Episode 195: FOSSY 2023 with Denver Gingerich

Guest Denver Gingerich Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes Hello
and welcome to Sustain! Richard is in Portland at FOSSY, the Free
and Open Source Software Yearly conference that is held by the
Software Freedom Conservancy. In this episode, Richard hosts Denver
Gingerich, a member of the Software Freedom Conservancy and Founder
of JMP. Denver dives into the backstory of JMP, the initiative to
make phone numbers as flexible as emails. They explore Denver’s
role as the Director of Compliance at the Software Freedom
Conservancy, where he ensures companies comply with open source
software licenses. Then, the conversation takes a turn to tackle a
range of software compliance controversies, from Vizio’s violation
of GPL to John Deere’s restrictive software that hinders farmers’
right to repair their machines. Denver provides an invaluable
perspective on the work being done to protect users from software
licensing malpractices. Press download now to hear more! [00:01:22]
Denver tells us how he started JMP and the motivation behind it.
[00:02:52] Richard asks Denver about the funding model for JMP and
how he supports himself financially, and Denver explains his role
at the Software Freedom Conservancy, a non-profit charity based in
New York. [00:05:35] The Vizio lawsuit is talked about and Denver
outlines how GPL enforcement lawsuits traditionally focus on
copyrights but argues that the direct harm is usually done to the
users of the software who receive it out of compliance. [00:06:58]
Denver shares that he’s not a lawyer by training, but he ended up
in his role after reporting a GPL violation he encountered with an
Insignia Blu-ray player to Bradley Kuhn at a conference. [00:08:44]
Richard asks if XMPP, the protocol uses by JMP, has license or
compliance issues, and Denver explains that it’s not a software
license issue and that XMPP, made through the IETF, doesn’t pose
any licensing concerns. [00:09:48] Richard discusses companies with
bad track records in software licensing compliance and the right to
repair, using John Deere as an example, and asks how anyone could
know if a that company is violating software license agreements.
Denver explains that the first step is to investigate what software
is used on the machines. He also highlights the issues with modern
agricultural technology. [00:12:20] Denver tells us there are
around eight employees at the Software Freedom Conservancy.
[00:12:47] Richard wonders about potential lawsuits against John
Deere and Denver clarifies while they haven’t sued, they did make a
public post about their concerns after private discussions didn’t
lead to resolution. [00:13:41] Richard asks if there are similar
user protection efforts in other countries, and Denver assures
there are, citing examples in Germany and mentioning other
organizations, such as FSFE. [00:14:50] Find out where you can
learn more about Denver’s work and the Software Freedom
Conservancy. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS
Twitter
(https://twitter.com/SustainOSS?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/)
podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS
Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) Richard Littauer
Twitter (https://twitter.com/richlitt?lang=en) Software Freedom
Conservancy (https://sfconservancy.org/) Open OSS
(https://openoss.sourceforge.net/) Denver Gingerich Website
(https://ossguy.com/) JMP (https://jmp.chat/) FSFE (Free Software
Foundation Europe) (https://fsfe.org/index.en.html) Credits
Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by
Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/)
Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound
(https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Denver Gingerich.