There will also be a talk on Social Networking with free software called "Mastodon and the Fediverse" that will show how you can network with people without giving your data to big tech, and without the algorithms that don't work in your best interest. --- For a general computer user -- You might be thinking. "I get software for free all the time, it come with my computer, and there are lots of free services that I can get over the internet. We're talking about software that is free as in Freedom. Free to use, improve and share, and software that does not require a subscription or ads from an outside source. --- For an aspiring developer --- What is the point of worrying about licensing my software, does it matter? If you choose a Free Software license for your software can get community help in developing it, you can get wider acceptance in community projects without losing control of it, and contribute to the community of computer users. There is a huge variety of software out there, and we'd like to take some time to tell people about it. This is a community event, and we'd love to see people from all over come out! Here are some links for more information: https://softwarefreedom.neocities.org/ also, the foundation site https://digitalfreedoms.org/en/software-freedom-day/events/software-freedom-... If you have any questions, please email myself at: sfd@murph.info Or my colleague Mars at: mxu@uribe.cc We'll be happy to discuss any details.