Campaign actions

BadVista: We hardly knew ye

johns — 2009-01-09T16:41:31Z

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

Windows Vista Incapable

josh — 2008-03-28T05:21:35Z

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.

Free software for a free society

johns — 2007-09-05T21:13:35Z

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.

UK citizens: Sign this free software petition by July 22

johns — 2007-07-05T21:13:35Z

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?

Support governments moving away from Windows Vista and toward free software

johns — 2007-04-20T18:11:12Z

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?

Activists inform Vista partygoers in Boston

johns — 2007-04-12T23:53:25Z

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!

Speak up for freedom!

Matt Lee — 2007-03-21T14:29:48Z

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.

WANTED: One computer, free software friendly, no Vista

johns — 2007-03-05T17:00:18Z

It's no secret—anyone who wants to avoid supporting Vista is going to have a hard time buying a new computer. Most new computers come with Microsoft Windows preinstalled, and already it is difficult to find a machine not carrying Vista around on its back.

Many of you helped bring this concern to Dell by voting at their new feedback site. You said you wanted an option to buy a machine without Microsoft Windows preinstalled, or with a free software operating system.

The Free Software Foundation published a paper today entitled, “The road to hardware free from restrictions” calling on major hardware vendors to recognize that they can have a mutually beneficial relationship with the free software community, and outlining the areas vendors should act in to make that a reality.

The paper is being sent by the FSF directly to the biggest manufacturers, but it's vital that users and consumers also communicate this message. It's nonsensical that people have to pay a premium on hardware to cover the cost of Microsoft Windows when they are just going to format the hard drive and install GNU/Linux as soon as they get the machine home.

You can start by giving the paper a digg.

Tell Dell to sell free software systems

johns — 2007-02-21T18:14:41Z

Dell is soliciting your ideas for how they can improve their systems. This is a great way to let them know that you want hardware to be sold preinstalled with free software, or without any operating system on it at all so that you can set up your own non-Vista free software environment.

There is no reason you should be forced to pay a Microsoft Tax every time you buy a Dell computer.

You can go here to propose your idea and to vote for ideas you support. If you register an account with them, your vote counts for 10 anonymous votes.

Did you vote? Let us know in the comments here.

A BadVista at Microsoft's New York launch parties

johns — 2007-02-21T21:46:53Z

A common theme between the Microsoft Vista launch events that took place in major cities yesterday was the willingness to leave their customers out in the cold. In Toronto, they built an ice house (!) and conducted interviews inside it. In New York's Times Square, they kept their guests, including Vista beta-testers and journalists, waiting outside for hours in the freezing cold before admitting them to the theater to be “wowed”.

But despite the cold and the attempts to corral us into a tiny roped-off “free speech zone” hidden between two tour buses, DefectiveByDesign and BadVista activists were able to effectively communicate our message to all of the invitees waiting outside and to the many passersby in both Times Square and at the earlier nearby luncheon.

We talked to people and distributed literature about the dangers of Vista, DRM, Treacherous Computing and proprietary software. We distributed hundreds of CDs with free software for people to take home and try as an alternative to Vista.

We had a lot of people approach us—including many of the Microsoft event staff—to ask, “What's this all about?”

We did also raise our voice to be heard, shouting, “The OW Starts Now!” to counter the blaring signs proclaiming Microsoft's slogan, “The WOW Starts Now!”

We may not have Lebron James, Shaun Alexander, or other such celebrity software experts on our side, but judging from the reception we received from this crowd, people—once they know the details—are very concerned with Microsoft's attempted hoodwink masquerading as an “upgrade”, and are very willing to listen to us plain unfamous people.

Thanks to Kevin, John, David, Jeff, and everyone who sacrificed the circulation in their extremities to capitalize on this opportunity to be heard.

You can see more photos at http://flickr.com/photos/tags/badvista.

Share your WOW moments with BadVista.org in NYC

johns — 2007-02-21T21:47:21Z

Join BadVista.org in New York City for two actions to coincide with the Microsoft Vista launch on Monday, January 29th at 12pm and 2pm. They will take place near Times Square and near Grand Central.

Let us know that you can make it by emailing info@badvista.org. Include your name, email address, and phone number, so we can keep you up-to-date—if you already have an FSF account with this info in it, then just let us know your username.

Be sure to forward this post to friends and bring them along.

If you can't make it to New York City, there will be other actions for you to take part in to show your support on January 29th and 30th. We'll be sending out more details, but if you already know you want in, send your name, city, email, and phone number (or your FSF user name) to info@badvista.org.

The Backstory

In an open letter to computer users, Bill Gates asked everyone to share their “wow moments”:

As we prepare to launch Windows Vista...I'd like to invite you to share your wow moments with us. While you explore this Web site to learn more about Windows Vista, please help us celebrate the dawn of a new era by taking a few moments to share some of the wow moments you've already experienced.

BadVista.org would like to take Mr. Gates up on his open invitation. But since the Web site Microsoft set up to collect the “wow moments” doesn't work with free software browsers, we decided to deliver our message in person.

Conveniently, Microsoft is hosting a two-part high-profile launch event near Grand Central and in Times Square in New York City on Monday, January 29th, featuring a keynote by Steve Ballmer. That's not too far away from us, so we thought we'd show up and share.

Turns out, they don't want to hear your “wow” moment unless you are important and have an invitation. We asked for one, but we were refused:

Dear Mr. Sullivan,

Thank you very much for your e-mail and for your interest in the Launch Celebration. Unfortunately, because of the limited capacity, additional invitations are not being offered.

So, we won't be inside the event. But we'll be there. We need you to be there to—and it's OK if you don't have an invitation. Come join us in sharing a “wow moment”: the realization that Vista imposes restrictions we simply won't accept on freedoms we value.

Tagging Vista at Amazon.com

johns — 2007-02-21T21:48:25Z

DefectiveByDesign.org successfully campaigned to add tags to DRM-laden products being sold via Amazon. You can now find over 775 crippled products tagged with “defectivebydesign”.

Unsurprisingly, the various versions of Windows Vista are already on that list. 14 people have gotten the ball rolling by tagging “Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium” with “defectivebydesign”.

How about we get some more up there? Take a minute to visit the page for each of the Vista versions and leave tags that express your opinion about the software, so that other potential users will have a chance to learn about the unadvertised Vista “features” that lock you out of your own computer.

Here's a list of Vista products to start.

Other than defectivebydesign, what other tags are appropriate? drm, nonfree, badvista, downgrade? If you come up with new ones, leave them in the comments here too.

And don't forget that there are also web forums on Amazon linked to from each tag and product that you can use to explain why you object to Vista or why you used a particular tag.

(Note that if you don't already have an Amazon account, you might not want one—there are serious privacy concerns about how Amazon collects data from users through their click stream and shopping habits.)

Let Microsoft know they need to fix their search engine

johns — 2007-02-21T21:51:20Z

In a comment on the last post, mfoetsch pointed out that a search for BadVista-related terms using Microsoft's live.com engine was producing rather...unexpected results. Many posts and pages turn up that link to BadVista.org, but no results from badvista.org itself appear.

So I did a little testing. I checked the results at google.com, yahoo.com, ask.com, and live.com. You can see from the screenshots that there does seem to be a problem.

Is it deliberate? No way to know I suppose, though to their credit if you search for "badvista.fsf.org", you will get some (rather odd-looking) results. So perhaps this is some kind of technical problem with the interaction between their search bots and our site.

Either way, you should let them know about the omission. Leave a comment here to confirm you did it, so we can keep an informal count. Let's see how quickly we can get it fixed.

5 ways to help the BadVista.org campaign

johns — 2007-02-21T21:52:20Z

Try a Google search for Windows Vista. You'll find us on the first page, only a few notches below the official Microsoft site.

That's a measure of the amount of attention we received after the December launch. But we're not seeking this attention for its own sake. We want the attention so we can make sure the world knows about the new restrictions and problems that lie beneath the Vista eye candy, and about the benefits of the superior free software alternatives.

We spent the holidays catching up on all the feedback and press we received after the launch. One of the most common questions heard was, “How can I get involved? How can I help?” Here's how:

Show your support for the campaign by creating an account at fsf.org and subscribing to the BadVista mailing list. If you also enter your geographic information, we'll be able to contact you about campaign actions in your area.
Suggest news stories. You can help BadVista.org be the most effective first-stop site on the web for Vista news by letting us know about stories we have missed. Send the links to <info@badvista.org>, or leave them in the comments here.
Get artistic. With the name Vista, we want this campaign to have a strong visual element. If you have GIMP/Inkscape skills, draw your own "vistas" (maybe taking the pile of discarded computers at the bottom of this page as an inspiration), or campaign logos and promotional materials. Send us the info on how to get the images from you at <info@badvista.org>. Right now we could especially use some web banners that people can post to advertise the campaign, and some smaller images to go along with the blog categories as they develop.
Send us a blog post. We already have plans to publish the work of many others from the free software community here. If you've written something that fits as a blog post with one or both parts of our mission statement, send it to us at <info@badvista.org>.
Send us translations of any of the material you see on the site. We have a framework ready to go for making multilingual content available.

The second most common request we received was for a prominent area on the site listing specifically the reasons people choose free software over Vista. The beginnings of our Vista FAQ will appear shortly. And we want to hear what you think about it—what reasons and examples should we be stressing?

Join the campaign and speak out for your freedom

johns — 2007-02-21T21:56:18Z

Welcome to BadVista.org, the Free Software Foundation campaign opposing Microsoft Vista adoption and spotlighting free software alternatives.

The official industry release day for Windows Vista was November 30. Vista will be released on users in January 2007 (or so the story goes).

With your help, we will:

Organize supporters into effective actions protesting Microsoft's daylight theft of our freedoms
Aggregate news stories cutting through MS Windows Vista marketing propaganda
Provide a user-friendly gateway to free software adoption

You can help the campaign and stay up-to-date by signing up for the BadVista mailing list. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get involved, so there are two ways to do this.

The recommended way is to have an account at fsf.org. If you've already set one of those up, maybe by donating in the past as an associate member, or in order to leave comments on the GPLv3 drafts, then you can just go to your mailing settings and check the new box for the BadVista mailing list.

If you don't have an fsf.org account yet, then it's easy to set one up. We're using a single sign-on for everything we do now, so you'll only have to go through this once. It only takes a minute, and most of the information is optional (please just leave any fields you don't like blank instead of telling us your address is 123 asdf St.).

This is a blog, and we want it to be a conversation and a community—once you're registered, you'll be able to leave comments on posts here, and we hope you will. Test it out with a "Hello" at the bottom of this post if you want.

But if you're a wallflower or none of this appeals to you, or if you are a Microsoft employee and don't want us to know that you're keeping tabs on us, then feel free to use this form.

Welcome!