NGI0: How the FSFE Helps Free Software Developers Engineer a Better Internet

With the FSFE in its 3rd and final year of its involvement in the European Commission's NGI0 Initiative, the feedback of our work in this area has been positive. Today, we give you updates of what the team has been working on with this initiative, and share the feedback from various developers on how we've managed to help them.

What will the Internet of the future look like? The European Commission's (EC) Next Generation Internet Initiative (NGI) envisions an Internet that is accessible, diverse, and respects the fundamental value of privacy. Here at the FSFE, we believe that Free Software is key to accomplish this vision, so that all people, regardless of their background, are able to use the Internet as an effective tool to achieve their full potential.

“NGI0 not only made it possible to pursue our goals by supplying funding. I was approached a number of times by professionals whom I learned to respect for their knowledge and concrete support, ranging from security to usability, internationalisation, licensing and copyrighting and putting what we do in a perspective of inclusiveness and diversity. Their help will go a long way to improve our products and I am sure to seek out other partners to the NGI0 project before we’re done.”

Joop Ringelberg, Perspectives-core Project

To that end, since November 2018 the FSFE has been since November 2018 a partner organisation of Next Generation Internet Zero (NGI0), which is a coalition of thirteen non-profit organizations from all over Europe coordinated by the NLnet Foundation. Coming under the overall NGI umbrella, the purpose of NGI0 is to provide financial grants and technical support to researchers and developers who are working on Free Software solutions that contribute to the establishment of the Next Generation Internet.

FSFE Provides Assistance to Free Software Developers Through NGI0

As part of the technical assistance rendered to NGI0 participating software projects, the FSFE focuses on providing guidance on best practices for communicating the components, licenses, and copyrights associated with software packages. We are happy to share an update on the impact and progress that the FSFE and the project as a whole have had.

“Our Free Software developer needs were understood and met with minimal frictions… With audits, this NGI0 support went further than just allowing us to spend more time working on the project, they taught us how to improve it. The FSFE REUSE team even contributed actual code with a regular merge-request, in a perfect illustration of ‘them’ teaming up with us!”

Simon Descarpentires, Meta-Press.es Project

In order to be effective at internet scale, all 242 NGI0 software projects will be Free Software by end of their involvement in the project. We have made many strides in our efforts to assist these participating software projects with their legal and licensing needs, as well as at convincing them to adopt our REUSE standards as best practices for displaying licensing and copyright information.

To achieve this goal, we have developed a workflow to help projects go through a licensing compliance cycle composed of several phases to identify, process, and resolve any legal query the project could present.

"We are always listening to developers to learn how we can best assist them. While the project certainly had some growing pains in the beginning, feedback from the developers has been incredibly valuable for us to refine our workflow over the course of our involvement in the NGI0 initiative, to make the experience for all participants as fruitful and collaborative as possible.”

Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, FSFE Legal Coordinator

REUSE: Copyright and Licensing Made Easier for Everyone

A significant part of our work in the NGI0 initiative has been to assist participating software projects with adopting our REUSE standards. Code that implements these standards is able to be easily machine read, allowing copyright and licensing information contained therein to be verified automatically without manual intervention. This allows the code to be quickly and safely adopted by individuals, public bodies, and private enterprises of any size.

"The REUSE framework simplifies the declaration and management of different licenses in your own project, and thus clearly enables everybody to reuse Free Software. The addition of REUSE header and software license information to our Neuropil project went smoothly and painlessly. The main work was carried out with a simple merge request over a diverse set of source code files, external libraries and documentation. A big thank you from the team for the FSFE’s contribution!”

Stephan Schwichtenberg, Neuropil Project

Over 2020 and into the first quarter of 2021, we have worked with over 100 NGI0 participating software projects to guide them to implement the REUSE standards on their workflow. This has included working directly with their repositories to better improve how the licensing and copyright information contained in their repositories are displayed, so that any adopters of their work in the future can more easily comply with these license and copyright obligations.

Developing Educational Materials

Together with another NGI0 partner organisation, the Institute for Legal Issues regarding Free and Open Source Software, or ifrOSS, we have included in our website a set of educational FAQs about Free Software legal and licensing issues. These FAQs tackle topics useful to any Free Software developer, such as the basics of copyright, licensing issues with Free Software, and issues with license compatibility. In addition to these quick FAQs, we have also prepared more comprehensive educational PDF documents that explain these topics more in depth.

Providing Guidance on Legal and Licensing Issues

Many participating software projects may also have many legal questions pertaining to the various licenses relevant to their work. While the FSFE assists them with the more basic questions, they can also receive guidance and advice on more complex legal issues from ifrOSS. In the last two years, we have provided guidance with inquiries on a variety of topics, including inquiries related to license implementation and compatibility issues, dependency management, managing external contributions, licensing scanning tools, trademark issues, potential licensing violations and hardware licenses.

"Regarding REUSE, we have learnt a lot. We realise that the idea behind REUSE is simple, clear, and powerful… Nowadays, Free Software projects become more and more complicated, and many components/files of a single project have different license/copyright information. REUSE helps a lot on tracking the status of this information in our project.”

Xianjun Jiao, OpenWifi Project

REUSE and the FSFE's Continuing Commitment to Helping Free Software Developers

Our work with the NGI0 initiative has been a great success for REUSE, as we've managed to help so many developers working on software that will solve a diverse range of problems have a better understanding of Free Software licenses, compliance issues, and how best to prevent these from occurring if they adopt our REUSE standards. Spreading such knowledge and awareness among developers helps to create a more robust and healthy Free Software ecosystem. Indeed, working with REUSE through the NGI0 initiative has been a learning experience for the FSFE ourselves.

"Being involved in NGI0 has been a nurturing experience. On one hand, it has been very interesting to work closely with and learn from projects that are reshaping the future of the internet. On the other, being part of the FSFE team has provided me with the necessary technical and legal skills to feel comfortable to contribute directly to projects' repositories through merge-requests; a task that was completely new for me in the beginning. All the positive feedback from these projects only encourages me to keep up the good work.”

Lina Ceballos, FSFE Legal Trainee

One of the areas where the FSFE is committed to providing guidance for developers is in the legal and licensing sphere. On this front, the FSFE has since 2009 coordinated a network of legal professionals in the field of Free Software, and provided them with a forum for cutting edge legal discussions. It is through the help of this network of experts that we have been able to develop initiatives such as REUSE, which makes it easier for developers to fulfill their Free Software legal and licensing obligations without necessarily having to become experts themselves.

While the NGI0 initiative is expected to come to a close by the end of 2021, the FSFE nevertheless will continue providing guidance to developers. In the upcoming months, we will offer a low-barrier opportunity for Free Software projects to apply for help by our REUSE professionals. As with NGI0, the FSFE will assist developers with making their projects REUSE compliant while clarifying potentially complex copyright and licensing situations. Stay tuned for more!

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Router Freedom Activity Package +++ Fernanda Weiden +++ Spring Sales

In our April Newsletter read about our Router Freedom Activity Package, our interview with former Vice President Fernanda Weiden, our new Software Freedom Podcast with Elisa Lindinger, our Spring Sales and as usual our other diverse community activities.

FSFE launches the Router Freedom Activity Package

Router Freedom is the right that consumers of any Internet Service Provider (ISP) have to choose and use a private modem and router instead of equipment that the ISP provides. In the context of reform of telecommunications law, since June 2020 a new set of rules guides the implementation of Router Freedom in Europe.

Although the new rules will provide more clarity in several respects concerning end-users' rights, the awareness of Router Freedom is low across Europe. Active participation of local communities in the legislative processes of laws impacting the ability of end-users to choose their network devices is crucial for leveraging the protection of Router Freedom in national jurisdictions.

Therefore, we have prepared an activity package for individuals and organisations who want to communicate with regulators and decision makers of their countries and take a stand for Router Freedom. The package consists of an activity summary, a monitoring map and a wiki page with relevant information for local engagement.

We would love to know more about your experience with Router Freedom, so we can act accordingly. Please participate in our end-user survey. It will take only a few minutes!

20 Years FSFE: Interview with Fernanda Weiden

In our third birthday publication we interview Fernanda "nanda" Weiden who was raised n Porto Alegre, Brasil, where she organised FISL, the largest Free Software conference in Latin America. Later she became a founding member and council member of the Free Software Foundation Latin America, before moving to Europe, where she joined the FSFE as a volunteer. Just a little bit later she was elected Vice President of the Free Software Foundation Europe from 2009-2011.

In these early years of her engangement with the FSFE, Fernanda helped to shape the FSFE's profile and organisation. Her favourite campaign that she was heavily contributing to was the Document Freedom Day, a campaign to highlight the importance of Open Standards and a global day to celebrate them. Fernanda is also co-founder of the "Women in Free Software Project" in Brazil and former member of "Debian Women". Until today Fernanda is part of the FSFE's General Assembly and helps the organisation with her manifold professional skills if needed.

This year the FSFE celebrates its 20th anniversary. Support our work for the next 20 years to come

SFP#10: How to support Free Software and a sustainable digital infrastructure

In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from Superrr Lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim.

What have we done? Inside and outside the FSFE

• With a groundbreaking resolution, Dortmund has committed itself to the use of Free Software. With an overwhelming, cross-faction majority, the city council has paved the way for "Public Money? Public Code!" In the future, software developed or commissioned by the administration will be made available to the general public.
• Max Mehl, FSFE programme manager, gave a talk on "Digital Sovereignty in Europe - Free Software as the Key" in which he provided an overview of the most important contexts and discussed pragmatic possibilities based on existing examples to put public digital infrastructure on a modern footing.
• Ralf Hersel, Coordinator of the FSFE local Zurich group, gave a presentation on "Learning like the Pros" during the Open Education Day conference. Learning like the Pros informs about Digital Sovereignty, explains professional approaches and offers concrete suggestions.
• For the International Transgender Day of Visibility, Carmen Bianca Bakker writes about "What's in a name?"
• Lucas Lasota, FSFE Deputy Legal Coordinator, will conduct the course "Legal Aspects of Digital Sovereignty" at the Humboldt University of Berlin. The course is dedicated to several elements that compose the terms that are being discussed in public debates, but from the legal perspective.

"Show your support" (aka "Get active")

Although Spring seems a little bit late this year in Northern Europe, we have started the FSFE Spring Sales in which we offer all our coloured T-shirts, magnets, pins, gym sacks and children's shirts at a reduced price for a short period. Be quick, because the offer is only valid while stock lasts. Moreover, sale products that are sold out will no longer be reordered as we will refresh our inventory.

Contribute to our newsletter

If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly contribution.

Thanks to our community and all the volunteers, supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.

Your editor, Erik Albers

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Bundestag Election 2021: Demands for a Digitally Sovereign Society

Digital civil society organisations make four demands for a digitally sovereign society to politicians for the 2021 federal election. Among them is the Free Software Foundation Europe, which works to ensure that software developed with public money shall be published under a Free Software licence.

On 1 April 2020, civil society organisations working for an independent digital infrastructure and free access to knowledge called on politicians: Learn from the crisis - strengthen digital civil society! (German) In an open letter, the undersigned organisations also made concrete recommendations for action. However, far too little has happened since then. The past year has made it clear that politics and public administration are overwhelmed with their own digital transformation and are setting priorities in digital policy that do not meet the needs of society. We are far from a digitally sovereign society.

That is why a broad spectrum of organisations, including the Free Software Foundation Europe, has once again come together at digitalezivilgesellschaft.org to support politics with their expertise. With four demands, the network shows how digitisation can succeed for a digitally sovereign society - and calls on the parties in light of the federal elections to make digitisation for the common good a central topic.

Four demands to the federal government

1. Digital Sovereignty: politicians must anchor the digital sovereignty of society as the highest maxim in digital policy. Instead of a digital ministry, we need a mission for the coming legislative period that elevates digital sovereignty to a guiding principle and is drafted and evaluated together with representatives from civil society, science and business.
2. Participation and Transparency: civil society must finally be given the same opportunities as business and science to contribute its expertise. This is achieved through a civil society quota in political advisory bodies, communication and transparency on procedures of political decision-making processes, legally defined deadlines for consultations as well as machine-readable documentation.
3. Public Money, Public Good: publicly funded solutions must be accessible to all under a free licence so that no knowledge is lost or problems are solved twice. This concerns software: We want legal foundations that require software developed with public money for public administrations to be published under a Free Software Licence (also know as Open Source). If public money is involved, the code should also be public! (Public Money? Public Code!). But also public administration data (Open Data) as well as free knowledge and open educational materials (Open Educational Resources).
4. Sustainable Digitisation: digitisation can only succeed if the development of digital infrastructure is economically and socially viable. To this end, diversity in digitisation and the development and maintenance of secure, decentralised digital infrastructure for society must be promoted in the long term.

Launch event on 5 May 2021

At the launch event, Julia Reda (former member of the EU Parliament), Henning Tillmann (software developer and co-chair of D64) and Julia Kloiber (co-founder Superrr Lab) will discuss these four demands on 5 May 2021 from 18:00 to 19:30. The panel will be moderated by Katja Jäger (betterplace lab). Afterwards, all participants will have the opportunity to exchange ideas on solutions, measures and calls for action in four thematic rooms. FSFE's Alexander Sander will moderate the room on "Public Money? Public Code!". Further information and registration for the launch event will be available soon on digitalezivilgesellschaft.org.

Signatory organisations of digitalezivilgesellschaft.org: Free Software Foundation Europe, Superrr Lab, gut.org, betterplace lab, Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland e.V. (SEND), Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland e.V., Liquid Democracy e.V., iRights.Lab, Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung e.V. (FIfF), Chaos Computer Club, Bundesverband Smart City e.V., mediale pfade, Stiftung Erneuerbare Freiheit, Center for the Cultivation of Technology, neuland21 e.V., Arbeitskreis Digitalisierung der BUNDjugend, Verstehbahnhof, Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, Wikimedia Deutschland e. V., Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, D64, epicenter.works e.V., Digitale Gesellschaft e.V., Ashoka Deutschland e. V., Progressives Zentrum e. V.

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20 Years FSFE: Interview with Fernanda Weiden

In our third birthday publication we interview Fernanda Weiden - co-founder of the FSF Latin America and former Vice President of the FSFE - about the early starts of Free Software in Latin America, nowadays use of Free Software in Big Tech and about support of diversity in different communities.

Fernanda "nanda" Weiden has a long history of personal engagement for Free Software and the FSFE. Actually a way too long to fit into this introduction but we try at least to shed light on some of her contributions: Raised in Porto Alegre, Brasil, Fernanda organised FISL, the largest Free Software conference in Latin America. Later she became founding and council member of the Free Software Foundation Latin America, before moving to Europe, where she joined the FSFE as a volunteer. Just a little bit later she was elected Vice President of the Free Software Foundation Europe from 2009-2011.

In these early years of her engangement with the FSFE, Fernanda helped to shape the FSFE's profile and organisation. Her favourite campaign that she was heavily contributing to was the Document Freedom Day. A campaign to highlight the importance of Open Standards and a global day to celebrate them. Fernanda is also co-founder of the "Women in Free Software Project" in Brazil and former member of "Debian Women". Until today Fernanda is part of the FSFE's General Assembly and helps the organisation with her manifold professional skills if needed.

For 20 Years FSFE we interview Fernanda about her time with the FSF*s, about Free Software event activities, and its use in big business.

Interview with Fernanda Weiden

FSFE: You were raised in Brazil where you co-founded the Free Software Foundation Latin America. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how you initially got attracted by Free Software and how it came you co-founded the FSFLA?

Fernanda Weiden: I grew up in Porto Alegre, the southernmost capital in Brazil. It is a city of about a million people in a region under large influence of its European immigration. I never really planned to end up as a computer engineer. The first time I entered university, it was to become a mathematics teacher. After about a year of that, it was clear that wasn't going to work for me.

I started become more and more interested in computers, and a lot of people I knew were already using and playing around with GNU/Linux. I got curious about that very quickly and learning to use GNU/Linux without a graphical interface helped me to understand how computers worked without the magic of a user interface. I loved it.

After a while I started working with systems and when RedHat started their certification program called RedHat Certified Engineer, I was on the first group of people in Latin America who took the test. There were 10 of us, and 6 passed the test. I was one of them and obviously, the only woman.That brought a spotlight into my work, and also put a spotlight on the Free Software community for me. I rapidly became engaged.

Those years in Latin America were politically very interesting, and a lot of the governments were investing in Free Software as a possible alternative to foster business and also independence from software suppliers - usually from Europe or North America. Free Software Foundation Latin America was an obvious step to help strengthen the community and also support decision makers in the public sector to understand the issues around Free Software better. Unfortunately I do not think that FSFLA managed to fulfil its potential at the time, but it was a great experience nevertheless.

I was already very well connected with people from all over Latin America and over the world really because of the work I did in the program committee of the International Free Software Forum in Porto Alegre, so I ended up being a natural choice I guess. Being a woman also helped. Unlike many other women involved in the community, I was an engineer and understood not only the political side of the issues, but the technical side too.

Back then in Brazil, you spent a lot of time volunteering to help organising FISL, the largest Free Software conference in Latin America. Can you tell us how the perception of Free Software was at that time in Brazil, why volunteering matters and why it is important to have such Free Software related events?

Free Software in Brazil was at its highest point, I would say. The government was interested and willing to make moves and cooperate with the community to learn from us. The government supported us also financially by funding our events and helping us to build a solid base for the community. Events are super important because they help spread awareness and build momentum for important steps to be taken politically. I also think events are opportunities to give the microphone to those who have something important to say. At that time, it was important that we all let the world know that there was a different path for digital transformation and to start an industry in technology that isn't dependent on technologies from big companies. Free Software is empowering for a third world nation because it can take countries and industries out of the backseat into the driver seat for their own future.

Later in your life you moved from Brazil to Europe where you joined the Free Software Foundation Europe as a volunteer and later became for two years our Vice President. How was your experience as a vice president and what keeps you active within the FSFE after over 15 years now?

I moved to Europe at the end of 2005, after receiving a job offer to join Google in Zurich. It was the most transformational experience in my life. Seeing and living different cultures, working in big tech for almost 13 years. All that changed me and helped me develop in ways I've never thought possible before.

FSFE for me was a way to stay engaged with my roots. I had friends who were also engaged, and I wanted to continue to give back to the community that gave me so much. Not only in technical and political knowledge, but everything else that comes with that. I am forever grateful to what Free Software made possible in my life, and continuing to give back to the community is very important to me. Even if at times seem hard because life has changed so much, time is more scarce and priorities have shifted from a personal point of view.

Document Freedom Day was a campaign by the FSFE to raise awareness about the importance of Open Standards. You were heavily involved in the creation of the campaign, helped setting up the website and the general concepts. What did you like about DFD and what was your favourite DFD activity?

Open Standards for documents are vital. If you record your information in a standard that isn't open for anyone to implement, to me, it is the same as not owning the information you recorded, because you're prisoner of that vendor forever. If they go out of business, so do your records. I love the campaign because I think it is a way to raise the importance of digital freedom to those who might not be aware or even interested in Free Software. It is a way to plant a question into people's minds.

My favorite activity was definitely the pictures. We would ask people to send us pictures from all over the world of their events/celebrations for DFD, and it was great to see the community getting together all over the world to discuss the importance of Open Standards.

You spent several years in large international tech company. How is the role and importance of Free Software and Open Standards perceived in big business and did it change over the years?

When I became a Free Software activist, one had to argue about the platform to be used to build software. Today, Free Software isn't a question anymore. It is the norm in many places. Big companies play an important role because they hire and pay engineers to continue to produce state of art software that is then available through Free Software licenses. Of course not all engineer hours go into that, but it is definitely something that both big tech companies I worked for appreciated and contributed to in different ways.

You are co-founder of the "Women in Free Software Project" in Brazil, member "Debian Women", and accomplished to have the highest percentage of women in your tech department in a large international company. From your practical experience, what do you consider the most important points for Free Software organisations to create an inclusive environment for women and other traditionally underrepresented groups in Free Software?

The most important thing, in my view, is to make it a priority to build an inclusive environment. It cannot be a second thought. If you don't think first and foremost how I can make sure this environment is friendly to everyone, you're missing the opportunity to be inclusive. A lot of companies and organizations make the mistake to believe that one or other activity will make them more friendly to minorities. It isn't about one or other activity. It is about how you behave every moment of your day and how much effort you make to ensure you're listening to the quiet, being open to different opinions, and being restless to ensure your pipeline is healthy with diverse talent when you're going to hire. It is a virtuous cycle: once you start making positive moves, more diverse talent will keep coming because they will feel safe.

What is your personal highlight with the FSFE or an important thing that you learnt from your work at the FSFE?

From the early times working at FSFE I always appreciated the pragmatic and balanced way to engage with the community. FSFE has always had a commitment to have a dialogue no matter how different positions were held by the other side of the conversation. I think this is very important in business settings too: you have to listen to everyone if you want to be effective. FSFE also does it in a way that is friendly, accepting but does not compromise the core values we stand for.

And what is a story that still makes you laugh or smile when you remember it?

Unfortunately I wasn't present for the day, but I still laughed a lot about it, and I was there when the song was released, and that was a lot of fun. Definitely the Schnitzel Monster. I will let the monster tell his own story though.

FSFE: As a last question, what do you wish the FSFE for the next 20 years?

I wish that the FSFE continues to be an organization that evolves as the challenges of our times evolve. If in the past proprietary software was a big issue, now we have privacy issues in the cloud. We also have software running in our washing machines and ovens. I also wish FSFE continues to be the friendly environment it has always been to me. We don't see each other in person very often, but when we do, excluding the extra grey hair and wrinkles, it feels like we have always been close. It is a large and spread family.

FSFE: Thank you very much!

About "20 Years FSFE"

In 2021 the Free Software Foundation Europe turns 20. This means two decades of empowering users to control technology.

Turning 20 is a time when we like to take a breath and to look back on the road we have come, to reflect the milestones we have passed, the successes we have achieved, the stories we have written and the moments that brought us together and that we will always joyfully remember. In 2021 we want to give momentum to the FSFE and even more to our pan-European community, the community that has formed and always will form the shoulders that our movement relies on.

20 Years FSFE is meant to be a celebration of everyone who has accompanied us in the past or still does. Thank you for contributing your piece of the puzzle that shapes the FSFE and setting the foundation for the next decades' work of the movement for software freedom.

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SFP#10: How to support Free Software and a sustainable digital infrastructure

In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from superrr lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim.

For this episode Matthias Kirschner and Bonnie Mehring talk with Elisa Lindinger about the survey Roadwork ahead, which evaluates the needs of those working for software freedom and a digital infrastructure for the public. What concrete actions are needed to create sustainable Free Software communities and projects? How could developers spend more time on coding and not so much time on organising events and finances, in short how could community management be better organised? And how could those who do volunteer work for open infrastructure and Free Software receive the support they need? Those are just some of the questions discussed in the podcast. All of those problems are brought into a broader sense of this topic, when we talk about how our digital civil society can be more sustainable? We discuss the four claims Elisa and her team developed and advocate for:

1. Digital civil society needs to be part of political discussions about digital policy,
2. New methods are needed of support and funding,
3. "Public Money? Public Code!" should be a guiding principle for public procurements and Open Data, Open Access and Open Source should be the base for public contracts,
4. a commitment for long-time support of widely-used software, libraries and protocols is needed to ensure their maintenance.

Together, we discuss how a sustainable digital civil society can look like and what is still needed for this aim to be reached. This episode provides knowledge and insights for all of you who want to support Free Software and create a long-lasting digital society.

Read more:

• What is Free Software?
• Report: Roadwork ahead
• Learning from the crisis: empower civil society organisations!
• SUPERRR Lab
• Next Generation Internet Zero Initiative (NGI0)

If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.

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