Free Software Directory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Free Software Directory is a project of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and UNESCO. It catalogs useful free software that runs under free operating systems - particularly GNU and Linux.

Unlike some other directories that focus on free software, Free Software Directory staff verify the licenses of software listed in the directory. As of March 21, 2007, the Directory lists 5,316 packages.

[edit] UNESCO

From an interview with Richard Stallman [1]:

Do you or the FSF still have a relationship with UNESCO?

Not anymore.

Why not? What changed or happened?

I don’t know for certain, but I heard a rumor that Bush made UNESCO drop its support for free software when the US rejoined UNESCO.

Bush has a long history of supporting Microsoft. For instance, he let Microsoft off the hook of its second US felony conviction, with an agreement that gave an appearance of restraining Microsoft, but in practical fact had no effect on it. I’ve heard that this was payback for campaign contributions.

This practice continues. The US Trade Representative has pressured some other governments to be Microsoft customers, and just recently the administration told various US agencies to support Microsoft’s bid to fast-track OOXML as an ISO standard.