Debian Donates to Support GNOME Patent Defense

Sam Hartman
Mon, 28 Oct 2019 17:00:00 +0100
2019, debian, gnome, patent trolls, fundraising, donation

Today, the Debian Project pledges to donate $5,000 to the GNOME Foundation in support of their ongoing patent defense. On October 23, we wrote to express our support for GNOME in an issue that affects the entire free software community. Today we make that support tangible.

"This is bigger than GNOME," said Debian Project Leader Sam Hartman. "By banding together and demonstrating that the entire free software community is behind GNOME, we can send a strong message to non-practicing entities (patent trolls). When you target anyone in the free software community, you target all of us. We will fight, and we will fight to invalidate your patent. For us, this is more than money. This is about our freedom to build and distribute our software."

"We're incredibly grateful to Debian for this kind donation, and also for their support," said Neil McGovern, Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation. "It's been heartening to see that when free software is attacked in this way we all come together on a united front."

If GNOME needs more money later in in this defense, Debian will be there to support the GNOME Foundation. We encourage individuals and organizations to join us and stand strong against patent trolls.