William John Sullivan
John Sullivan | |
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![]() John Sullivan at Free Software Foundation event, June 2006. | |
Born |
William John Sullivan December 6, 1976 |
Residence | Boston, MA[1] |
Employer | Free Software Foundation[2] |
William John Sullivan (more commonly known as John Sullivan[3]) (born December 6, 1976) is a software freedom activist, hacker, and writer. John is currently executive director[4] of the Free Software Foundation, where he has worked since early 2003. He is also a speaker and webmaster for the GNU Project. He also maintains the Plannermode and delicious-el packages for the GNU Emacs text editor.
Active in both the free software and free culture communities, Sullivan has a BA in philosophy from Michigan State University and an MFA in Writing and Poetics. In college, Sullivan was a successful policy debater, reaching finals of CEDA Nationals and the semifinals of the National Debate Tournament.[5]
Until 2007, John was the main contact behind the Defective by Design, BadVista and Play Ogg campaigns. He also served as the chief-webmaster for the GNU Project, until July 2006.[6]
He has served as Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation since 2011.
As a speaker for the GNU Project
![](../I/m/Mjg59_and_johnsu.png)
John currently delivers speeches on the following topics,[7] in English:
- Digital Restrictions Management[8] issues and the FSF's Defective by Design campaign
- Media format patents, proprietary licensing, and the FSF's PlayOgg.org campaign
- Choosing free software over Microsoft Windows
- How you can help: Strategies for communicating and organizing around free software ideals
- Why software should be free
- Introduction to the GPLv3 and free software licensing
- FSF/GNU high-priority free software projects[9]
References
- ↑ Sullivan, William John. "Contacting John Sullivan". Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ↑ Contacting the Free Software Foundation
- ↑ John Sullivan's home page
- ↑ FSF announces new executive director
- ↑ "NDT Results 1997-2005" (PDF). American Forensic Association. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ↑ GNU's Webmasters - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
- ↑ GNU and Free Software Speakers - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
- ↑ Confusing Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
- ↑ High Priority Free Software Projects - Free Software Foundation