Matthew Garrett's timely post GPL enforcement is a social good reminded me to revisit my old Geeky Guide to Giving list, and to reprise and update it; this time with a Software Freedom theme. So, below, a list of charitable organizations seeking your help to advance the cause of Free/Open Source software.
Software Freedom Conservancy
Their GPL enforcement efforts are best described in Matthew Garret's post, but they also support conferences, advise projects, and engage in advocacy such as getting DMCA exemptions.
Free Software Foundation
The originators of it all. Authors of the GPL and related licenses, initiators of the GNU projects (including, among many others, GCC), and non-stop advocates for software freedom, user rights, and open technology.
Software Freedom Law Center
An excellent organization that provides legal support, analysis, defence, and education for software projects. Notably, they provided the legal analysis (and a large portion of the authorial work) for the Free Software Foundation's efforts in writing version 3 of the GPL.
Software in the Public Interest
Originally founded as the legal vehicle for the Debian project to receive donations, sign contracts, and hold assets, they now support a myriad of other projects, including FFmpeg, Arch Linux, PostgreSQL, and LibreOffice. Without an organization such as this, these projects would be unable to rent venues for conferences, have equipment hosted in data centres, and the like.
Open Source Initiative
Stewards of the “Open Source” (as opposed to “Free Software”) definition, they also provide legal analysis of various licenses, support for conferences, education, and other events, and help keep the pragmatic side of the movement going.
