About 10 New Free Software Foundation (FSF) Members Per Day
The total changed from 46 to 47 while typing the article
PUBLISHING more articles does not mean more traffic and a site receiving more traffic (or larger audiences) does not guarantee more output, as more and more might simply "dilute" the signal and result in impulsive stories that are either inaccurate or boring (or both).
The FSF has not been publishing much (especially blog posts or press releases) in recent years, but the site was online, the information was accessible to all, and the FSF remains very much relevant.
We can relate and sympathise.
Earlier this month Alexandre Oliva told us that the FSF in its current form and/or human composition is doing very well and that he spoke to almost everyone, got a positive impression [1, 2]. He also gave a good talk at the event (where he spoke to many FSF staff) - a talk that my wife and I watched today and very much enjoyed.
Alexandre Oliva used to work at Red Hat and he has a good grasp of the latest threats to software freedom. He saw some of these threats at IBM Red Hat before he decided to leave. They tried to compel them to use nonsensical "clown" (proprietary) software - same issue as in Sirius Open Source.
Over the past few months this site has been a lot busier than this past spring and winter. In recent weeks it also broke some records, but that's not what's most significant. What's more significant is our ability to stifle censorship and suppression attempts. We've championed source (e.g. whistleblower) protection, we've defeated nasty trolls (they hate it when they get exposed in public and subjected to the humiliation they very much deserve), and we're generally very happy and motivated. That's the recipe for future success.
The FSF has just successfully published most of the talks from LibrePlanet and is successfully campaigning for funds. Less than a week ago it started a month-long campaign to add 200 new members; less than a week later there are already 47! That's in spite of Microsofters trying to associate the FSF with "rape" in Social Control Media (the typical nonsense). We hope that with the addition of new board members and staff they will have a long and prosperous future. Maybe in 2024 they can even operate at a balance sheet that's not so red. FSF people are resourceful in the "mindshare" sense, so they can probably figure out a way. █