Free software advocates object to the proprietary nature of Adobe Flash Player, which has been a hang-up in providing full Web access to users of operating systems based on GNU and the kernel. Some distributions that are otherwise composed of free software do enable access to Flash. But Gnash is one of at least a couple of free alternatives to Flash, and users who wish to avoid all proprietary software can install it on, for example, the operating system gNewSense and browser GNU IceCat, a free software version of Firefox.

Gnash "has enabled free software users to avoid dependency on a pervasive piece of proprietary software," the Free Software Foundation says. Savoye "is also CTO and founder of Open Media Now, a nonprofit dedicated to producing a freely licensed media infrastructure," the group says.

The Tor Project is free software and can be installed on , Mac, Linux, Unix and , working with Web browsers, IM clients, and remote login systems to "defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state known as traffic analysis," the project says.

"Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location," the Tor Project says on its website. "Tor works with many of your existing , including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol."

The Tor Project has detailed some of the impact it had in Iran on its . and has continued to attempts to stifle Internet connectivity.