BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, March 7th, 2011 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced the appointment of John
Sullivan as its new executive director.

The appointment follows the departure of Peter T. Brown, who has been
the Foundation's executive director since 2005. Brown shares his
reflections on the change in a blog post at
<http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/peterb>.

Sullivan, who has worked at the FSF since 2003 and has been the
operations manager since 2007, said, "I'm looking forward to working
closely with FSF president Richard Stallman and our board to advance
the goals of the free software movement. I'm very thankful to Peter
for his effective leadership in our advocacy campaigns and in our
efforts to build resources for free software."

About the challenges and opportunities ahead, Sullivan added, "I'm
especially interested in our projects to promote free software
adoption in public and educational institutions, in doing what we can
to make GNU and the rest of the free software movement a welcoming,
positive place for
everyone, and in standing up to bullying from companies who think they
should be able to take freedom from individuals in order to make a
buck -- such as Apple and Microsoft locking free software out of their
mobile application stores; Sony prosecuting people for installing free
software on hardware in their own homes; and Adobe, MPEG-LA and others
trying to erect toll gates at the entrance to the free Web. The FSF
will continue the work it has been doing for over 25 years, to move us
toward a free society with free software."

### 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
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x24
<campaigns@fsf....>

###

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