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Bika LIMS rejoins the Free Software Foundation but loses iconic membership number 11111

After a too long lapse during the various financial turmoils, Bika LIMS has renewed its associate membership with the Free Software Foundation, prompted by a recent 40th anniversary appeal by FSF president Ian Kelling. The renewal reflects Bika’s long-standing reliance on the FSF​ and its commitment to software freedom

15 January 2025. Cape Town

Back in 2012 when Bika LIMS joined the Free Software Foundation, we thought it was a prank when we received membership number 11111. It turned out to be true. ​The organisation has since done away with membership numbers and we  could not retain number 11111, and we now have a "member since" button​ to display


The call for donations by the foundation to keep up its work, made us remember the time when we could reference our FSF membership in the face of a proprietary hijack ​threat to the Bika project. Referencing the FSF and general counsel Prof. Eben Moglen definitely assisted in fending the predators off
In its early days, the FSF mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community. In the 90s, General Public License (GPL) enforcement was done informally. Typically, violations during this time were cleared up without much publicity

High-profile GPL enforcement cases, such as those against Linksys and OpenTV, followed. 
In December 2008, the FSF filed a lawsuit against Cisco for using GPL-licensed components shipped with Linksys products. Cisco was notified of the licensing issue as early as 2003 but repeatedly disregarded its obligations under the GPL

In May 2009, Cisco and FSF reached a settlement under which Cisco agreed to make a monetary donation to the FSF and appoint a Free Software Director to conduct continuous reviews of the company's license compliance practices

More about the FSF's current campaigns . Most prominently:

  • Librephone - Research and reverse-engineering proprietary firmware used by Android devices, with the goal to understand and write free implementations for the binary blobs used in near all mobile phones today
  • Fight to Repair - As the world becomes more software-driven, an individual's right to repair both the hardware and software components of the devices they rely on becomes crucial
  • Free JavaScript - An ongoing effort to persuade organizations to make their Web sites work without requiring that users run any nonfree software

By becoming an FSF associate member, you help the foundation reach its fundraising goal, and you become part of a symbolic group of thousands standing behind the FSF, lending weight to their message and helping to pave the way to software freedom.