[Fsuk-manchester] Fwd: Free Software Foundation re-launches its Free Software Directory, with over 6500 programs listed

[Michael Dorrington]

Continuing its "worldwide mission to advance software freedom" the FSF
has updated the Free Software Directory.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Free Software Foundation re-launches its Free Software
Directory, with over 6500 programs listed
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:46:30 -0400
From: Josh Gay <address@hidden>
Reply-To: Josh Gay <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, September 29, 2011 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced the re-launch of its Free
Software Directory at <http://directory.fsf.org>. The Directory lists
over 6,500 programs that are free for any computer user to download,
run, and share. It was first launched nearly a decade ago, but the new
version brings a host of new features designed to make it a more
useful and current resource for users, developers, advocates, and
researchers.

"Since its inception, the Directory has been one of our most popular
and important resources. Its careful curation has made it a reliable
place to find applications for any purpose that are free -- as in
freedom -- for everyone. Users can find programs they need, and
advocates can find programs to recommend. But with so much free
software being written and shared now, we wanted to update the
technology we use for the site so that contributors can participate in
examining and posting new entries, and users can more easily search
them," said John Sullivan, FSF's executive director.

Because each entry is individually checked and tested, users know that
any program they come across in the Directory will be [free
software](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) with free
documentation and without proprietary software requirements. Programs
that run on proprietary operating systems like Mac and Windows are
listed, but only if they also run fully on GNU/Linux. The new version
of the Directory will continue to provide users these same assurances,
but it has been rebuilt so that members of the free software community
can become familiar with the criteria and then work together to curate
and grow the catalog.

The new site is based on MediaWiki, free software most famously known
for powering Wikipedia. It also uses a set of extensions called
Semantic MediaWiki that add advanced search and presentation
capabilities, structured to be useful for reading by both humans and
data-mining programs.

"We're empowering contributors to improve every aspect of the site,
from its look and feel to enabling more types of information and
multimedia to be associated with each individual listing," states
campaigns manager, Joshua Gay, who adds that "we also have plans to
collaborate around sharing data with GNU/Linux distributions and other
free software projects."

To most users of the Directory, the key aspect of the new software is
that it will make it easier for them to find the program they need. An
extensive and flexible category system, plus over 40,000 keywords and
more than 40 different fields of information, enhance both simple and
advanced searching.

Yaron Koren, one of the free software developers behind Semantic
MediaWiki, gave support and help in the re-launch effort. "I created
the Semantic Forms extension in order to allow for sites that combine
the collaborative nature of a wiki with the structure and queryability
of a database; so it's heartening to see Semantic MediaWiki and
Semantic Forms being used for that purpose, and so comprehensively, in
the Free Software Directory," he said.

To learn more about the Directory, visit
<http://directory.fsf.org>. To find out how you can get involved in
helping the Directory, or suggest improvements, visit
<http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/FSD:Participate> or send email to
<address@hidden>. Further technical behind-the-scenes details
about the re-launch of the Directory can be found in a blog post by
Sullivan at <http://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/behind-the-scenes>.

### 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, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
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