He becomes the eighth director on the FSF's board. The full list of their names and biographies can be found at http://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board.

"Matthew Garrett is a truly committed defender of users' freedom. The FSF is fortunate to have him on the board of directors," said FSF president Richard M. Stallman.

A developer specializing in the interactions between operating system kernels, platform firmware and system security, much of Garrett's work has focused on mechanisms for avoiding the oft-suggested tradeoff between user security and user freedom, ensuring that users have ultimate control over which software their devices will and will not run.

FSF executive director John Sullivan said, "Matthew has generously donated his time and expertise to advise the FSF on many issues in recent years, especially Restricted Boot and other disconcerting trends at the intersection of hardware and proprietary software distribution. His willingness to increase his involvement in FSF technical and policy leadership is fantastic news for our members and supporters."

Earlier this year, Garrett won the Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software. He holds a PhD in genetics from the University of Cambridge, and presents frequently around the world on the topic of free software in wider society.

On accepting the invitation to join the board, Garrett said, "It's been almost thirty years since the Free Software Foundation was founded, and in that time free software has become an indispensable part of computer use everywhere, creating an entire new generation of users and developers for whom free software has always been ubiquitous. Unfortunately, the number of threats to user freedom has also increased over that time. The FSF continues to campaign against attempts to restrict the rights of users and developers to be in ultimate control of the software that they use and the devices that they own, and I'm proud to be able to be a part of that."

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

More information about the FSF, as well as important information for journalists and publishers, is at https://www.fsf.org/press.

Media Contacts

John Sullivan

Executive Director

Free Software Foundation

+1 (617) 542 5942

campaigns@fsf.org



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