Hi, I'm Matt Lee, the chief webmaster for the GNU Project. This is my first article for BadVista.

Right now, the computer manufacturer Dell is offering you the chance to speak up and give your views on how they can best support GNU/Linux on Dell computers. Unfortunately, none of the distributions listed on Dell's poll appear on our list of free distributions due to their inclusion of non-free software; this includes binary firmware, binary video drivers and other proprietary software, like Flash.

Dell is in a rather unique position, since as a manufacturer of systems they can choose the hardware devices that go into their machines. If they were to build computers specifically for GNU/Linux, or at least ones that could accommodate GNU/Linux and other operating systems, then there's no reason why those machines couldn't be built to support a totally free distribution like gNewSense. Couple that with a free BIOS, and Dell could be onto something pretty huge.

If you're someone who's previously bought a computer from Dell, or would potentially buy a machine from them if they were to make support available to fully-free distributions like gNewSense, then please take a few minutes to complete their survey, and post in the comments below to show your support for this effort.

This past Saturday in Boston, BadVista and binaryfreedom.info activists met up at a Vista launch event held by Microsoft for college students.

Their presence was a much-needed antidote to the overzealous Microsoft marketing machine. They distributed GNU/Linux CDs, BadVista stickers, and FSF flyers, helping to raise awareness about the many restrictions hidden in Vista's proprietary code and the superior free alternatives.

We were tipped off to this event by a BadVista supporter, and were able to organize people and materials to go at the last minute. If you hear about anything similar happening in your area, let us know!

Since the launch of Vista several governments and government agencies around the world have said publicly that they will not use it, including the US Department of Transportation and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. But we need to make sure that the space this creates is filled by free software operating systems like GNU/Linux.

In some cases, governments are instead moving to other kinds of proprietary software. This is why we need to emphasize the freedom of free software operating systems like GNU/Linux and not just their technical advantages (as represented by the term “open source”). What we want is not the rejection of Microsoft in particular—we want governments to acknowledge the ethical ramifications of their software choices and leave proprietary software behind entirely.

Though the rejections so far are good news, we shouldn't get complacent. In some cases these Vista bans are being presented as only temporary measures, with Vista still under long-term consideration. We still need to let our government officials know that we support free software.

If you are a Massachusetts resident, you can let Governor Patrick know that you want the Commonwealth to free itself from proprietary software interests for good by going to http://devalpatrick.com/issue/freesoftware and endorsing the issue.

What can be done in other states, and other countries?

Read more Stories about government agencies that have rejected Windows Vista.

An important part of the BadVista.org campaign is making sure our respective governments know that we think it's their obligation to use free software.

UK citizens can sign this petition in support of requiring that all publicly funded software projects publish source code under a free license.

There are currently 801 signatures. Let's see how many more we can get beforethe July 22 deadline.

Is there one out there for your country? Can you start one?

Our joint statement with Friends of the Earth International, the Green Party, People and Planet and the New Internationalist calling for a free society based on free software has now been signed 600+ more times over by activists around the world.

If you haven't yet, please add your signature to the statement calling on activist groups and individuals of all stripes to reject Microsoft Windows Vista and pursue free "as in freedom" software like GNU/Linux. Help us demonstrate how much support there is for a digital world without arbitrary restrictions on the freedoms we need to be effective agents for political change.

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is shipping and what we know so far is that it is incapable of running on many types of machines. In fact, Microsoft is being sued for putting stickers all over machines claiming that Vista could run on them, when in fact, it cannot. We recommend correcting this problem by covering up such stickers with a "GNU/Linux Inside!" sticker—if you make a purchase at our store or become an associate member we will send you some of these stickers.

If you were able to run Vista, you would find that it takes your general-purpose computer and makes it incapable of doing a lot of things you might want to do. In particular, it does not allow you control over your multimedia; it is incapable of allowing you to access your hardware, such as certain types of video cards, without restriction; and it is incapable of allowing you to control the third-party applications, data, and other files you download onto your machine.

Service Pack 1 does not change any of these facts about Vista, and it is in fact part and parcel of the same kind of behavior from Microsoft.

If you "upgrade" from Windows Vista to SP1, many of your third-party programs will just stop working. Furthermore, the updates only come from Microsoft, who gets to decide, without defining it, what terms like "spyware" used in their licenses mean. Even if you think you may have turned auto-updating off, Microsoft has made the decision, in the past, to decide that this is still at their discretion and will perform updates and deletions without asking you. Using Vista literally means handing over the keys to your computer.

If you don't want to continue running an "unsupported" Microsoft distribution and don't want to let the SP1 Trojan Horse into your home, then consider installing gNewSense or another all free software GNU/Linux distribution. It doesn't have to be time to discard your old computer and purchase a new one with a false sticker on it. Your current machine can likely run a free software GNU/Linux distribution, and you only have to make the switch once.

If you intend to make the switch, let others know by signing our petition to support free software for a free society.

On December 15, 2006, the FSF launched its BadVista.org campaign to advocate for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free -- as in freedom -- software alternatives. Two years later, the campaign has 7,000 registered activists, the name Vista is synonymous in the public eye with failure, and today we are declaring victory.

It is obvious that Vista has missed its window for widespread adoption. Individuals, governments, corporations, universities and organizations have largely taken a pass or even abandoned Microsoft entirely. The fact that Microsoft has repeatedly extended XP cutoff deadlines and is releasing a public beta of Windows 7 today is proof of Vista's failure.

Vista was Microsoft's largest ever product marketing launch. Estimated at a cost of $300M, those marketing dollars were spent in an effort to fool the media and user community about the goals of Vista. Thanks to all of you, we got the real message out and those dollars failed to win the day. Congratulations!

We are retiring the BadVista.org web site and ending the campaign in order to devote more effort and resources to new campaigns on the road toward a world in which all users can safely choose free software. Buoyed by this success, we will need all of you to continue lending your energy and creativity to this new work.

Today, there are three simple ways you can take action:

• Make a donation to join the Free Software Foundation as an associate member. If we can make our goal of 750 members (we have 332 already!) by the end of this month, we'll be in excellent shape to further our campaigns in 2009.
• Digg the announcement: Help get the word out that Windows 7 is no different from Vista in the ways that matter
• Subscribe to the Free Software Supporter, and stay informed about our work against Windows 7 and in favor of superior free software alternatives.

Thank You,
Peter, John, Matt and the BadVista.org team