# articles

feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2019/.news-20191128-01.en.xml
title: The last 12 months in the light of software freedom
uri: The-last-12-months-in-the-light-of-software-freedom
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191128-01.html
content:
The last 12 months in the light of software freedom<p>In the last 12 months, we have achieved a lot with the help of our volunteers, through their donations and hard work. Thanks to their support, we were able to successfully continue our PMPC campaign, simplify licensing practices through our REUSE initiative, and stand up for router freedom in Europe. We will be back in 2020 with even more vigour towards our work. Please help us with a donation so that we can continue our successful commitment to Free Software.</p>Some of our achievements in the past 12 months
	  Our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign: We will keep encouraging the public sector to use and procure more Free Software. With a strong alliance of the administration of Barcelona, the Parliament of Asturias, over 170 organisations, and more than 26,000 individuals, we demand that publicly financed software development should be made publicly available under Free Software licenses. We have released an expert brochure for decision makers, and are working on translations. 	  
	  
	  Router Freedom: Some years ago, the FSFE successfully fought for router freedom in Germany. Now, the same debate reaches the European level, with Internet Service Providers (ISP) wanting to restrict users' direct access to their modems and routers even after selling them to end customers. The FSFE aims to counteract this restriction of freedom and to protect users' control of technology by monitoring the status of router freedom in several member states and spreading an "activity package" for people and organisations willing to advocate for router freedom.
	  
	  Our REUSE initiative: If you want to grant users the freedom to use, study, share, and improve your software, you need to make sure that your software is properly licensed. In August, we released an updated set of best practices together with more supplementary materials and tools. Now, a project can become REUSE compliant in only three simple steps.
	  
  <p>You can find more details and other success stories in our report <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">"Software Freedom in Europe 2019"</a>.</p><p>
If you are not yet a supporter please become one; we need you to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">support our future work</a>.</p>
      <img src="media/78e116a3.2019-Cory-Doctorow-1200x630.en.png" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/fundraising/2019-Cory-Doctorow-1200x630.en.png"/>
 Our plans for 2020
	  The new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to solidify her European digital agenda and we expect an updated "Open Source Strategy" by the European Commission. The FSFE will keep a close eye on these proposals to guarantee a safe environment for Free Software in Europe.
	  
	  We will continue to advocate for router freedom in Europe to help people stay in control of their technology.
	  
	  To help decision-makers better understand the impact Free Software has on security and digital sustainability, we are preparing analyses of these topics and their connection with Free Software.
	  
	  We recently introduced our new Software Freedom Podcast in which we will continue to deliver interesting insights into Free Software, once a month.
	  
  <p>The FSFE is a charitable organisation and without your support, we would not be able to constantly raise awareness about Free Software -- in the public and private sectors, and among the general public.
  </p><p>A big thank you to all of you who support us currently and who have supported us in the past.</p><p>Many people around the world support our work; among them Greg Kroah-Hartman (Linux Kernel developer) who says:</p><p>"The 'Public Money? Public Code!' campaign, as well the 'REUSE Initiative' made me notice that the FSFE is an organization which supports the same ideals that I do. I want to help them do more great things, and so now I am a proud FSFE supporter."</p><p>If you are currently not a supporter, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">please become one now</a>!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2019/.news-20191205-01.en.xml
title: Report from the 2019 FSFE Community Meeting in Bolzano, Italy
uri: Report-from-the-2019-FSFE-Community-Meeting-in-Bolzano-Italy
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html
content:
Report from the 2019 FSFE Community Meeting in Bolzano, Italy<p>This year's FSFE Community Meeting took place from Friday 15 November to Saturday 16 November 2019 as part of SFSCon - an annual Free Software event in the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy.  As in previous editions, embedding our community meeting in another event gave us the opportunity to meet different parts of our own community as well as to connect with people from other communities.</p><p>On Friday, SFScon started officially and the NOI Techpark transformed into the interim capital of Free Software with talks and booths.  Of course, the FSFE booth was also part of it and the booth team commandeered the whole area by installing a balloon chain and putting up posters.  The rumours that the booth team gave away free pizza (not as in freedom) to gain more attention, are highly exaggerated, though.</p>
     <img src="media/c1139a03.201911-SFScon-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-800px.jpeg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/201911-SFScon-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-800px.jpeg"/>
     Free Pizza (not as in freedom) lunch at the 2019 FSFE Community Meeting at SFScon. Photo by Patrick Masson
<p>On Saturday we held many talks about software freedom, some of which were recorded by the SFScon team and are available to watch online. For instance, <a href="https://vimeo.com/376168257">"Free Software and Open Standards in Tourism"</a> by Patrick Ohnewein, <a href="https://vimeo.com/376163253">"Challenges with Free Software Business Models"</a> by Björn Schießle, and <a href="https://vimeo.com/376168921">"Putting AI back into people's hands"</a>, and many more you can follow up with via <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/FSFECommunityMeeting2019#Agenda">our community event's page</a> where you can also find their respective pdf presentations. </p>
     <img src="media/d34a75ee.Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Patrick-Ohnewein2-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Patrick-Ohnewein2-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Patrick Ohnewein captivating the audience with how Free Software and Open Standards help the tourism industry. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

     <img src="media/20c8a2d2.Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Bjoern-Schiessle2-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Bjoern-Schiessle2-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Björn Schießle on why it is important for large organisations to invest in Free Software innovations. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

     <img src="media/8061821a.ommunity-Meeting-Bolzano-Vincent-Lequertier-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Vincent-Lequertier-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Vincent Lequertier on how people can take the control over Artificial Intelligence back in their hands. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
<p>When the FSFE track and the Community Meeting started, the FSFE added another facet to the event with a variety of other talks, such as one on what <a href="https://vimeo.com/376166844">MicroG</a> is and what lies in its future, by Marvin W . In his talk, Marvin gave an overview of the Free Software replacements for Google services on Android that are available. In his session on <a href="https://vimeo.com/376165649">sustainability of software</a>, Erik Albers spoke on why it is important to preserve software heritage, as well as how communities and Free Software licensing help achieve that. In his talk <a href="https://vimeo.com/376164778">"Free Software legal licenses 101"</a>, Carlo Piana introduced to the attendees, why it is important for them to have a license when developing Free Software and what the consequences of improper licensing could be. The FSFE's current intern Bonnie Mehring called out for support and actions from citizens to <a href="https://vimeo.com/376164269">write letters to local administrations</a> as part of our "Public Money? Public Code!" <a href="http://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/ContactingAdministrationsForPMPC">campaign</a>.  </p>
     <img src="media/63c9f212.11-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Marvin-W2-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Marvin-W2-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Marvin W wows the public with what MicroG is and its future prospects. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

     <img src="media/9edc2121.FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Carlon-Piana-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Carlon-Piana-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Carlo Piana explains why Free Software licenses are necessary. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

     <img src="media/af477eb6.FE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Bonnie-Mehring-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-Bonnie-Mehring-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     Bonnie Mehring says we need more publicly funded bodies to sign in the "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
<p>At noon, the SFScon officially ended, but the FSFE Community Meeting continued throughout with talks about FSFE's involvement with the <a href="media/d5599f53.20191116-GK-community-meeting-NGI0.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/presentations/20191116-GK-community-meeting-NGI0.pdf">Next Generation Internet</a> projects, where Gabriel Ku Wei Bin and Lucas Lasota presented the Open Calls the initiative launches and the licensing consultation they do for the participating software projects. The FSFE's coordinator for Zurich, Gian-Maria Daffré aka Giammi shared how the Swiss team was running the <a href="media/860a43c1.20191116-Giammi-community-meeting-freedomvote.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/presentations/20191116-Giammi-community-meeting-freedomvote.pdf">Freedomvote campaign for the Swiss elections</a>. The aim of this tool is to increase not just citizen participation, but to also get the political candidates more involved and in touch with their constituencies. The FSFE <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191007-01.html">dedicated an article</a> to it back in October, which can give extra insights. </p><p>A nice part of the event was the more spontaneous activity sessions.  One major part there were the lightning talks, of course, where the spotlight was taken by Christian Busse's input about <a href="media/4db23fe0.20191116-cb-SFScon-European-Science.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/presentations/20191116-cb-SFScon-European-Science.pdf">European science and research</a> benefitting from Free Software. A great energising session was the one where we encouraged all audience members to take the mic and briefly talk about their favourite Free Software. If you are curious to deploy more useful Free Software applications on your devices, some of those mentioned at this session were <a href="https://supertuxkart.net/Main_Page">SuperTuxKart</a>, <a href="https://www.kicad-pcb.org/">KiCad</a>, <a href="https://antennapod.org/">AntennaPod</a>, and the <a href="https://f-droid.org/en/packages/fr.gouv.etalab.mastodon/">Fedilab-App</a>. </p><p>It is great to think of how far our movement has come over the past 35 years, especially as we face new challenges on a regular basis.  Another productive session was when the audience split up and chose topics for breakout sessions, which included topics such as what kind of events the FSFE should organize or be a part of, Freedomvote in France, further steps for our REUSE initiative, and an on-the-fly system hackers meeting to improve the Jabber server to handle images in multi-user chats in future. </p><p>As always, at these community events, there was plenty of time for exchanging ideas outside of the official sessions and for socialising.  Our booth team was busy answering questions about the FSFE's position on certain issues, about our work, and more general Free Software questions. Of course, they were also busy selling <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/order.html">merchandise</a> and distributing informative materials.  </p>
     <img src="media/94f5772d.201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/booths/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
     The FSFE Community meets SFScon visitors and answers their questions. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
<p>The evenings we spent dining together and debating important issues, sometimes late into the night, powered by amazing food and desserts, delicious fresh mountain spring water, and Hops smoothies from Bolzano.  </p>
     <img src="media/45808a3d.201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-dinner-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-dinner-800px.jpg"/>
     The FSFE Community enjoying each others company over local food and drinks. Photo by the FSFE
<p>On Sunday, part of the community explored the town of Bolzano and its historical sites together, and put a relaxing ending to a great event.  A big THANK YOU goes to everyone who helped organise the event and to everyone who participated! We are very much looking forward to seeing even more of you in 2020. </p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/nl/.nl-201912.en.xml
title: CDU wants public code +++ Community Meeting +++ 36C3
uri: CDU-wants-public-code-Community-Meeting-36C3
url: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201912.html
content:
CDU wants public code +++ Community Meeting +++ 36C3<p>The last Newsletter of the year ends with exciting news for software freedom: the biggest conservative party in Europe, the German CDU, endorsed the principle that software developed with public money should be under a Free Software License. We further invite you to to read about the FSFE has done and achieved during the last 12 months and to dig into Florian Snow's report of our Annual Community Meeting 2019. Also you find an outlook on our participation at the biggest hacking related conference in Europe, the 36C3 and a call for your support and help to continue our mission towards empowering users to control technology.</p>Biggest conservative party in Europe aligns with our demand for public code<p>During the last week of November, Germany's  conservative party "CDU"  had their 32nd Annual Conference in Leipzig. As part of the event, the party updated their convention and included a tribute towards Free Software in their Chapter for Digital Innovation. With this update, the CDU resolved to join the FSFE in <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191125-01.html">demanding that  software developed with public money should be publicly available as Free Software</a>. </p><p>The CDU's party convention resolution states: "[...] This is why the following will apply to all (public) digitalisation projects in Germany in the future: the awarding of contracts and funding will be subject to compliance with the principles of open source and open standards. Software financed by public funds should serve all citizens. In addition, free and open APIs should facilitate access for independent developments." (Translation provided by the FSFE)</p><p>We are happy to see that the good energy and resources the FSFE community dedicates on creating, translating and promoting the campaign's objectives keeps increasing support from major public stakeholders. "We now expect the CDU to  immediately work within the government to create the legal basis for publicly funded software to be released under a Free- and Open-Source Software license." says Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE.</p> 
		<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate"/>
	End of the Year Retrospective<p>At the end of this Year, we are inviting you to take a moment to read about the important things the FSFE has done and achieved during the last 12 months. In our <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">recently published Annual Report</a> we cover the biggest and most important activities of the FSFE in 2019. You will find insights about our campaigns and projects, about our policy work, our community and its members.</p><p>Read for example about the first Parliament in Europe who joined our demand for public code or about how we aim at bringing together environmental communities and digital rights communities to discover the sustainability of Free Software. Maybe you are interested in our write-up of the updated set of best practices within our REUSE project or you like to discover the diverse community who form the FSFE ... Whatever you are most into, <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">enjoy the read</a>, discover your personal favourites and be assured that we keep on advocating for software freedom in Europe throughout 2020!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912">Support our work with a donation</a></p>Do not miss: upcoming events with the FSFE
	The FSFE will be present at the annual Chaos Communication Congress, the 36C3, happening from 27 to 30 December in Leipzig. We will host <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:Free_Software_Foundation_Europe">our own assembly</a> and organize the cluster <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">"about:freedom"</a>. A cluster that brings together like-minded organizations from the digital-rights hemisphere and also from the environmental communities within our child-cluster <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:future">"about:future"</a>. As usual the FSFE is running its own track with many sessions and workshops, covering various topics regarding Free Software. Find more info in our <a href="http://fsfe.org/events/#id-the-fsfe-assembly-at-the-chaos-communication-congress-36c3-in-leipzig-germany">event announcement</a> and If you are going to 36C3, check out the regularly <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">updated wiki page</a>.
	As every year, the FSFE will be present at FOSDEM, Europeans biggest Free Software conference with a booth and talks. More details about our participation at FOSDEM will follow in January. 
What have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE
	On November 28, the Local Group of FSFE in Zurich organised <a href="https://www.digicomp.ch/events/it-professionals-events/referat-free-software-foundation-europe-fsfe-self-hosting#8">a workshop</a> under the name "There is no cloud, just other people's computers". The participants were shown how to run "their own cloud" where they can store and share files, photos, contacts, calendars and more. All attendies were given the opportunity to try different cloud services.
	From November 15 to 16 we have been inviting to this year's FSFE Community Meeting that was composed of social meetups, breakout-sessions, future-plannings and an official track organised by the FSFE as part of the SFSCon. If you like to get a feeling of the good vibe we had, <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html">read the report by Florian Snow</a>. But also if you like to catch up on the talks and presentations we had, you find slides and videos of most of the presentations linked from the same report.


	
		 <img src="media/94f5772d.201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/booths/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
		  FSFE Booth at SFSCon. Photo credit: SFScon, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
	

		We have  <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/#tshirt-multilingual-black">a new multilingual t-shirt</a> in our shop: Now you can show your love for Free Software in 24 languages! Get one for Christmas or at least before the next <a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/">"I love Free Software"-Day</a> : )
		Surprise your friends, families or colleagues with our <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/#card-christmas-blue">special edition of Christmas cards</a> dedicated to the 4 freedoms to use, study, share, and improve.
	
		 <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/"/>
		 Code paid by the people should be available to the people! Ask others to join the cause and show your commitment with our t-shirt.
	Get Active<p>2019 was a year with a lot of challenges and we have seen quite some changes within the Free Software environment. On one hand Free Software usage is as widespread as never before and our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign receives a lot of endorsement -  on the other hand Free Software is constantly under threat. Big economic players buy into Free Software and politicians create laws that directly endanger software freedom. Not to forget that with every proprietary app developed by a public authority or solely offered on a proprietary platform, more citizens are forced every day to expel their freedom. And with every app more, the threshold gets higher for everyone to break free from the proprietary world and from vendor lock-ins. </p><p>Since 2001, the FSFE promotes software freedom and on this road we have achieved many things - but protecting freedom never ends. Help us mastering the upcoming challenges and support software freedom in Europe by donating to us now: <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">https://my.fsfe.org/donate</a></p>Contribute to our newsletter<p>If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly contribution: <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201911">https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201911</a> </p><p>Thanks to our community, all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Best Regards,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912">Support our work with a donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/nl/.nl-201912.fr.xml
title: La CDU veut du code public +++ Meeting de la communauté +++ 36C3
uri: La-CDU-veut-du-code-public-Meeting-de-la-communauté-36C3
url: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201912.html
content:
La CDU veut du code public +++ Meeting de la communauté +++ 36C3<p>La dernière lettre d'information de l'année apporte une excellente nouvelle pour le Logiciel Libre : le parti conservateur le plus important d'Europe, la CDU allemande, a approuvé le principe selon lequel le logiciel développé avec de l'argent public doit être sous licence Logiciel Libre. Nous vous invitons aussi à lire ce que la FSFE a effectué et réalisé durant les 12 derniers mois et de plonger dans le compte-rendu de Florian Snow pour notre Meeting Annuel 2019. Vous trouverez aussi un aperçu de notre participation à la plus importante conférence relative au hacking en Europe, la 36C3 ainsi qu'un appel à votre soutien et votre aide afin de continuer notre mission d'aider les utilisateurs à maîtriser les technologies.</p>Le parti conservateur le plus important d'Europe s'aligne sur notre demande de code public<p>Lors de la dernière semaine de novembre, le parti conservateur Allemand "CDU" a tenu sa 32e conférence annuelle à Leipzig. Lors de cet évènement, le parti a mis à jour sa convention et y a inclus un hommage envers le Logiciel Libre dans leur chapitre pour l'innovation numérique. Avec cette mise à jour, la CDU s'est montrée résolue à joindre la FSFE en  <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191125-01.html">exigeant que le logiciel développé avec de l'argent public soit disponible pour tous sous forme de Logiciel Libre</a>. </p><p>La résolution de la convention du parti de la CDU mentionne : "[...] C'est pourquoi le principe suivant devra s'appliquer à tous les projets (publics) de passage au numérique en Allemagne dans le futur : l'attribution de contrats et de financements sera sujette à la conformité aux principes de source et standards libres. Le logiciel financé par des fonds publics doit servir tous les citoyens. De plus, des APIs libres et gratuites devraient faciliter l'accès aux développements indépendants." (traduction fournie par la FSFE)</p><p>Nous sommes ravis de voir que l'énergie et les ressources que la FSFE consacre à la création, la traduction et la promotion des objectifs de la campagne continuent à augmenter le soutien reçu des parties prenantes publiques. "Nous comptons désormais sur la CDU pour travailler immédiatement depuis l'intérieur du gouvernement pour établir les bases légales pour que le logiciel financé par l'argent public soit émis sous une licence de Logiciel Libre et Open-Source." annonce Matthias Kirschner, Président de la FSFE.</p> 
            <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate"/>
        Rétrospective de fin d'année<p>En cette fin d'année, nous vous invitons à prendre un instant pour lire les résultats et réalisations majeures de la FSFE lors des 12 derniers mois. Dans notre <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">Rapport Annuel</a> récemment publié, nous couvrons les activités majeures et importantes de la FSFE en 2019. Vous y trouverez des appercus de nos campagnes et projets, de notre travail politique, de notre communauté et de ses membres.</p><p>Lisez par exemple comment le premier parlement en Europe a rejoint notre demande de code public ou comment nous visons à réunir les communautés environnementales et des droits numériques afin de leur faire découvrir la pérennité du Logiciel Libre. Vous serez peut-être intéressés par notre article sur la mise à jour de notre collection de bonnes pratiques dans le cadre de notre projet REUSE ou bien vous apprécierez de découvrir la communauté diverse qui constitue la FSFE... Quel que soit votre intérêt, <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">appréciez la lecture</a>, découvrez vos propres favoris et soyez assurés que nous continuons à militer pour la liberté du logiciel en Europe tout au long de l'année 2020 !</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912">Soutenez notre travail par vos dons</a></p>Ne manquez pas : évènements à venir avec la FSFE
            La FSFE sera présente au congrès annuel Chaos Communication Congress, le 36C3, du 27 au 30 décembre à Leipzig. Nous y tiendrons <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:Free_Software_Foundation_Europe">notre propre assemblée</a> et organiserons le groupe <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">"about:freedom"</a>. Un groupe visant à réunir des organisations partageant les mêmes idées dans l'hémisphère des droits numériques et aussi des communautés environnementales au sein de notre groupe affilié <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:future">"about:future"</a>. Comme d'habitude, la FSFE tiendra son propre axe avec de nombreuses sessions et groupes de travail, couvrant des sujets variés sur le Logiciel Libre. Plus d'informations dans notre <a href="http://fsfe.org/events/#id-the-fsfe-assembly-at-the-chaos-communication-congress-36c3-in-leipzig-germany">annonce</a> et si vous vous rendez au 36C3, vérifiez la <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">page wiki</a> régulièrement mise à jour.
            Comme tous les ans, la FSFE sera présente au FOSDEM, la conférence la plus importante d'Europe sur le Logiciel Libre, avec un stand et des discussions. Plus de détails sur notre participation à la FOSDEM à venir en janvier.
        Nos réalisations? Au sein et en dehors de la FSFE
            Le 28 novembre, le groupe local de la FSFE à Zurich a organisé <a href="https://www.digicomp.ch/events/it-professionals-events/referat-free-software-foundation-europe-fsfe-self-hosting#8">un groupe de travail</a> nommé "Il n'y a pas de cloud, juste d'autres ordinateurs particuliers". Les participants ont pu découvrir comment gérer "leur propre cloud" où ils peuvent stocker et partager des fichiers, des photos, des contacts, des calendriers et bien plus. Tous les participants ont eu la possibilité de tester différents services de stockage dans le cloud.
            Du 15 au 16 novembre, nous avons accueilli la 39e réunion de la communauté FSFE, composée de rencontres sociales, d'échappatoires, de planifications futures et d'un axe organisé par la FSFE comme élément officiel de la SFSCon. Si vous souhaitez ressentir les bonnes vibrations que nous avons ressenties, veuillez <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html">lire le rapport de Florian Snow</a>. Et si vous souhaitez revoir les discussions et présentations que nous avons tenues, vous trouverez les slides et vidéos de la plupart des présentations en lien dans le même rapport.


            
                <img src="media/94f5772d.201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/booths/201911-FSFE-Community-Meeting-Bolzano-booth-CC-license-800px.jpg"/>
                Le stand FSFE à la SFSCon. Photo: SFScon, licence <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>
            

            Nous avons <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/#tshirt-multilingual-black">un nouveau t-shirt multi-langues</a> dans notre boutique : vous pouvez désormais afficher votre amour pour le Logiciel Libre en 24 langues ! Obtenez-en un pour Noël ou au moins avant le prochain <a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/">jour "I love Free Software"</a> : )
            Surprenez vos amis, votre famille ou vos collègues avec notre <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/#card-christmas-blue">édition spéciale de cartes de Noël</a> consacrées aux 4 libertés : utiliser, étudier, partager et améliorer.
        
            <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/"/>
            Le code financé par les citoyens devrait être disponible pour les citoyens ! Invitez d'autres à rejoindre la cause et affichez votre engagement avec notre t-shirt.
        Soyez actifs<p>2019 a été une année remplie de challenges et nous avons vu plusieurs changements dans l'environnement du Logiciel Libre. D'une part, l'utilisation de Logiciel Libre est large comme jamais et notre compagne "Public Money? Public Code!" ("Argent Public? Code Public !") a reçu beaucoup de soutien - d'autre part, le Logiciel Libre est constamment menacé. Des acteurs économiques majeurs investissent dans le Logiciel Libre et des politiciens créent des lois qui mettent directement en danger la liberté du logiciel. Sans oublier que chaque application développée par une autorité publique ou simplement mise à disposition sur une plate-forme propriétaire impose tous les jours aux citoyens de renier leur liberté. Et pour chaque application supplémentaire, le seuil pour s'affranchir du monde propriétaire et des restrictions commerciales devient plus élevé pour tout le monde.</p><p>Depuis 2001, la FSFE fait la promotion de la liberté du logiciel et nos avons réalisé beaucoup de choses dans cette voie - mais protéger la liberté ne s'arrête jamais. Aidez-nous à maîtriser les challenges à venir et soutenez la liberté du logiciel en Europe en envoyant vos dons maintenant : <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">https://my.fsfe.org/donate</a></p>Contribuez à notre lettre d'information<p>Si vous souhaitez partager vos opinions, images ou informations, merci de nous les envoyer. Comme toujours, l'adresse est newsletter@fsfe.org. Nous sommes impatients de vous lire !</p><p>Si vous souhaitez aussi nous assister dans notre travail, rejoignez notre communauté et soutenez nous avec un don ou une participation mensuelle : <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912">https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912</a> </p><p>Merci à notre communauté, à tous les <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volontaires</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> et <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donatrices et donateurs</a> qui rendent notre travail possible. Et merci à <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">nos traductrices et traducteurs</a>, qui vous permettent de lire cette lettre d'information dans votre langue maternelle.</p><p>Sincères salutations,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-201912">Soutenez notre travail avec un don</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/podcast/.episode-3.en.xml
uri: Software-Freedom-Podcast-3-about-Free-Software-in-the-mobile-phone-co
url: http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-3.html
title:
Software Freedom Podcast #3 about Free Software in the mobile phone communication with Harald Welte 

content:
Software Freedom Podcast #3 about Free Software mobile phone communication with Harald Welte
<p>
Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this third episode, our guest is Harald Welte, Free Software programmer and activist. Harald discusses with us his current projects regarding mobile phone communication and the general status of Free Software in this area. 
</p><p>
One of the main topics this year was and still is the coming implementation of the 5G standard. There were long debates, and several countries have taken steps to ban specific vendors. These countries are even trying to convince others to do likewise. To allow enough room for this broad issue and include an expert's point of view, we dedicate a full Software Freedom Podcast episode to discuss this with Harald Welte. Harald is a Free Software developer known for his involvement in OpenMoko, the first Free Software phone; his work for gplviolations.org to make sure companies adhere to the obligations of Free Software licenses; and nowadays his work on the umbrella project "Open source mobile communications", or Osmocom for short.</p><p>Together with Harald, we give you an overview of the use of Free Software in mobile phone communication; talk with you about the basics of this technology; about the difference of 3G, 4G, and 5G; the Huawei ban and <a href="https://osmocom.org/">Osmocom</a>; as well as about the state of Free Software in those fields.</p><p>Read more:</p>
  <a href="https://osmocom.org/">About Osmocom</a>
  <a href="http://git.osmocom.org/">Osmocom Git repositories</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190205-01.html">Huawei case demonstrates importance of Free Software for security</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190520-01.html">Three conclusions to draw from Google denying Huawei access to software</a>
 <p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/podcast/.episode-4.en.xml
title: Software Freedom Podcast #4 about REUSE with Carmen Bianca Bakker
uri: Software-Freedom-Podcast-4-about-REUSE-with-Carmen-Bianca-Bakker
url: http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-4.html
content:
Software Freedom Podcast #4 about REUSE with Carmen Bianca Bakker<p>
In the monthly Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Carmen Bianca Bakker about the REUSE project. By this we are covering the very broad topic of software licensing and the problems there, which REUSE is able to solve with three simple steps.
</p><p>
 With the first episode of 2020 and the fourth episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we aimed at the broad and sometimes complicated topic of software licensing. For this we invited Carmen Bianca Bakker who is together with Max Mehl working on the <a href="https://reuse.software">REUSE project</a>. The REUSE projects helps with the licensing of software by making licensing easy for humans as well as for machines. Together with Carmen we discuss the problems that occur with licensing, talk about the REUSE tool and the next steps in its development.
</p><p>Read more:</p>
  <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a>
  <a href="https://git.fsfe.org/reuse/">REUSE Git repositories</a>
  <a href="https://github.com/fsfe/reuse-tool">REUSE-tool</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">The four freedoms of Free Software</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware">What is Free Software?</a>
<p>If you liked this episode and want to support our work please consider helping us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate/">donation</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200121-01.en.xml
title: Report from the 36c3, about:freedom - about:fsfe
uri: Report-from-the-36c3-about-freedom-about-fsfe
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200121-01.html
content:
Report from the 36c3, about:freedom - about:fsfe<p>At the end of December, FSFE was in Leipzig at the 36th Chaos Communication Congress. As in previous years, we were present at the congress with lots of information material, talks and workshops. FSFE was one of the main organisers of the cluster about:freedom, an association of 12 civil society organisations and groups. Together with the other organisations, we focused on digital rights and network policy issues.</p><p>In <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">about:freedom</a>, a broad political spectrum of topics could be covered due to the many different focuses of the individual organisations and groups. At our booth we informed about Free Software and presented individual campaigns of us. Together with the cluster about:freedom, we organised <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:Free_Software_Foundation_Europe#Our_Sessions"> 19 self-organised sessions</a> during the 4 days. To only name a few, the hand-on workshop <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Session:Freedom_to_go">„Freedom to go“</a> for a Google Independent Android Smartphone by Erik Albers, the more general presentation "The Free Software 1x1: Clarifying the basics and typical misunderstandings", <a href="https://media.ccc.de/v/36c3-oio-173--computer-says-no-worber-sollen-algorithmen-entscheiden-drfen">"Computer says no": Worüber sollen Algorithmen entscheiden dürfen</a> by Chris Köver, <a href="https://fahrplan.chaos-west.de/36c3/talk/EARPZB/">Emergency VPN: Analyzing mobile network traffic to detect digital threats</a> and the talk by Christian Busse regarding Free Software in Science:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_wQ6IoSYA"> "Free Software for Open Science"</a> were part of the sessions.</p><p>Our successful <a href="https://publiccode.eu">"Public Money? Public Code!"</a> campaign. Our lecture on the Chaos West stage <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2I-iaVbCzI">"Public Money? Public Code! A campaign framework to promote software freedom"</a> by Matthias Kirschner and Bonnie Mehring fitted in well with the program. Both explained how the "Public Money? Public Code!" was created and has grown and how you can participate.</p><p>In our cluster, we have also attached great importance to our social interaction. In our political corner full of sofas we started the first evening with a concert of System_Absturz, an electro-punk band, in the Congress. The musical interludes during the congress were by no means limited to the first evening. Together with the visitors of the 36c3 we sang the <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Song_(Folk_Songs,_Bulgarian)">Free Software song</a> at our info booth every evening. Singing together has become a fun chaos event tradition of FSFE and is always accompanied by great musical talent.</p><p>We are looking forward to the next event with about:freedom until then a good recovery of resources!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/nl/.nl-202001.en.xml
title: Cory Doctorow +++ (pre-) FOSDEM +++ 36C3
uri: Cory-Doctorow-(pre-)-FOSDEM-36C3
url: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202001.html
content:
Cory Doctorow +++ (pre-) FOSDEM +++ 36C3<p>2020 is not just a new year, it is the dawn of a new decade. With more and more automated systems run by software, a political representation of freedom is more needed than ever. Read in our January Newsletter about why Cory Doctorow supports the FSFE financially and why you should do so too. Read about our upcoming FOSDEM activities including our pre-FOSDEM meeting and reflections on our presence at the Chaos Communication Congress. Also we have a new Software Freedom Podcast with Harald Welte and reports from our community.</p>FSFE needs you<p>2019 was a year full of successes for the FSFE and for <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">Software freedom in Europe</a> accordingly. The Parliament of Asturias has signed our open letter demanding public code, the biggest conservative party in Europe -- the german CDU -- decided to foster Free Software, we managed to get an exclusion for Free Software in the EU copyright reform, and we have many more success stories to tell. But while we spent our time spreading software freedom in such a successful way, we missed one goal to achieve, that is having enough donations for 2020.</p><p>Your financial support is crucial for our work! A secure financial basis gives us the ability to solely concentrate on our mission to spread software freedom in Europe - independent, professional and consistent. </p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Join the FSFE as a supporter</a> or make a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">one-time donation</a>.</p><p>Every 1 Euro brings us closer to this momentum! Every 15 Euro allow us to send a package full of information material to a Free Software supporter in Europe. Every 50 Euro help us to pay our infrastructure and every 150 euro enable us to support travel and accommodation costs for a volunteer from Europe to participate in one of the FSFE community events like our hack-a-thons.</p><p>By the way: Cory Doctorow, author of many digital rights-related books and co-editor of the blog Boing-Boing put the FSFE on the BoingBoing's charitable giving guide and explains: </p>Software has eaten the world, and software freedom is increasingly synonymous with human freedom. In Europe, far-right parties and authoritarians are inheriting a constellation of gadgets and devices that are "defective by design," built to allow corporations spy on and control their owners -- and those thugs are contemplating how they can use those companies' extraordinary powers to put whole populations under their thumbs. Free software in Europe, free software everywhere!<p>Join Cory Doctorow. <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Join the FSFE!</a></p>FSFE goes FOSDEM<p>Europeans biggest Free Software conference 'FOSDEM' is taking place on 1-2 February in Brussels. More then 7.000 participants are expected to come and the FSFE will be present with multiple talks and a booth. </p><p>Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, gives a talk about <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/software_freedom/">"The core values of software freedom"</a> and a lightning talk about <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/free_software_hackers_needed/">"Civil society needs Free Software hackers"</a>. Max Mehl, Programme Manager of the FSFE, talks about <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a> in <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/reuse_code_licensing/">"Go REUSE to license your code"</a> and the FSFE's Deputy Coordinator France, Vincent Lequertier, talks about <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/ai_in_peoples_hands/">"Putting Artificial Intelligence back into people's hands"</a>. </p><p>As every year we will have a booth at FOSDEM, but unlike in previous editions, this time you will <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=50.8147&amp;mlon=4.3819#map=16/50.8147/4.3819">find us on top level of building K</a> - just upstairs from where it was in the past years.</p><p>Pass by anytime to have a chat with us, give us your feedback on our latest activities or proposals for further engagement. You can enjoy our latest merchandise and promotion material, for example <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/index.en.html#tshirt-multilingual-black">our new multilingual I love Free Software T-Shirts</a>.</p><p>On Saturday night we invite you to come together after FOSDEM to have a social evening with our community. The location will be announced at the booth the very same day. Pass by and find out. Looking forward meeting you!</p><p>And if you arrive early, you might also be interested in joining our <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Pre-FOSDEM-2020">Pre-FOSDEM Community Meeting</a> (see below).</p> 
			<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhfLazPO7C4"/>
			Bonnie Mehring and Erik Albers get interviewed by Komm:On at the FSFE booth at 36C3
		<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202001">Support our work with a donation</a></p>Do not miss: upcoming events with the FSFE
		The first self-organised FSFE event in 2020 will be our Pre-FOSDEM Community Meeting. In this meeting, the FSFE will bring together the key Free Software groups of Europe on Friday before FOSDEM to get to know each other and to get an overview about interesting activities of Free Software groups from all over Europe. The event takes place on 31 January 2020, 13:30 to 19:00 at MundoB, Edinburgh Street 26, in Brussels. Attendance is gratis but capacities are limited and <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Pre-FOSDEM-2020">registration</a> is required. 
		As written above, the FSFE will be prominently represented at FOSDEM with multiple talks, a full-packed information-booth and social events in the evening.
		I love Free Software: On 14 February the Free Software community celebrates again the <a href="https://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/">I love Free Software Day</a>.  A day dedicated to say "Thank you" to all Free Software and their contributors. Save the date now and stay tuned for more news on the 2020 edition.
		Save the date: On 4 May 2020 the FSFE is inviting for an event about "Digital sovereignty and modernising public aministrations" in the Kalkscheune Berlin (in German). Attendance is gratis but <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">registration</a> is required.
	What have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE
		The FSFE was present at the 36th Chaos Communication Camp (36C3) and one of the main organisers of the cluster "about:freedom" - a cluster that brings together civil society organisations with a focus on digital rights and Free Software advocacy at European's biggest hacking-related conference. In the four days of the event we had 19 self-organized session by the FSFE assembly, counted hundreds of visitors at our booth and we have created a cosy space for freedom activists to come together. On this occasion, Bonnie Mehring and Erik Albers have been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhfLazPO7C4">interviewed by Komm:On</a> in their report about the congress. Read our <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200121-01">full report</a> for more details. 
		
		 
			<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate"/>
			The FSFE booth at 36C3
		
		
		In December <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-3.en.html">we published our Software Freedom Podcast #3</a> about Free Software in the mobile phone communication featuring Harald Welte. Harald discusses with us his current projects regarding mobile phone communication and the general status of Free Software in this area. 
		3 new organisations signed <a href="https://publiccode.eu/openletter/">our open letter demanding public code</a>: Association Naga, RevLibre and GEN Europe
		Alexander Sander, the FSFE's Public Policy Manager <a href="https://netzpolitik.org/2020/was-bedeutet-der-cdu-beschluss-zum-einsatz-freier-software/">wrote a comment on Netzpolitik.org</a> (in German) on the recent decision of Germany's conservative party CDU to foster Free Software and where to go on from this decision.
		Alexander Sander was giving a talk about our  "Public Money? Public Code!" at the <a href="https://www.gnuhealthcon.org/2019-liege/program.html">GNU Health CON</a> in Liege, Belgium and also in Utrecht (NL) at the <a href="https://vng.azavista.com/event_website_pages/view/5d9c68d2-41a0-4ebc-9857-01390a1c3108/5d9c68d1-d610-48a9-8f48-01390a1c3108/098b26fc30">"Online Participatie in Actie! Congress"</a>
		The FSFE was present with a booth at the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht.
	Get Active<p>If you are already supporting the FSFE, then let other people know why you do so. Write a toot or an email, chat with your friends or mention it in your working group, let them know why software freedom matters to you and why you decided to support the cause with a donation for the FSFE. Thank you so much!</p>Contribute to our newsletter<p>If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202001">a donation or a monthly contribution</a>. </p><p>Thanks to our community, all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Best Regards,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202001">Support our work with a donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200129-01.en.xml
title: FSFE is hiring: interns and trainees for legal, policy and technical areas
uri: 2020-01-29-FSFE-is-hiring-interns-and-trainees-for-legal-policy-and-technical-a
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200129-01.html
content:
FSFE is hiring: interns and trainees for legal, policy and technical areas<p>We are looking for interns and trainees experienced in legal, policy or technical fields. The persons will work 35 hours per week with our team in the FSFE's Berlin office. There will be coordination with remote staff and volunteers, and depending on the work area opportunity to participate in events and meetings throughout Europe.</p>About the FSFE<p>Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.</p><p>The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination. It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption, encourages people to use and develop Free Software, and provides resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.</p><p>We drive numerous activities and campaigns to reach our targets, for example "<a href="https://publiccode.eu">Public Money Public Code</a>", "<a href="https://savecodeshare.eu">Save Code Share</a>" and the <a href="https://reuse.software">REUSE initiative</a>.</p>What we can offer<p>We work together with decision makers, licensing experts in the world's largest <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ln.html">Legal Network</a> on these topics, facilitated by the FSFE, and <a href="https://fsfe.org/associates/associates.html">Free Software organisations</a> all over Europe and beyond. This work is either done directly by staff or together with volunteers, as well as other Free Software and digital rights associations around Europe.</p><p>You will enjoy:</p>
  A challenging and exciting time with a dynamic NGO working internationally.
  A close-up view of organisational and community processes.
  A chance to take the initiative and put your own ideas into practice.
  The opportunity to meet and work with Free Software advocates across Europe.
<p>Read more about our internships and <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/internship">what former interns say</a> about it.</p>Your profile and responsibilities<p>We are looking for a reliable team player who is passionate about driving new initiatives to make the world a better place for further generations. You should have some experience or a considerable interest in Free Software. Your field of study doesn't matter, but you should be able to relate it to our work. Traditionally, a lot of interns in the FSFE have a legal or political science background, but we've also had excellent interns working with us with a more technical or other social science background.</p><p>In the day to day work, you will:</p>
  Contribute to FSFE's ongoing projects, working with one or more of our staff and volunteers.
  Communicate with contacts from the FSFE community, NGOs, industry, and public administrations.
  Coordinate volunteers and others in the work on various projects.
  General office tasks.
  Find your own strengths, and do something you care about.

  <img src="media/c7b43573.2018-graphic-girl-pmpc.png" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2018-graphic-girl-pmpc.png"/>
Details and formal requirements<p>Location: Berlin, Germany.  Please note the FSFE has no ability to help with accommodation or travel, you will need to cover this yourself and arrange this prior to your internship.</p><p>Duration: At least 4 months full time at 35 hours per week, starting as agreed. Longer periods are favoured.</p><p>Compensation: This traineeship is compensated with € 1418,08 gross per month.</p><p>You must be fluent in English. You will be required to show that you can legally work in Germany; either by being an EU citizen, or by having a residence and work permit for the duration. The FSFE can not help you in getting either of these documents, but we will accept them if you have them.</p><p>You must also have a German tax number, which you get by registering with the residents registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt) in Germany. This should ideally be done before starting the employment, or at latest on the first days of your employment.</p>How to apply<p>To apply please send a maximum one-page cover letter, reference letters 
and/or certificates and a maximum two-page CV (only PDFs are accepted)
by email to jobs@fsfe.org subject "Trainee/Intern 2020".
Please do not include pictures of yourself in the application. There is no immediate closing date 
for applications but we recommend to apply as early as possible as the 
open positions are limited. We will conduct interviews with candidates 
as soon as possible for both sides. Your personal data will be deleted 
3 months after we take a decision.</p><p>Free Software is meant to serve everyone regardless of their age, 
ability or disability, gender identity, sex, race, religion, or sexual 
orientation. Hence, we encourage applications from all backgrounds and  
promise to judge all applications on merit, without reference to any of 
the characteristics listed. To promote diversity and equality in the 
Free Software community, we shall give preference to applicants who 
identify as part of a traditionally marginalised demographic in 
technology for applications of equal strength.</p>
  <img src="media/c1858bb3.201708-village-and-team-at-SHA2017-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/booths/201708-village-and-team-at-SHA2017-800px.jpg"/>
  Already looking forward working with you: Volunteers from all over Europe.
<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200212-01.en.xml
title: I Love Free Software - and you?
uri: I-Love-Free-Software-and-you
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200212-01.html
content:
I Love Free Software - and you?<p>While you are reading this, someone somewhere is
improving the code of a Free Software you use for yourself. Free
Software has long been part of the daily use of billion of users, still
the people behind the respective projects often remain invisible.
Together we want to change that. On 14 February is the "I love Free
Software Day", a day to show your love and celebrate your favourite Free
Software and its contributors. Join us!</p><p>Behind every Free Software project is a team of developers,
translators, designers, and other contributors. These are the people who
fix bugs, improve the look and feel, and provide security updates.  They
do a great service to our society by making the sources of their
work available to everyone and granting us the four freedoms. Day by
day, a lot of people bring in priceless contributions, many of which do
it voluntarily in their spare time. But how often do we actually thank
them for this?</p><p>This is what the annual <a href="https://ilovefs.org">"I love Free
Software"</a> day is made for.  On  14 February, Free Software users
around the globe show their appreciation for a project of their choice.
It's easy to join in: just write a short message of thanks on the social
network of your choice with the hashtag #ilovefs. Or
write a short thank you email to a development team. The message does
not have to be long - even a simple thank you is highly appreciated.</p>
  <img src="media/5736dfe5.2019-ilovefs-event-collage.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/ilovefs/2019-ilovefs-event-collage.jpg"/>
  Free Software users all over the world on #ilovefs day
<p>Do you use one of the popular Free Software applications to browse
the web, write your emails and documents, or a Free Software operating
system? Or is there a smaller and less known project that you personally
care about? You alone decide who you want to appreciate on this day. If
you like some inspiration, you find various ideas and suggestions on the
<a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/">"I love Free Software Day" action
page</a>.</p><p>The "I love Free Software Day" is an important tradition for the Free
Software community. The more people participate, the more we can show
how immensely important Free Software is for our society. Take a few
moments on Friday, 14 February, and show your love for Free
Software!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/nl/.nl-202002.fr.xml
title: (pre-)FOSDEM +++ IloveFS +++ Community
uri: (pre-)FOSDEM-IloveFS-Community
url: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202002.html
content:
(pre-)FOSDEM +++ IloveFS +++ Community<p>De notre évènement pre-FOSDEM au passionnant weekend du FOSDEM, en passant par la journée I love Free Software, février a été un mois riche en informations pour la FSFE. Nous avons profité de ces occasions pour présenter notre travail, tout en offrant aux communautés de par l'Europe l'occasion de présenter le leur. Vous pourrez lire à propos de nos stands et présentations, à propos d'amour et des évènements à venir dans notre lettre d'information du mois de février.</p>FSFE pre- et post-FOSDEM<p>Tous les ans, début février, le FOSDEM rassemble des milliers de passionnés du Logiciel Libre pour une semaine à Bruxelles pour discuter des sujets actuels et des développements dans le monde du Logiciel Libre. La FSFE a profité de l'occasion pour inviter des groupes clés du Logiciel Libre en Europe un jour avant les festivités du FOSDEM pour participer à notre <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Pre-FOSDEM-2020">"meeting pre-FOSDEM"</a>. Cet évènement a permis à chacun d'entretenir son réseau et d'obtenir une vue d'ensemble des activités des différents groupes du Logiciel Libre partout en Europe.</p><p>L'évènement a été lancé par une présentation de Marcel Kolaja, Vice-Président du Parlement Européen, elle-même suivie par des aperçus et des présentations d'organisations variées du Logiciel Libre de toute l'Europe, du Portugal à la Grèce. Après les présentations, nous avons conclu avec un dîner et un meeting social.</p> 
            <img src="media/adcf132c.2020-pre-fosdem-kolaja.jpeg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/2020-pre-fosdem-kolaja.jpeg"/>
            Marcel Kolaja lors de sa présentation pendant notre événement pre-FOSDEM
        <p>Lors du FOSDEM lui-même, notre stand d'information a été très sollicité et notre équipe très motivée a pu mettre des sourires sur bien des visages. En même temps, nous étions présents avec des discussions sur les dernières questions pour la FSFE et la liberté logicielle tout au long de la conférence. Lucas Lasota a présenté comment <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/router_sovereignty/">"reprendre le pouvoir sur votre routeur - Router freedom"</a>, Max Mehl a démontré comment vous pouvez <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/reuse_code_licensing/">"utiliser REUSE pour licencier votre code - La licence pour Logiciel Libre faite simple pour tout le monde"</a>, Vincent Lequertier a proposé ses réflexions sur la possibilité de <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/ai_in_peoples_hands/">"remettre l'intelligence artificielle dans les mains des humains - Vers une IA accessible, transparente et équitable"</a> et Matthias Kirschner a parlé des <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/software_freedom/">"valeurs centrales de la liberté logicielle"</a> ainsi que son exposé éclair sur comment <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/free_software_hackers_needed/">"la société civile a besoin de hackers de Logiciel Libre"</a>.</p><p>Nous avons achevé notre présence avec des soirées sociales pour notre communauté les samedi et dimanche soirs. Un grand merci à toutes celles et ceux qui ont participé à nos évènements, aidé sur notre stand ou sont passés pour un brin de causette.</p>La journée IloveFS<p>L'amour est comme le Logiciel Libre : il se mutliplie quand vous le partagez. Ainsi, une fois par an nous fêtons la journée "I love Free Software" partout dans le monde le 14 février. Une journée remplie de messages positifs, créatifs et mignons pour le Logiciel Libre, les contributeurs individuels et les communautés.</p><p>A nouveau en 2020 nous avons assisté à une participation massive toute la journée dans de nombreux pays et de nombreuses langues. Cette année a vu une croissance extraordinaire du Fediverse où <a href="https://mastodon.social/@JayVii_de/103675049401883155">JayVii a recensé une augmentation de 194 mentions en 2019 à 330 en 2020</a>. Une augmentation exceptionnelle de 70% ! Restez à l'écoute pour un rapport complet à venir et veuillez accepter nos remerciements pour toutes celles et ceux qui ont participé à #IloveFS en partageant ou recevant de l'amour.</p> 
            <a href="https://ilovefs.org"/>
        <p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202002">Soutenez notre travail par un don</a></p>Ne manquez pas : évènements à venir avec la FSFE
        La FSFE sera présente avec un stand d'information aux Chemnitzer Linuxtage (journées Linux). Si vous passez par là, venez rencontrer Bonnie Mehring et son équipe qui sont impatientes de parler avec vous de la FSFE et de nos projets actuels. Bien entendu, nous aurons avec nous nos nouveaux matériels de promotion.
        Le 21 mars, la FSFE BNL (BeNeLux) sera présente pour des recontres sur son stand à la conférence du Dutch Linux User Group (LUG) NLLGG à Utrecht. Elle profitera de l'occasion pour lancer des réunions régulières. Si vous êtes intéressé par le Logiciel Libre et la FSFE au Benelux, venez et rencontrez les personnes derrière notre communauté et notre travail. Si vous ne pouvez pas participer, inscrivez-vous à la <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-bnl">liste de diffusion</a>.
        Retenez la date : le 4 mai 2020, la FSFE vous invite à son évènement sur "la souveraineté digitale et la modernisation des aministrations publiques" à la Kalkscheune Berlin (en Allemand). La participation est gratuite mais l'<a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">inscription</a> est nécessaire.
    Qu'avons-nous fait ? En interne et en dehors de la FSFE
        Afin de protéger la <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/index.html">liberté des routeurs</a>, le 4 février, <a href="http://fsfe.org/about/lasota/lasota.html">Lucas Lasota</a> a participé à l'atelier organisé par le BEREC au secrétariat de l'IRG à Bruxelles à propos des lignes directrices sur l'identification du Network Termination Point (NTP). Les lignes directrices entreront en vigueur en juin 2020 et joueront un rôle central sur la formation d'une vue d'ensemble de la libération des routeurs en Europe. La FSFE a <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191120-01.html">contribué à la consultation publique</a> afin de faire avancer les principaux arguments en défense de la liberté des individus à choisir leur propre équipement électronique.
        En dehors des nombreuses présentations au FOSDEM mentionnées plus haut, nos experts légaux Gabriel Ku Wei Bin et Lucas Lasota ont participé à la rencontre pour la<a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ngi0.en.html">Next Generation Internet Initiative</a>, pour laquelle la FSFE est consultée pour ses compétences sur la licence de Logiciel Libre et des questions de conformité -  ainsi que pour la promotion de l'<a href="https://reuse.software/">initiative REUSE</a>. <a href="https://fosdem.org/2020/schedule/event/bof_ngi_meetup/">Durant cette rencontre</a> de multiples occasions de se trouver en tête à tête avec les nombreux projets logiciels engagés et d'engager des dialogues constructifs avec d'autres partenaires du consortium se sont présentées.
        La FSFE recrute : <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200129-01.html">Nous sommes à la recherches d'apprentis et de stagiaires</a> expérimentés dans les domaines légaux, politiques et techniques. Ces personnes travailleront 35 heures par semaine avec notre équipe dans le bureau de la FSFE à Berlin. La coordination avec le personnel détaché et les volontaires sera au programme, ainsi que, en fonction du domaine de travail, l'opportunité de participer aux évènements et meetings en Europe.
        Au Chaos Communication Congress 2019, la FSFE a été l'un des principaux organisateurs du groupe about:freedom, une association de 12 organisations de la société civile ainsi que d'autres groupes. Avec les autres organisations, nous nous sommes focalisés sur les droits numériques et les questions de politique réseau. Vous pouvez lire notre rapport <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200121-01.html">"about:freedom - about:fsfe"</a>
        Dans le premier épisode en 2020 de notre Podcast mensuel sur le Logiciel Libre, <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-4.html">nous avons discuté avec Bianca Bakker du proje tREUSE</a>. Cet épisode couvre le sujet très large et parfois compliqué de la licence logicielle et des problèmes associés, que REUSE est capable de solutionner en trois simples étapes.
     
            <a href="https://ilovefs.org"/>
            Wikimedia Italie célébrant la journée I love Free Software
              
        <p>Pour la journée I love Free Software <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/tobias_platen/2020/02/14/why-i-am-not-using-grindr/">Tobias Platen a écrit dans son blog</a> à propos des sérieux problèmes de confidentialité de l'application Grindr et pourquoi il utiliserait uniquement du Logiciel Libre copylefted pour toute information sensible. Ceci est en accord avec <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/on-i-love-free-software-day-swipe-copy-left-on-dating-apps">le message que la FSF a diffusé cette année pour la journée IloveFS</a>, dans lequel ils appellent à la fin des failles de sécurité et au développement d'applications de rencontre copylefted.</p>
        
        Evaggelos Balaskas a rédigé une histoire intéressante sur son blog <a href="https://balaskas.gr/blog/2020/01/22/the-story-of-my-first-job-in-tech-industry/">à propos de son tout premier travail dans cette industrie en tant que jeune ingénieur du logiciel</a> et des enseignements qu'il en a tiré pour sa carrière.
        Pour la journée  IloveFS, le groupe local FSFE de Berlin a invité Marcus Hoffmann à présenter les dernières questions et solutions concernant le dépôt d'applications de Logiciel Libre F-Droid. Veuillez lire le <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/tobiasd/2020/02/15/f-droid-zum-i-love-freesoftware-day-in-berlin/">rapport de Tobias</a> (DE).
        Alexander Sander a tenu un discours à la DefensiveCon v02 de Berlin, Allemagne où il a réfléchi au status quo de "Argent Public? Code Public!" et comment il peut être changé. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfNyPqvSuLk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfNyPqvSuLk</a>)
        Le group local FSFE "Nordhessen" a organisé une install party GNU/Linux à Witzenhausen, Allemagne.
        La communauté du Logiciel Libre de Merano, Italie, a tenu une rencontre pour discuter du projet REUSE.
        La FSFE sera présente avec un stand à la rencontre NLLGG de Utrecht.
        Deux organisations supplémentaires ont signé la lettre PMPC : Junge Europäische Föderalisten Rheinland-Pfalz, une association pour la promotion des valeurs démocratiques auprès des jeunes ainsi que l'AStA der Justus Liebig Universität, l'association des étudiants de l'université de Giessen en Allemagne.
    Soyez actifs<p>Notre initiative "Public Money? Public Code!" ("Argent Public? Code Public!") a pour mission que le logiciel financé par l'argent public et utilisé dans l'administration publique, soit Libre et Open Source. Nous avons une lettre ouverte, que vous pouvez signer comme particulier ou en tant qu'ONG. Jusqu'à aujourd'hui, plus de 26 000 individus et près de 200 ONG soutiennent notre cause. De plus, nous avons déjà trois administrations qui ont signé notre lettre, mais nous aimerions en accueillir plus. Pour cela, nous avons besoin de votre aide : merci de contacter votre administration locale et de <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/ContactingAdministrationsForPMPC">leur demander de soutenir le code public</a>.</p>Participez à notre lettre d'information<p>Si vous souhaitez partager vos opinions, photos ou actualités, merci de nous les envoyer. Comme toujours, notre adresse est newsletter@fsfe.org. Nous sommes impatients de vous lire !</p><p>Si de plus vous souhaitez nous soutenir ainsi que notre travail, rejoignez notre communauté et aidez-nous avec <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202002">un don ou une contribution mensuelle</a>.</p><p>Merci à notre communauté, tous les <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volontaires</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> et <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donatrices et donateurs</a> qui rendent notre travail possible. Et merci à <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">nos traductrices et traducteurs</a>, qui vous permettent de lire cette lettre d'information dans votre langue maternelle.</p><p>Sincèrement,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202002">Soutenez notre travail par un don</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200228-01.en.xml
uri: Security-scandal-around-WhatsApp-shows-the-need-for-decentralised-mess
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200228-01.html
title:
Security scandal around WhatsApp shows the need for decentralised messengers and digital sovereignty

content:
Security scandal around WhatsApp shows the need for decentralised messengers and digital sovereignty <p>The recent security scandal around WhatsApp and
access to the content of private groups shows that there is an urgent
need for action with regard to secure communication.</p><p>Links to private chat groups in the proprietary WhatsApp messenger
can be used to show the communication and private data of group
members, even if you are not a member. The links could be found on
various search engines. Even if they are removed from search results,
links still work and give access to private group communication. Among
these groups are also administrations like civil servants of the
Indonesian Ministry of Finance. This case shows again that digital
sovereignty is crucial for states and administrations. The security
breach was first reported by <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/whatsapp-security-flaw-over-60000-groups-still-accessible-online/a-52543414">Deutsche
Welle</a>.</p><p>In order to establish trustworthy and secure communication,
governments need to strengthen interoperable Free Software solutions
using <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/os/">Open Standards</a> and enable decentralisation. This helps
administrations as well as individuals to protect their privacy and
empowers them to have control of the technology they use. The software
is already in place and was used by most of the internet users before
Google and Facebook joined the market: XMPP! This open protocol, also
known as Jabber, has been developed by the Free Software community
since 1999. Thanks to Open Standards it is possible to communicate with
people who use a completely different client software and XMPP server.
You are even able to communicate with other services like ICQ or AIM -
some might remember. XMPP has also been used by tech enterprises like
Facebook and Google for their chat systems, but both eventually
switched to isolated proprietary solutions, so XMPP has been forgotten
by many users.</p><p>Still, there are many XMPP servers in use and - as the recent
scandal around WhatsApp shows - it should be considered as an
alternative by users nowadays. But of course there has also been a
development in the field of Free Software and Open Standard messengers
in the last decades. For instance the Matrix protocol is a widely
recognised and respected standard for secure and decentralised
communication. This is proven by the fact that it is being used by
large Free Software communities like <a href="https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/synchronous-messaging-at-mozilla-the-decision/50620">Mozilla</a>,
<a href="https://dot.kde.org/2019/02/20/kde-adding-matrix-its-im-framework">KDE</a>,
but also in the whole <a href="https://matrix.org/blog/2018/04/26/matrix-and-riot-confirmed-as-the-basis-for-frances-secure-instant-messenger-app">French
administration</a> or <a href="https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor/news/matrix-pilot-bwmessenger">Germany's
armed forces</a>.</p><p>The Free Software Foundation Europe therefore asks governments to
use interoperable, decentralised Free Software messenger solutions and
also provide funds for security programmes like bug bounties
around these projects. Individuals are advised to change their
messenger to a Free Software one. </p><p>The FSFE also started an initiative called "Public Money, Public
Code!", requiring that publicly financed software developed for the
public sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source
Software licence. If it is public money, it should be public code as
well. The campaign is supported by administrations like the city of
Barcelona, more than 180 NGOs and 27.000 individuals. You can find more
information on <a href="https://publiccode.eu">publiccode.eu</a>.</p><p>For users of Android mobile phones, the Free Software Foundation
Europe started the "<a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/">Free Your
Android</a>" campaign. It helps users to regain control of their data
and Android device by proprietary components and eventually the
complete operating system with Free Software. The FSFE collects
information about running an Android system as free as possible and
coordinates efforts in this area.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200302-01.en.xml
title: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - the Barriers to Router Freedom in Germany
uri: Fear-Uncertainty-and-Doubt-the-Barriers-to-Router-Freedom-in-Germa
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200302-01.html
content:
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - the Barriers to Router Freedom in Germany<p>Consider this hypothetical scenario: you moved
house. Apart from all the stress of packing, transporting, and
unpacking all your stuff at your new home, you also had to deal with
getting utilities connected. The electric company turned out to be
difficult to deal with: they said you had to change your TV set,
toaster, refrigerator and most of your lamps.</p><p>They said that they couldn't guarantee you would have electricity at
all unless you bought a whole new set of appliances from them. You
don't understand: your stuff worked perfectly fine in your old
place.</p><p>The water company was not much better. They told you that your old
washing machine was "not supported" and that you would even have to
change your toothbrush or you risked polluting the water network of the
whole city for some unexplained reason. We are guessing you would no
doubt find this scenario very hard to believe. We do not blame you: it
is silly beyond the believable.</p><p>But now consider this very real situation:</p>Max and Lucas moved house<p>Not together, but yet more or less simultaneously. We (my colleague
Lucas and me, Max) moved to new flats in our respective cities in
Germany and decided we wanted to connect to the Internet through our
own routers. Since August 2016, this has been allowed thanks to a <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2016/news-20160725-01.html">new law which the FSFE has
advocated for since 2013</a>. According to the law, Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) can offer their own technical equipment, but they must
not force it upon you. In order to allow for free choice of modems and
routers, ISPs have to provide the necessary information for the
installation and usage of communication equipment and services without
the client having to ask for it and for no charge.</p><p>But we soon realised that our ISPs, Unitymedia and Vodafone, were
not willing go through this process. This is a story of soft and hard
barriers, and how to overcome them individually and as a community. It
is important not to ignore the hurdles ISPs put in our way. <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/">Router Freedom</a> offers too many
advantages, including those of independence, security, privacy and
control of our technology, to be ignored.</p>
  <img src="media/9fa4fc8d.benefits.png" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/benefits.png"/>
  
    Some of the various benefits of Router Freedom
  
Soft barriers<p>In November 2019, Lucas experienced a so-called soft barrier
courtesy of Vodafone, his ISP. When he moved to a new flat, he
requested a DSL connection. After waiting for a entire month for the
connection, the ISP's customer service tried to convince Lucas not to
use his own router, stating several times that a private router is more
expensive, hard to install, not secure and could cause damage to the
public network. Besides, something even more concerning was that they
threatened Lucas by saying that in case he insisted having a private
router, they would not be able to provide technical support. All that
said, at least they provided with no delay the necessary login
information.</p><p>This behavior is called a "soft barrier" because, although Vodafone
did not prevent Lucas by contractual means to use his private router or
denied vital information for the router configuration (login data),
Vodaphone's customer service subtly tried to convince Lucas to not use
his own router with the customary economic and commercial arguments
that ISPs usually push onto their customers. In most of the cases, it
is sufficient to scare people away from Router Freedom.</p>Hard barriers<p>In December of the same year, I moved to a new city and chose a
business cable Internet connection offered Unitymedia (meanwhile
largely incorporated by Vodafone). After several calls, a technician
finally visited my new home and successfully installed the ISP's
default modem. Of course, I immediately noted that I wanted to use my
own router. The technician told me that this was not allowed.</p><p>In a call with the service hotline, after defending some of the
already mentioned soft barriers, I learnt that one of the features I
had ordered, a static IPv4 address, is <a href="https://kabel.vodafone.de/hilfe_und_service/faq/article/question/was-muss-ich-zur-endgeraetefreiheit-wissen">not
available when using an own router</a>, apparently because <a href="https://www.vodafone.de/business/hilfe-support/unitymedia-faq/hardware.html#ich-habe-feste-ip-adressen-moechte-aber-trotzdem-einen-fremd-router-nutzen-habe-ich-ein-sonderkuendigungsrecht">the
address could only be mapped to their devices</a> – even though my own
router was the exact same model.</p><p>Although I am now able to use my own router (after a long series of
hotline calls and waiting), I still cannot use an essential feature I
ordered. This is a "hard barrier" because customers who want to
exercise their freedom of choice are treated worse. At least I can
enjoy the freedom of using equipment which I own and which I can
control, but I will report this misconduct by my ISP to the national
Federal Network Agency and a consumer protection organisation (see
below).</p>
  <img src="media/ec015f0e.techy-manikin-cut.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/techy-manikin-cut.jpg"/>
  
    Picture by Konrad Twardowski, licensed under CC-BY-SA-2.0
  
How to deal with barriers?<p>Everyone should be able to choose their own modem or router. We call this Router Freedom and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must not restrict it. In Europe, and specifically in Germany, this freedom is assured by several directives and laws. It is ironic that we, the two coordinators of the FSFE's Router Freedom campaign, experienced first hand how German ISPs are still reluctant to allow people use their own devices.</p><p>In case you are in Europe and your ISP is trying to convince you to use their router, here is a small guide of how to proceed:</p>
  If they tell you that you are not  allowed to use your router,
  you can report the fact  to the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/national-regulatory-authorities-member-states">National
  Regulatory Agency</a> or the <a href="https://eba.europa.eu/consumer-corner/national-competent-authorities-for-consumer-protection">Consumer
  Protection Authority of your region</a>. There may also be
  state-independent organisations and platforms to report issues, e.g.
  <a href="https://www.marktwaechter.de/mitmachen/beschwerdeformular">Marktwächter</a>
  in Germany. Please share your experience in the <a href="https://community.fsfe.org/c/activities/router-freedom">FSFE's
  forum</a> to help us and others.
  If you can use your router, but the ISP refuses to provide the
  login data for the public network, this is also a case for the
  National Regulatory Agency or Consumer Protection Authority. Please
  follow the same procedure explained above.
  If you are allowed to use your router, but the ISP refuses to
  provide technical support, you must know that every ISP is obliged by
  contract to provide technical support in relation to your access to
  the Internet. Although they can refuse to support your private
  router, all other issues concerning the connection must be handled by
  them; and, according to our experience, most issues with routers can
  be solved with a quick search on the Internet.
How many people are affected by Router Freedom barriers?<p>Germany was one of the first European countries to implement a
Router Freedom law, following the <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/timeline.html">efforts of the FSFE's campaign
for Router Freedom</a>. The number of people using their own routers
has been growing at a slow but steady pace. According to <a href="https://www.golem.de/news/drei-jahre-routerfreiheit-vodafone-kritisiert-nutzer-mit-eigenem-router-1908-142996.html">latest
reports</a>, Vodafone, the second largest ISP in Germany, has 3,5% of
their cable customers using their own routers. For Unitymedia, a large
cable ISP bought by Vodafone, the number is 2%. </p>
  <img src="media/7395150f.stats-vodafone.png" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/stats-vodafone.png"/>
  
    Router Freedom and Vodafone Germany
  
<p>Complaints about violations against art. 3(1) of the Net
Neutrality Regulation, which also protects Router Freedom, are growing
faster. The German National Regulatory Agency, the authority
responsible for the monitoring of the net neutrality rules in the
country, has registered this to be an "increasingly important isue" for
the <a href="media/9024f7be.NetNeutralityInGermanyAnnualReport2018_2019.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Areas/Telecommunications/Companies/MarketRegulation/NetNeutrality/NetNeutralityInGermanyAnnualReport2018_2019.pdf">report
period of 2018-2019</a> (p. 11), although they consider their options
to intervene in such cases to be limited.</p><p>The increasing tendency gives us motivation to keep up raising the
flag for Router Freedom. <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Your
support</a> makes the difference for the awareness spreading about this
simple but powerful idea: free your router!</p>Take back your rights!<p><a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/">Router Freedom</a> concerns all of
us. Check out <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters">our wiki
page</a> where you can find all necessary information to get active
against the disruption of Router Freedom and to raise awareness among
your community and political representatives. Share your experience in
the <a href="https://community.fsfe.org/c/activities/router-freedom">FSFE's
forum</a> so we can stand together for Router Freedom!</p><p>Long-term political and public action for Router Freedom requires
resources. Please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">joining the FSFE as a supporter</a>
and help us continue this and other
activities.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200310-01.en.xml
uri: Expert-Brochure-to-Modernise-Public-Digital-Infrastructure-with-Public
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200310-01.html
title:
Expert Brochure to Modernise Public Digital Infrastructure with Public Code - Translated Versions Online

content:
Expert Brochure to Modernise Public Digital Infrastructure with Public Code - Translated Versions Online<p>What is Free Software? How does it contribute to digital sovereignty, security and transparency of state digital infrastructure? Which steps can public administrations take? These and more questions are answered in our  publication "Public Money Public Code – Modernising Public Infrastructure with Free Software". After the successful release of the English version of our brochure we translated it into three more languages: German, Czech and Brazilian Portuguese. </p><p>The recent debates about digital sovereignty show that the desire for self-determined government action in the field of digitisation is immense. Digital services offered and used by our public administrations are the critical infrastructure of 21st century. In order to establish trustworthy systems, public bodies must ensure they have full control over the software and the computer systems at the core of our state digital infrastructure. We need software that helps public administrations regain sovereignty over their critical digital infrastructure, allowing them to become and remain independent from a handful of companies. </p><p>The brochure summarises the FSFE's long-term expertise with additional knowledge from leading experts in various ICT areas. It helps readers understand Free Software and its benefits for a modern digital public infrastructure. Hot topics covered include the avoidance of vendor lock-in, improvement of IT security through openness, exploring different business models, handling of procurement issues, and learning from innovative approaches to smart cities.</p>
  <img src="media/112bd1ae.201901-pmpc-brochure-release-pic-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/pmpc/201901-pmpc-brochure-release-pic-800px.jpg"/>
Get your copy now<p>You can download a PDF version of the brochure or order a printed version on the <a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/publiccode/brochure.html">brochure page</a>. The document is licensed as CC BY-SA 4.0. Available languages: English, German, Czech, and Brazilian Portuguese.</p><p>We would like to thank the volunteers and partners who have contributed to translate the brochure. If you would like to enable the translation into more languages, you can help us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donation or by becoming a supporter</a>.</p><p>The brochure is published as part of the FSFE's "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative. With a strong alliance of the administration of Barcelona, the Parliament of Asturias, over 180 organisations, and more than 27.000 individuals, we demand that publicly financed software development should be made publicly available under Free Software licenses. You can sign our open letter and find out more at  <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publiccode.eu</a>. </p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200311-01.en.xml
title: The FSFE is looking for an executive assistant
uri: The-FSFE-is-looking-for-an-executive-assistant
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200311-01.html
content:
The FSFE is looking for an executive assistant<p>We are looking for an executive assistant to support our work to empower
people to control technology. The person will work 25-35 hours per week
with our team in the Berlin office and will be in charge of the FSFE's Berlin
office operations.</p>About the FSFE<p>Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives and it is important that technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.</p><p>The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourages people to use and develop Free Software, and
provides resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.</p><p>We are involved in legal, economic, political, and technical projects
around Free Software (see our work areas and our campaigns).</p><p>Our work is made possible by a community of volunteers, supporters,
donors, and staff. The executive assistant's job will be to be the
administrative backbone of our operations. </p>Main responsibilities
		Reviewing financial documents, preparing them for accounting, and
		general filing.
		Compiling a monthly salary report for salary service. 
		Paying invoices and salaries.
		Issue outgoing invoices and monitor incoming payments
		Communication with health insurance, bank, insurances, and other
		authorities. 
		Review and payment of travel expense claims.
		Financial reporting for EU projects (LEAR).
		Office management: coordination with cleaning service, printer
		service, ordering of various materials needed for the office and other
		staffers, key management, responsibility for cash book, answering the
		phone, and other general office tasks. 
		Issuing of donation receipts.
	Qualifications
		You have completed a relevant education and already have work
		experience.
		Fluency in written and spoken German, intermediate command of written
		and spoken English; other European languages are considered an asset.   
		Very reliable, well-organised, and supportive of colleagues.
		Basic knowledge of accounting and tax law.
		Knowledge and experience in understanding the financial side of the
		charitable non-profit sector.
		Ability to communicate by e-mail or chat with people and
		organisations with technical, political, legal, or economic
		backgrounds, and working together with volunteers or willingness to
		learn this fast. 
		Knowledge of how to handle the administrative side of EU funded
		projects is welcome.
		Knowledge of the Free Software field and affinity with the FSFE's
		values and mission are desired.
		Knowledge of how to use a GNU/Linux laptop is a plus.
	Attitude<p>We are looking for a reliable, well-organised, and punctual team player
who will ensure the reliable handling of office procedures and thus
support us in making the world better for future generations.</p>How to apply<p>To apply, please send a maximum one-page cover letter -- including the
desired hours per week and your desired wage for this -- and a maximum
two-page CV (only PDFs are accepted) by email to jobs@fsfe.org, with the
subject “executive assistant”. Please do not include pictures of yourself
in the application.</p><p>Your personal data will be deleted 3 months after we have made our
decision. The closing date for applications is Thursday 2 April 2020.
Interviews with selected candidates will take place in the beginning of
April. The start date for the job will be May 2020 and is open-ended.</p><p>Free Software is meant to serve everyone regardless of their age,
ability or disability, gender identity, sex, race, religion, or sexual
orientation. Hence, we encourage applications from all backgrounds and
promise to judge all applications on merit, without reference to any of
the characteristics listed. To promote diversity and equality in the
Free Software community, we shall give preference to applicants who
identify as part of a traditionally marginalised demographic in
technology for applications of equal strength.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200327-01.en.xml
title: FSFE in times of Corona: How a virus affects us
uri: FSFE-in-times-of-Corona-How-a-virus-affects-us
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200327-01.html
content:
FSFE in times of Corona: How a virus affects us<p>Among all the serious diseases and deaths it
causes, the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its accompanying COVID-19 disease also
keep the FSFE and the whole Free Software community in suspense. For
our community and other charitable organisations we would share our
experiences and lessons learnt from the Corona crisis.</p><p>First of all, we are glad that we can fall back on years of
experience with remote collaboration crossing borders and continents.
Since its foundation, the FSFE has had its roots in all over Europe,
working together with people and organisations in various time zones.
Luckily, we are trained to use asynchronous communication tools. But
the FSFE as an organisation and community still has to deal with new
challenges and serious drawbacks that make our work for Free Software
much harder. Your help is needed to balance these!</p>Office activities mostly continue as normal<p>For the FSFE’s 9 staff members, albeit the long-term experience with
remote collaboration, the current situation still causes a few
disruptions. Although we have a long history of having some employees
working from elsewhere, the majority used to work in our main office.
Until recently, e-mail and mailing lists, XMPP for text chats,
collaboration tools like Nextcloud and Wekan, and Jitsi for phone and
video conferencing were sufficient for effective collaboration. But
since the situation in Europe has gotten quite severe, we asked all
staff members to work from home to reduce the probability of infecting
each other. So instead of connecting only 2-3 parties with each other
for our daily short meetings, we now have up to 9 persons who should be
able to be on a call to coordinate our activities.</p><p>Like in the past, we’ve settled so far with using Jitsi, a Free
Software application for audio and video conferencing. To our utmost
delight, it scales very well for audio-only conferences and makes even
longer conversations hassle-free. We are also going to test Mumble, a
VoIP application which has more features and a focus on good audio
quality, and Nextcloud Talk. Unfortunately, for video conferencing with
more than 4 participants, we did not find a suitable Free Software
solution yet which we can self-host on our aged and limited server
hardware.</p><p>But there are also processes which cannot be conducted normally
nowadays. Unfortunately, we had to temporarily stop sending out <a href="http://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword">information material</a> and <a href="http://fsfe.org/order/">merchandise articles</a> which usually is a great way to
spread the word about Free Software and inform about activities like <a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/">“Free Your Android”</a>, <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">“Public Money? Public Code!”</a>, the <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191113-01.html">campaign against DRM</a> and <a href="http://fsfe.org/campaigns/campaigns.html">many more</a>.</p>Physical distancing contradicts our typical work<p>Apart technical challenges, the biggest impact we face is the
cancellation of Free Software conferences, our own events, and
scheduled FSFE team meetings. Booths and talks have been one of the
main channels over which we informed people about Free Software and the
FSFE’s work. Losing those also means a heavily limited visibility of
our organisation, and thereby also a loss in new <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=corona-news">supporters and
donors</a> for our cause. In the case of our events, like the annual <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/legal-conference.html">Legal and Licensing
Workshop</a> or the <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">“Public
Money? Public Code!” conference</a>, it is a even more direct financial
burden due to already invested work and non-refundable costs. </p><p>But also the cancellation of working group meetings like the
webmasters or country teams hurt us as a community. These have been a
great opportunity to meet each other, efficiently coordinate activities
for the benefit of Free Software, and of course also to have fun
together and motivate each other. The restriction of in-person meetings
hits the FSFE local groups even more. Most groups meet once or twice a
month to discuss Free Software issues and plan activities on a regional
level. </p><p>We are working on mitigating these effects and providing alternative
options for meetings and remote collaboration. On the one hand, local
groups adapt by meeting virtually and continuing to coordinate their
activities for the promotion of software freedom asynchronously. On the
other hand, we offer various ways to stay informed about Free Software
and the FSFE’s activities while staying home. Our <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">Software Freedom Podcast</a> regularly
features inspiring people and topics ranging from political to
community to legal issues. On our <a href="https://peertube.social/accounts/fsfe/video-channels">Peertube</a>
and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/FreeSoftwareFoundationEurope">Youtube</a>
video channels we collect talks by FSFE community members and otherwise
thrilling material for hours of binge watching.</p>Your help is needed<p>Large parts of our usual operations are limited, but since we are
based on digital widespread cooperation, we are still effective.
Especially at times like these, it is important to monitor the rapid
developments and advocate for Free Software for remote schooling and
collaboration. Our ongoing activities like <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a>, <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/">Router Freedom</a> or the <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ngi0.html">Next Generation Internet project</a>
are not dormant either, and we will intensify the communication with
the public via established and new channels.</p><p>The FSFE and other Free Software groups have the slight advantage of
having long-term experience with remote collaboration over e-mail,
instant messengers and conferencing services. However, as many other
charity organisations, we suffer from a limited visibility and
community interaction which usually are the foundation of our work.
Additionally, the expected economic distortions will seriously affect
mostly all economic areas and will have unforseeable effects on our
supporters, donors, and eventually ourselves.</p><p>We and other Free Software organisations do need your help to get
through this phase reasonably well. If you can, please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=corona-news">joining us as a
supporter</a> or, if you already are one, increasing your contribution
or making a
<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=corona-news&amp;period=o">one-time
donation</a>. If you cannot, please spread the word among your friends
and colleagues; and we hope that your situation will improve soon.</p><p>In these difficult times specifically, but also in general we would
like to thank the volunteers who form the foundation of the FSFE with
their invaluable contributions, and the <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=corona-news">supporters and
donors</a> who enable our work for Free Software. Thank you!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200330-01.en.xml
title: Freeware, Free Software and the Corona Virus Crisis – Choose your tools wisely!
uri: Freeware-Free-Software-and-the-Corona-Virus-Crisis-Choose-your-to
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html
content:
Freeware, Free Software and the Corona Virus Crisis – Choose your tools wisely!<p>Cheering on doctors and nurses, sewing face-masks, donating gloves and disinfectant gel, building respirators, running errands for elderly neighbours. Everybody wants to contribute to alleviate the dramatic situations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>The software industry is trying to do its part by giving users access to trial versions of proprietary programs. But, before you go ahead and take advantage of this generosity, you may want to read the fine print. What looks like a great relief today, might turn into a burden tomorrow.</p><p>Of course, everybody appreciates all contributions, anything that can help overcome the crisis together. But you should be wary of offers coming from proprietary software vendors. Among self-employed workers, home office programs (word processors, spreadsheets, databases) are in great demand, for example. But be careful with what you choose: Once the crisis is over, you may wake up to a stringent vendor lock-in, with unexpected costs and other problems attached.</p><p>The same goes for companies asking employees to work from home. The solutions they choose to overcome the challenges of remote working can causes problems which will backfire in the future, once the crisis has passed.</p><p>It is understandable that software companies, many of which are under a great pressure themselves, would try to lure new customers in this way. But you must ask yourself if what is in most cases just a marketing strategy, will be helpful for you in the long run. Proprietary software companies are peddling freeware programs, limited both in time and usability. They offer no way of adapting the solutions to your needs, no permissions to modify and improve the tools, and legal penalties if you share them with others. You can only use the tool for limited purposes and you are not allowed to study the code. Freeware grants you none of the four freedoms of Free Software, to use, study, share and improve the software.</p><p>What's more, your colleagues and employees may get used to this software, build their workflow upon it, and then will find it difficult to switch to another solution in a couple of months time when the crisis is over. The application you choose may also be part of larger suite, forcing you to acquire and license software you don't need once the offer is rescinded. You may also be stuck with data locked to closed applications, making it difficult to switch vendor later on. What looks helpful today can be expensive and a hassle to deal with tomorrow. We strongly advise you carefully decide which software you choose. </p><p>Because many proprietary programs can be replaced with <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">Free Software solutions</a> that adhere to <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/os/">Open Standards</a>, you can run your software in a way that fits your needs, without having to worry about additional and unpredictable costs down the road. If you need a new solution today, take a solution which is also good for you tomorrow and choose Free Software. Take advantage of your rights to use, study, share and improve the software, at any time, during or after the crisis.</p>Checklist for your solution:<p>Even if a tool is advertised as Free Software, check that it really is. <a href="https://twitter.com/catalystk_crm/status/1242727641896988672">Some</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/procezoapp/status/1242790980819931137">software</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SilFerBots/status/1243073251640610816">companies</a> have no scruples in calling their products Free Software, even when they aren't with the sole purpose of gaining new customers.</p><p>Ask yourself: "Is it really Free Software? - Can I use, study, share and improve the software without any restrictions?" Check the licence. If in doubt, <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/licence-questions.html">get in touch with our licence team</a> and ask if the tool you are considering is a Free Software solution.</p><p>Here you can <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">learn more about the concept of Free Software.</a></p>
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Here are some tips on what you should look for when looking for Free Software
Is the software offered for free, but time-limited? - It is not a Free Software. It is very likely you will have to pay fees for using the software after the crisis.
Can the software only be used for some workstations / by a limited number of users? - It is not a Free Software. It is very likely that you will have to pay fees for using the software for the workstations you are now using for free in the near future.
Is the application provided free of charge only for businesses? - It is not a Free Software. It is very likely that you will have to pay fees after the crisis to continue using this software.
Is the word “trial” included in the description of the software?  - It is not a Free Software. After the trial period, you will have to pay full fees to use the tool.
Is the software only available for hospitals, schools or other specific sectors? -  It is not a Free Software. It is freeware only for certain industries and it is very likely that these industries will have to pay for it some day.
Does it say you can win a license? - It is not a Free Software. Even if you are one of the lucky winners, you will not be able to adapt the software to your needs. Also, you will incur in unexpected costs when you want to update to a new or higher version of the tool.
Do the creators say they will make the tool open source? – It is not (currently) Free Software. Be careful with promises! The creators may only free parts of the software and might stop supporting the tool with updates soon. This will force you to upgrade to a new, non-Free version. 
<p>These times are also hard for charity organisations like the FSFE. We work to empower users to control technology. We have been fighting for users' rights since 2001 and we remain independent thanks to the help of our donors and supporters. To remain an independent voice for Free Software, we depend on your donations. <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">With your financial support</a>, you contribute to strengthen the foundation upon which we can build our charitable work for freedom in the information society.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200330-01.fr.xml
title: Freeware, Logiciels Libres et crise du Corona Virus - Choisissez vos outils judicieusement !
uri: Freeware-Logiciels-Libres-et-crise-du-Corona-Virus-Choisissez-vos-o
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html
content:
Freeware, Logiciels Libres et crise du Corona Virus - Choisissez vos outils judicieusement !
<p>
Encourager les médecins et les infirmières, coudre des masques, donner des gants et du gel désinfectant, construire des respirateurs, faire des courses pour les voisins âgés. Tout le monde veut contribuer à atténuer les situations dramatiques provoquées par la pandémie COVID-19.
</p><p>
L'industrie du logiciel essaie de faire sa part en donnant aux utilisateurs l'accès à des versions d'essai de programmes propriétaires. Mais, avant de profiter de cette générosité, vous voudrez peut-être être au courant des limitations. Ce qui semble être un grand soulagement aujourd'hui, pourrait se transformer en fardeau demain.
</p><p>
Bien sûr, tout le monde apprécie toutes les contributions, tout ce qui peut aider à surmonter la crise ensemble. Mais vous devez vous méfier des offres des vendeurs de logiciels propriétaires. Parmi les travailleurs indépendants, les logiciels de bureau (traitements de texte, tableurs, bases de données) compatibles avec le travail à domicile sont très demandés, par exemple. Mais faites attention à ce que vous choisissez. Une fois la crise passée, vous risquez de vous réveiller dans un enfermement propriétaire, avec des coûts imprévus et d'autres problèmes.
</p><p>
Il en va de même pour les entreprises qui demandent à leurs employés de travailler à domicile. Les solutions qu'elles choisissent pour surmonter les difficultés du travail à distance peuvent engendrer des problèmes qui se retourneront contre elles à l'avenir, une fois la crise passée.
</p><p>
Il est compréhensible que les sociétés de logiciels, dont beaucoup sont elles-mêmes soumises à une forte pression, tentent d'attirer de nouveaux clients de cette manière. Mais vous devez vous demander si ce qui n'est dans la plupart des cas qu'une stratégie de marketing vous sera utile à long terme. Les sociétés de logiciels propriétaires vendent des logiciels gratuits, limités à la fois dans le temps et dans leur utilisation. Ils n'offrent aucun moyen d'adapter les solutions à vos besoins, aucune possibilité de modifier et d'améliorer les outils, et des sanctions légales si vous les partagez avec d'autres. Vous ne pouvez utiliser l'outil qu'à des fins limitées et vous n'êtes pas autorisé à étudier le code source. Le Freeware ne vous accorde aucune des quatre libertés du Logiciel Libre, utiliser, étudier, partager et améliorer le logiciel.
</p><p>
De plus, vos collègues et employés peuvent s'habituer à ce logiciel, construire leur habitude de travail autour de celui-ci et auront ensuite du mal à passer à une autre solution dans quelques mois lorsque la crise sera terminée. L'application que vous choisissez peut également faire partie d'une suite plus vaste, ce qui vous obligera à acquérir et à licencier des logiciels dont vous n'aurez plus besoin une fois l'offre annulée. Il se peut également que vous soyez bloqué avec des données verrouillées à applications fermées, ce qui rendra difficile un changement de fournisseur par la suite. Ce qui semble utile aujourd'hui peut coûter cher et devenir un problème à régler demain. Nous vous conseillons vivement de choisir avec soin le logiciel que vous utiliserez.
</p><p>
Parce que de nombreux programmes propriétaires peuvent être remplacés par
<a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">des solutions de Logiciels Libres</a>
qui adhèrent aux
<a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/os/">Standards Ouverts</a>
, vous pouvez utiliser votre logiciel de manière à répondre à vos besoins, sans avoir à vous soucier des coûts supplémentaires et imprévisibles à venir. Si vous avez besoin d'une nouvelle solution aujourd'hui, prenez une solution qui vous conviendra également demain et choisissez les Logiciels Libres. Profitez de vos droits pour utiliser, étudier, partager et améliorer le logiciel, à tout moment, pendant ou après la crise.
</p>Checklist pour votre solution:<p>
Même si un outil est annoncé comme un Logiciel Libre, vérifiez qu'il l'est vraiment.
<a href="https://twitter.com/catalystk_crm/status/1242727641896988672">Quelques</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/procezoapp/status/1242790980819931137">entreprises</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/SilFerBots/status/1243073251640610816">de logiciels</a>
n'ont aucun scrupule à qualifier leurs produits de Logiciels Libres, même lorsqu'elles ne le font pas dans le seul but de gagner de nouveaux clients.
</p><p>
Posez-vous la question : "Est-ce vraiment un logiciel libre ? - Puis-je utiliser, étudier, partager et améliorer le logiciel sans aucune restriction ?" Vérifiez la licence. En cas de doute,
<a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/licence-questions.html">prenez contact avec notre équipe chargée des licences</a>
et demandez si l'outil que vous envisagez est une solution de Logiciel Libre.
</p><p>
Ici vous pouvez
<a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">en apprendre plus sur le concept de Logiciel Libre.</a>
</p>
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Voici quelques conseils sur ce que vous devez rechercher lorsque vous recherchez des Logiciels Libres


Le logiciel est-il offert gratuitement, mais pour une durée limitée ? - Il ne s'agit pas d'un Logiciel Libre. Il est très probable que vous deviez payer des frais pour l'utilisation du logiciel après la crise.


Le logiciel ne peut-il être utilisé que pour certains postes de travail / par un nombre limité d'utilisateurs ? - Il ne s'agit pas d'un Logiciel Libre. Il est très probable que vous deviez payer des frais pour l'utilisation du logiciel pour les postes de travail que vous utilisez actuellement gratuitement dans un avenir proche.


L'application est-elle gratuite uniquement pour les entreprises ? - Il ne s'agit pas d'un Logiciel Libre. Il est très probable que vous deviez payer des frais après la crise pour continuer à l'utiliser.


Le mot "essai" est-il inclus dans la description du logiciel ? - Il ne s'agit pas d'un Logiciel Libre. Après la période d'essai, vous devrez payer la totalité des frais pour utiliser l'outil.


Le logiciel est-il uniquement disponible pour les hôpitaux, les écoles ou d'autres secteurs spécifiques ? - Il ne s'agit pas d'un Logiciel Libre. C'est un logiciel gratuit uniquement pour certaines industries et il est très probable que ces industries devront un jour le payer.


Est-ce qu'il est dit que vous pouvez gagner une licence ? - Ce n'est pas un Logiciel Libre. Même si vous êtes l'un des heureux gagnants, vous ne pourrez pas adapter le logiciel à vos besoins. De plus, vous devrez faire face à des coûts inattendus lorsque vous voudrez mettre à jour votre outil vers une nouvelle version ou une version supérieure.


Les créateurs disent-ils qu'ils vont rendre l'outil open source ? - Il ne s'agit pas (actuellement) d'un Logiciel Libre. Faites attention aux promesses ! Les créateurs ne peuvent libérer que des parties du logiciel et pourraient bientôt cesser de soutenir l'outil avec des mises à jour. Cela vous obligera à passer à une nouvelle version non Libre.

<p>
Ces temps sont également difficiles pour les organisations caritatives comme la FSFE. Nous nous efforçons de donner aux utilisateurs les moyens de contrôler la technologie. Nous nous battons pour les droits des utilisateurs depuis 2001 et nous restons indépendants grâce à l'aide de nos donateurs et sympathisants. Pour rester une voix indépendante pour le Logiciel Libre, nous dépendons de vos dons.
<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Avec votre soutien financier</a>
, vous contribuez à renforcer les bases sur lesquelles nous pouvons bâtir notre action caritative en faveur de la liberté dans la société de l'information.
</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200402-02.en.xml
title: Any Corona tracking app must be used voluntarily and be Free Software
uri: Any-Corona-tracking-app-must-be-used-voluntarily-and-be-Free-Software
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html
content:
Any Corona tracking app must be used voluntarily and be Free Software<p>The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) demands that the use of tracking technologies 
that aim at breaking the chains of disease infection may only be promoted on a voluntary basis, fundamental 
rights must be respected and the software must be published under a Free Software licence.</p><p>In the last days there have been increasing debates about the use and development of apps that aim at helping 
to contain the corona virus, by tracking new infections and their contact persons. With the help of a contact diary 
it is possible to record who met with whom and when. If a person is infected with the corona virus, their contacts 
are informed and asked to isolate themselves and to take further actions, if necessary. It will be hopefully possible 
to break the chain of infection and thus reduce the infection rate. In some countries, there are also discussions 
about a mandatory use of this app, which would interfere on people's right to control their technology and thus their privacy.</p><p>The Free Software Foundation Europe demands that any such app may only be introduced on a voluntary basis and the software 
must be published under a Free Software licence, sometimes also called Open Source. Any medical records and data must be placed 
under the highest priority of data protection. Only Free Software offers enough transparency to validate a complete data protection 
and a compliant use, thus trust can be established. Not to forget that a majority of investments in the current crisis and a lot of 
actors in the medical sector are state-funded, and <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publicly financed software developed for the 
public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licences</a>, as hundreds of organisations and tens of thousands of people demand.</p><p>Global problems need global solutions and it is only Free Software that enables global code development cooperation in a legally 
safe environment. Any proprietary solution will lead inevitably to countless isolated solutions and thereby waste energy and time. </p><p>Besides global cooperation, Free Software licences allow sharing of code in any jurisdiction. 
Solutions developed in one country can be reused and adpated in another one. International development 
agencies and humanitarian movements can help to contain the spread of COVID-19 in any country around 
the world with Free Software solutions. </p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200403-01.fr.xml
uri: Les-sympathisants-de-la-FSFE-publient-Pourquoi-utiliser-des-Logiciels
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200403-01.html
title:
Les sympathisants de la FSFE publient "Pourquoi utiliser des Logiciels Libres pour le travail à distance et lesquels"?

content:
FSFE donnateurs publient "Pourquoi utiliser des Logiciels Libres pour le travail à distance et lesquels"?<p>En raison de l'épidémie actuelle du virus Covid-19, de nombreux employeurs - volontaires ou obligatoires - travaillent désormais à distance. De nombreuses organisations qui n'étaient pas habituées au travail à distance jusqu'à présent sont maintenant confrontées à un certain nombre de difficultés pour s'adapter à la situation. Pour éviter d'éventuels blocages, certains partisans de la FSFE ont collectivement écrit sur les bonnes raisons d'utiliser des Logiciels Libres pour le travail à distance et ont rassemblé une liste détaillée de solutions pratiques
<a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">dans notre wiki</a>.</p><p>En raison de l'épidémie actuelle du virus Covid-19, de nombreuses organisations qui n'avaient jamais auparavant orienté leur réflexion stratégique vers les solutions disponibles pour le travail à distance dans leur entreprise optent désormais pour une solution rapide et choisissent de suivre les offres - au début souvent gratuites - des grandes entreprises technologiques et leurs solutions propriétaires. Cependant, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html">de telles solutions propriétaires enfermeront ces organisations à l'avenir</a>.</p><p>Au lieu de quoi choisir une solution de Logiciel Libre signifie opter pour une solution qui a un avenir, où votre organisation ne dépend plus d'un fournisseur ou d'un format de fichier particulier ou de tout autre moyen que ces fournisseurs choisissent de vous enfermer. Le Logiciel Libre vous donne le contrôle. </p><p>Pour vous aider à démarrer ou à approfondir l'utilisation des Logiciels Libres pour le travail collaboratif et à distance, certains partisans de la FSFE ont travaillé sur une liste détaillée de Logiciels Libres pour différents objectifs et <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">ont publié le résultat dans notre wiki</a>. Trouvez l'inspiration pour votre environnement de travail ou ajoutez votre propre solution.</p> 
			<img src="media/b577c5e5.2020-remote-working-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-remote-working-800px.jpg"/>
			Profitez de la liberté des logiciels tout en travaillant à distance.
		Nous sommes une communauté diversifiée de personnes de toute l'Europe et au-delà, qui s'engagent pour le Logiciel Libre. Si vous êtes comme nous, rejoignez-nous dans notre travail pour la liberté. Il y a de nombreuses façons de s'engager et <a href="http://fsfe.org/contribute/contribute.html">vous trouverez sûrement un moyen qui correspond à vos intérêts et compétences.</a> Ces temps sont également difficiles pour les organisations caritatives comme la FSFE. Nous nous efforçons de donner aux utilisateurs les moyens de contrôler la technologie. Nous nous battons pour les droits des utilisateurs depuis 2001 et nous restons indépendants grâce à l'aide de nos donateurs et sympathisants. Pour rester une voix indépendante pour le Logiciel Libre, nous dépendons de vos dons. <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Avec votre support financier</a>, vous contribuez à renforcer les bases sur lesquelles nous pouvons bâtir notre action caritative en faveur de la liberté dans la société de l'information.<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/nl/.nl-202004.en.xml
title: COVID-19 +++ Global cooperation +++ Remote working
uri: COVID-19-Global-cooperation-Remote-working
url: http://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202004.html
content:
COVID-19 +++ Global cooperation +++ Remote working<p>With the spreading of COVID-19 we are facing a global pandemic that requires a lot of coordinated efforts and asks for new global solutions. Our extraordinary newsletter concentrates on software freedom for global solutions, on Free Software solutions for remote connections and on how the FSFE handles the whole situation. As usual, we highlight our community activities and give tips on what you can do to edutain yourself while staying home. Enjoy the read, stay healthy, and protect freedom.</p>Global problems need global solutions and local adaption<p>The global spread of the new Corona virus is said to be still in its beginning and any serious estimations on the impact that countermeasures will have on our daily lives and social organisation are far too early. But there are already some conclusions that we can take from the previous development and current arrangements of our political, social, and economical life. One is that humanity is facing a global problem and so we need global solutions. </p><p>This can be the time that more people understand the global potential of Free Software because it is only Free Software that enables global code development, cooperation, and sharing in any jurisdiction. Solutions developed in one country can be reused and adapted in another one. International development agencies and humanitarian movements can help to contain the spread of COVID-19 in any country around the world with Free Software solutions.  At the same time only Free Software allows them to adapt a solution to any local needs around the world, for example by translating it into local languages. Any proprietary and privative solution instead will inevitably lead to countless isolated solutions, communication overhead, useless competition about our health desires and creation of problems in our daily work arising from non-interoperability. </p>
				<img src="media/9928c157.2020-technology-connects-people-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-technology-connects-people-800px.jpg"/>
			<p>Not to forget that a majority of investments in the current crisis and a lot of actors in the medical sector are state-funded. It is a waste of energy and important time to re-invent the same solutions again and again instead of cooperating. It is now even more important than ever to demand, <a href="https://publiccode.eu/openletter/">what over 27000 people already ask for</a>, that <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licences</a>. </p>COVID19 apps: They should be Free Software<p>Free Software is the only solution to offer full transparency and trust in its implementation. More and more people ask about the use and development of apps that aim at helping to contain the corona virus by tracking new infections and their contact persons. The Free Software Foundation Europe <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html">demands</a> that any such app may only be introduced on a voluntary basis and the software must be published under a Free Software / Open Source Software licence. Only Free Software offers enough transparency to validate a complete data protection and a compliant use; thus trust can be established.</p>How the FSFE's work is affected<p>As always, we keep our eyes open on the well-being of the Free Sofware ecosystem and keep running our activities like <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a>, <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/index.html">Router Freedom</a> or the <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ngi0.html">Next Generation Internet</a> project. We will even intensify the communication with the public via established and new channels online.</p><p>But the Corona pandemic also reduces our resources. As you can read in our <a href="#Cancelled-upcoming-events-with-the-FSFE">cancelled events section</a> below, we and other Free Software organisations suffer financially from the physical-distance-ordering and we need your help to get through this phase reasonably well! If you can, please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=corona-news">joining us as a supporter</a>, by increasing your contribution or by making a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl2004">one-time donation</a>. Please help us in this important time to help others establishing digital infrastructures based on Free Software. Thank you!</p>
			<img src="media/a25ced45.202003-Matthias-Kischner-foss-backstage-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/202003-Matthias-Kischner-foss-backstage-800px.jpg"/>
			<a href="http://fsfe.org/donate/">"Please support our charitable work for software freedom."</a>
		<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202004">Support our work with a donation</a></p>Free Software For Remote Work<p>Since more and more people are working remotely now, we wrote a <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html#id-checklist-for-your-solution">checklist on what you should look for when looking for Free Software</a>. To help people find the right tool for their particular needs that also respects their freedom we also started to publish <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200327-01.html#id-office-activities-mostly-continue-as-normal">the setup that the staffers of the FSFE have been used to work with</a> for many years already. Some of our FSFE supporters took the chance to collectively write up a <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">comprehensive list of freedom respecting tools for remote working in our wiki</a>. </p>
				<img src="media/b577c5e5.2020-remote-working-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-remote-working-800px.jpg"/>
				Enjoy software freedom while working remotely.
			<p>Also a lot of individual FSFE supporters made up their mind in the last weeks and started sharing their experiences with tools they use for remote working. Tobias Diekershoff wrote about <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/tobiasd/2020/03/31/videokonBferenzen-und-verteiltes-lernen/">the experience the Berlin group had with their first online-meeting</a> comparing Jitsi and Big Blue Button (DE), Matthias Kirschner wrote about <a href="https://k7r.eu/jitsi-and-the-power-of-shortcuts/">"Jitsi and the power of shortcuts"</a>, Björn Schießle published his <a href="https://www.schiessle.org/articles/2020/03/07/real-time-communication-and-collaboration-in-a-file-sync-share-environment-a-introduction-to-nextcloud-talk/">introduction to Nextcloud Talk</a> and Vanitas Vitae explains <a href="https://blog.jabberhead.tk/2020/03/16/install-jitsi-mveet-alongside-ejabberd/">how to Install Jitsi-Meet alongside ejabberd</a>.</p>Cancelled: upcoming events with the FSFE<p>It will be to no surprise to you that our own events and <a href="http://fsfe.org/events/">the events we were supposed to take part in during the next weeks and months</a> have been cancelled. This puts the Free Software community into difficult times. Real-life meetings now and then are essential for many people inside our vibrant community to keep in touch and are a good chance to breed creativity and inspiring ideas. </p><p>For us at the FSFE, <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html#events2019">booths and talks are among the main channels</a> over which we inform people about Free Software and the FSFE’s work. Our European community is creative in putting information booths on street festivals, hacker camps, vegan gatherings and many occasions more. Now losing the ability to directly contact people does heavily limit the visibility of our organisation and our mission, which naturally comes with a loss in new supporters and donors for our mutual cause. In the case of our own events - like the annual <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/legal-conference.html">Legal and Licensing Workshop</a> or the <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">“Public Money? Public Code!” conference</a>, it is an even more direct financial burden due to already invested work and non-refundable costs.</p>
				<img src="media/3e977cb0.202003-booth-at-Winterkongress-800px.JPG" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/booths/202003-booth-at-Winterkongress-800px.JPG"/>
				A snapshot of the so far last real-life information booth of the FSFE at the Winterkongress Digitale Gesellschaft, Switzerland.
			<p>If you like to support us and our work and you are saving some costs this year because you are not going to an event that has been cancelled, please consider donating a part of your costs to the organisers that struggle hard and another part to NGOs like the FSFE who struggle as well. And since we cannot spread our word anymore at various events, help us to spread the word. <a href="http://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html">The material we used to send</a> out is also available as downloads. Tell people about Free Software and the FSFE and why we need your help now. </p>What have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE
			Max Mehl and Lucas Lasota moved within Germany and individually wanted to connect to the Internet through our own routers. They <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200302-01.html">reported about various hard and soft barriers</a>, to share their experience and help you to take back your rights! <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/routers/index.html">Router Freedom</a> concerns all of us and you can find all necessary information to get active against the disruption of Router Freedom and to raise awareness among your community and political representatives <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters">on our wiki page</a>. 
			Our Policy Expert Brochure "Public Money Public Code – Modernising Public Infrastructure with Free Software" is <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200310-01.html">now available in three more languages</a>: German, Czech, and Brazilian Portuguese
			Nothing new in the proprietary world: new security issues around WhatsApp <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200228-01.html">show the need for decentralised messengers and digital sovereignty</a>.
			One of our last meetings before the shutdown was the FSFE's system hackers meetings. The <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/System-Hackers">System Hackers</a> are responsible for the maintenance and development of a large number of services. From the fsfe.org website’s deployment to the mail servers and blogs, from Git to internal services like DNS and so on. The <a href="https://mehl.mx/blog/2020/system-hackers-meeting-lyon-edition/">report from Max Mehl reads as a big success</a> and as if they would have known they already prepared to switch between real-meetings and virtual online meetings in the future. 
			
			    
					<img src="media/1270b314.202003-syshackers-group-picture-01-800px.JPG" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/202003-syshackers-group-picture-01-800px.JPG"/>
					Hackers in their natural working environment. For the picture they took off the black ski masks and gloves ; )
				
				
			Back on February 25, our French coordinators organised a debate between candidates for the municipal elections in Paris about their digital program at Sciences Po Paris university. This event was co-organised with student association Espace Numérique and masters association Innovation and Digital Transformation. We'll come in with a full report so long you can watch the full debate (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PCaUFom3ZM">here</a>).
			Gabriel Ku Wei Bin gave a talk about Making Free Software Licensing Easier For All with REUSE at foss north (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-TWobAsAXE#t=19m24s">video</a>), which happened to be held as an online event this year.
			At the Winterkongress Digitale Gesellschaft Matthias Kirschner talked about the <a href="https://www.digitale-gesellschaft.ch/kongress/2020/talks/die_ethik_freier_software_-_missverstandnisse_ausraumen/">ethics of Free Software</a> (<a href="https://youtu.be/q-XEcVV-fXM">video</a>, DE) and Max Mehl about <a href="https://www.digitale-gesellschaft.ch/kongress/2020/talks/keine_it-sicherheit_ohne_freie_software/">security and Free Software</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MW9a5fPX-k&amp;feature=youtu.be">video</a>, DE).
			Erik Albers was invited as part of an expert panel to give input on the current AI strategy of the German government and its impact on climate change. 
			
			    
					<img src="media/72972a7d.-with-expert-panel-ministry-environment-ai-and-climate-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/onstage/202002-Erik-Albers-with-expert-panel-ministry-environment-ai-and-climate-800px.jpg"/>
					Erik Albers representing the ideas of software freedom in an expert panel on AI and climate change in the German Ministry of Environment. (Photo: Christian Löwe)
				
			
			Matthias Kirschner gave a keynote at FOSS Backstage about <a href="https://20.foss-backstage.de/session/core-values-software-freedom">"The core values of software freedom"</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXlIRJSEqvc&amp;feature=emb_logo">video</a>)
		Stories from the Planet
			Henri Bergius writes about <a href="https://bergie.iki.fi/blog/signalk-boat-iot/">how to use Free Software for Cruising sailboat electronics setup with Signal K</a>.
			Matija Šukle writes about <a href="https://matija.suklje.name/how-and-why-to-properly-write-copyright-statements-in-your-code">How and why to properly write copyright statements in your code</a>.
			Vanitas Vitae reports <a href="https://blog.jabberhead.tk/2020/03/10/omemo-specification-sprint/">about the OMEMO Specification Sprint</a>
			Evaggelos Balaskas gives insights about <a href="https://balaskas.gr/blog/2020/03/21/using-libredns-with-dnscrypt-proxy/">Using LibreDNS with dnscrypt-proxy</a>
		Edutain yourself while staying at home<p>In many countries around the world, people are asked to stay home after work, over weekends and also during vacation periods. If you are looking for some edutainment, the FSFE offers a lot for you. Our <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">Software Freedom Podcast</a> regularly features inspiring people and topics ranging from political questions to community developments to legal issues around Free Software. On our <a href="https://peertube.social/accounts/fsfe/video-channels">Peertube</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/FreeSoftwareFoundationEurope">Youtube</a> video channels we collect talks by the FSFE and our community members and otherwise thrilling material for hours of binge watching. <a href="https://planet.fsfe.org/">Our Planet</a> is a collection of individual blogs by our community and the <a href="http://fsfe.org/work.html">"Our Work" section</a> on the homepage offers hours of reading about insights and backgrounds on the political side of software freedom.</p>Get Active<p>In times like now, in that our lives, work and relationships move more and more into digital realms, it becomes fundamental to tell others about software and users' freedom. Try to see a chance in the crisis. Use the time to help people understand how Free Software can help us to find global solutions that can help everyone no matter their background or the jurisdiction they happen to be in. Inspire them about why it is so important for a free society to build its digital infrastructure on free and decentralized solutions. Note down your thoughts in a blog post or write in social media, maybe share and offer your experience or know-how. Also consider to <a href="mailto:newsletter@fsfe.org">sharing your thoughts with us</a> so we can reflect them in the next Newsletter.</p>Contribute to our newsletter<p>If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202002">a donation or a monthly contribution</a>. </p><p>Thanks to our community, all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Stay safe,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202004">Support us with your donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200408-01.en.xml
title: COVID-19 Hackathons: Only Free Software creates global solutions
uri: COVID-19-Hackathons-Only-Free-Software-creates-global-solutions
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html
content:
COVID-19 Hackathons: Only Free Software creates global solutions<p>Currently we see a lot of hackathons to find tools that help tackle the crisis of pandemic COVID-19. 
More and more governments and administrations are hosting or funding such hackathons. To make sure that the results of 
these hackathons can be used globally and adapted locally - that the software can be used, studied, shared and improved 
everywhere - the FSFE asks to publish the outcomes under a Free Software licence.</p><p>Breaking the chain of COVID-19 infections and alleviating its dramatic impacts are of top priority within our societies. 
Software is inherently connected to achieve these goals, from 3D printing ventilators to tracking potential outbreaks or 
organising solidarity within communities. During the last weeks we have seen virtual hackathons being organised to help find 
and fund solutions that tackle the COVID-19 crisis. For the time being only some of them are published under a Free Software 
licence, also called Open Source Software or Libre Software licence, meaning that these solutions can be used, studied, 
shared and improved by everyone around the world.</p><p>Meanwhile, more and more European governments and administrations are hosting virtual hackathons to help develop new tools. 
While some of them are explicitly supporting  Free Software solutions only, like  the <a href="https://wirvsvirushackathon.org/international/">WirVsVirus</a> hackathon
others are not mentioning their licence at all - like <a href="https://euvsvirus.org/">EUvsVirus</a> initiated by the European 
Commission or <a href="https://theglobalhack.com/">Global Hack</a>, funded by StartUpEU, making it difficult or impossible to reuse the software in other parts of the world.</p><p>In a time when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a crisis, we cannot afford to reinvent the wheel 
again and again for software that helps us tackle the spread of COVID-19. Global problems need global solutions! It is 
Free Software that enables global cooperation for code development. Any proprietary solution will inevitably lead to countless 
isolated solutions and waste energy and time which we as humanity cannot afford in such a critical situation.</p><p>Besides global cooperation, Free Software licences allow sharing of code in any jurisdiction. Solutions developed in one 
country can be reused and adapted in another one. International development agencies and humanitarian movements can help to 
contain the spread of COVID-19 in any country around the world with the availability of Free Software solutions.</p><p>Already before this crisis hundreds of organisations and tens of thousands of people demanded that 
<a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licences</a>.
It is now even more important than ever before to tackle this crisis. 
</p>Get involved<a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Hackathons4Freedom">dedicated wiki page</a><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/podcast/.episode-5.en.xml
title: Software Freedom Podcast #5 about regulation with Professor Lawrence Lessig
uri: Software-Freedom-Podcast-5-about-regulation-with-Professor-Lawrence-L
url: http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-5.html
content:
Software Freedom Podcast #5 about regulation with Professor Lawrence Lessig<p>
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, about regulation of society, offline as well as online, about the different means of regulation, and shed light on regulations through code.</p><p>
This fifth episode of the Software Freedom Podcast covers the complicated topic of regulation. Our guest is Professor Lawrence Lessig from the Harvard Law School. Lessig is a former board member of the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>, as well as founder and present Board member of <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>. Lessig has published several books, including the influential and often-quoted <a href="http://www.codev2.cc/">"Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace"</a>. In this episode we discuss with Professor Lessig the different types of regulation that affect society both, online and offline, such as laws, norms, the market, or architecture. In this respect we also touch upon code as a means of regulation. Enjoy learning about the positive and negative effects that some of these regulations can have on society, as well as the further development of ideas.
</p><p>Read more:</p>
  <a href="https://www.lessig.org/new-blog/">Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>
  <a href="https://www.lessig.org/books/">Books from Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>
  <a href="https://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</a>
  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>
  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-is-copyright-and-why-does-it-matter">Copyright</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware">What is Free Software?</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">The four freedoms of Free Software</a>
<p>If you liked this episode and want to support our continues work for software freedom, please help us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate/">donation</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200411-01.en.xml
title: Consider donating your conference budget
uri: Consider-donating-your-conference-budget
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200411-01.html
content:
Consider donating your conference budget<p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times
of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences,
including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and
alive, please consider to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donate a part of
your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the
FSFE</a>.</p><p>Last week we wrote <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200327-01.html">about how the
SARS-CoV-2 virus affects the FSFE</a>. Booths and talks have been some of the
main channels over which we inform people about software freedom and the FSFE’s
work. Losing these due to cancellation of events also means a heavily limited
visibility for our topics and our organisation.</p><p>For example, last year <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html#events2019">we participated in over 60
events</a> in 11 European countries. This is more than one per week on average,
with every event contributing to spreading our message and growing our
community. These events are some of our best opportunities to explain and
discuss Free Software issues in personal conversations.  This is the same
situation with our information material and merchandise: last year, we sent out
over <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.en.html#outreach">800 information
material packages around the world and sold over 1.100 shirts and hoodies.</a>
For the last few weeks we are no longer able to participate in events or
effectively handle requests for our information materials and merchandise - and
it is unclear how long this situation will last.</p><p>In the case of our events, like the <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/legal-conference.html">annual Legal and Licensing
Workshop</a> or the <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">“Public Money?
Public Code!” conference</a>, it is a direct financial burden we take due to
missing sponsorships, non-refundable costs and work that we have already
invested.</p><p>In a time when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a
crisis, we cannot afford to reinvent the wheel again and again. Global problems
need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for
code development. We will keep doing our best for software freedom and
humanity, even while staying home. We will keep our campaigns running and start
new ones, take part in consultations, produce our Software Freedom Podcasts and
inform more on our digital channels.</p><p>We know these are difficult times for everyone: many others are struggling
as well, and some even more seriously.  But if you are in the position to do
so, please support the future of our movement by <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donating a part of your conference budget to
organisations for software freedom; including the FSFE.</a></p><p>In these difficult times specifically, but also in general, we would like to
thank our volunteers who form the foundation of the FSFE with their invaluable
contributions, and our supporters and donors who enable our work for Free
Software.</p><p>Your help is highly appreciated. Thank you so much!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200415-01.en.xml
title: Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak
uri: Free-Software-Legal-and-Licensing-Workshop-2020-cancelled-due-to-COVID
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200415-01.html
content:
Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak<p>This year's FSFE's Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop has been cancelled. The FSFE thanks our contributors and looks ahead to organizing the event next year.</p><p>Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 currently gripping the world, in early March the FSFE had to make the difficult decision to cancel our upcoming Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 (the "Workshop"). Originally scheduled to take place from 15 - 17 April in Barcelona, Spain, the Workshop is an annual conference held every year since 2008 for the FSFE's <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ln.en.html">Legal Network</a>, and serves as a meeting point for FOSS legal experts to discuss issues and best practices surrounding Free Software licensing.</p><p>Many exciting sessions were scheduled for this year's Workshop, including discussions on the technological relevance of copyleft licenses, on the challenges facing Free Software with machine learning and big data, on ongoing litigation from various jurisdictions on software licensing, as well as many other talks and workshops. </p><p>While we are disappointed to have to cancel the Workshop, the FSFE's priority is the health and safety of participants and staff at our events, and public health. As we face this global health crisis together, the FSFE will continue to work to empower individuals to control technology, albeit without any physical gatherings for the time being.</p><p>Nevertheless, we are grateful for companies and individuals who have chosen to continue supporting us despite the cancellation of the Workshop. The FSFE truly appreciates their support and generosity. Accordingly, we would like to extend a warm thank you to our following generous financial supporters who have maintained their contributions to us through these difficult times: our Diamond Sponsors Amazon and Red Hat; our Sapphire Sponsor Microsoft; our Topaz Sponsor HP Inc, and our Ruby Sponsors Canonical, Ericsson, and Toyota.</p><p>Additionally, we would also like to thank our individual donors Andrew Wilson, Pamela Chestek, and Alberto Pianon for their generous support and contributions for the Workshop. </p><p>We are currently looking into remote options that will facilitate the sharing of knowledge within our legal community during this difficult period, including a possible alternative online event. In the meantime, the FSFE also looks ahead to being able to put up another great Workshop again in 2021 and the years to come, under better circumstances.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200424-01.en.xml
title: Netherlands commits to Free Software by default
uri: Netherlands-commits-to-Free-Software-by-default
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200424-01.html
content:
Netherlands commits to Free Software by default<p>In an open letter to the Parliament, the Dutch
minister for internal affairs Raymond Knops commits to a "Free Software
by default" policy and underlines its benefits for society. Current
market regulations shall be reworded to allow publishing Free Software
by the government. </p><p>In the 2018 budget debate, Members of the Dutch Parliament  raised
questions  about actively publishing Free Software by the government,
and an 'open source by default' policy for procurement. These questions
appealed to a <a href="https://kennisopenbaarbestuur.nl/rapporten-publicaties/onderzoek-open-source-software/">report</a>
earlier in 2017 on a government-ordered inquiry in the options for
publishing software under a Free and Open-Source-Software-License. The
report states that adopting Free Software could make the government
more transparent, as well as reduce costs and stimulate the economy.
Additional efforts are deemed necessary to reap these benefits by
ensuring readable and secure code and supporting the community at
large. However, it also underlined the possibility that the government
publishing Free Software could be considered unfair competition under
current market regulations. Doing so would only be legal if the
government abides by a strict set of regulations, which in its current
form would render such publication nearly impossible.</p>
  <img src="media/e3f6d01b.202004-Raymond-Knops-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/202004-Raymond-Knops-800px.jpg"/>
  Dutch minister Raymond Knops at an Open Data award ceremony. CC-BY-2.0 Sebastiaan ter Burg
<p>After some delay, the Dutch minister for internal affairs, Raymond
Knops, has finally answered these questions by publishing a <a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2020/04/17/kamerbrief-inzake-vrijgeven-broncode-overheidssoftware">letter
to the Parliament</a>. In this letter, the minister agrees to the
principle of Free Software by default ("Open Source by default") for
procurement, which can be considered a parallel to the 'comply or
explain' policy that is already in effect for the adoption of open
standards. The minister also agrees to the government actively
developing and publishing Free Software. The letter comes with a
summation of benefits that are similar to the ones mentioned in our <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">"Public Money? Public Code!"
campaign</a>. Still, some reservations are mentioned: exceptions shall
be made for information that could compromise national or governmental
security and for information considered a privacy risk. Additionally,
the letter states that it might not be worth taking on the additional
effort of converting existing software into Free Software, making this
policy mostly applicable for new projects.</p><p>In the <a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/publicaties/2020/04/17/overwegingen-bij-open-tenzij-en-aanpak-open-source">attachment
to the letter</a>, the minister takes note of ongoing efforts in the public
sector and makes detailed promises of enabling and encouraging a Free Software
community in the public sector. One of these is a promise to investigate
possible changes to the current market regulations in order to make exceptions
for publishing Free Software by the government. This will remove the current
legal grey area. A new procurement policy will also be adopted: Free Software by
default is the way to go, and the government and its institutions will actively
start to publish Free Software. The minister will report on the progress of
these measures in the beginning of 2021.</p><p>"At the FSFE we welcome this policy and we will monitor the progress
together with our strong partners in the Netherlands." says Nico
Rikken, the FSFE's coordinator for the Netherlands. "We also invite
Dutch national and local governments to sign our open letter that
demands that publicly financed software developed for the public sector
be made publicly available under a Free Software licence."</p>The Public Money? Public Code! campaign aims to set Free
Software as the standard for publicly financed software. Public
administrations following this principle can benefit from collaboration
with other public bodies, independence from single vendors, potential
tax savings, increased innovation, and a better basis for IT security.
The Free Software Foundation Europe together with over 180 civil
society organisations and more than 27.000 individuals signed the Open
Letter. We will use the signatures to contact decision makers and
political representatives all over Europe and convince them to make
public code the standard. You are invited to <a href="https://publiccode.eu">add your signature</a> to make a bigger
impact.<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/podcast/.episode-special-1.en.xml
title: Software Freedom Podcast Special about GNU Health with Dr. Luis Falcón and Dr. Axel Braun
uri: Software-Freedom-Podcast-Special-about-GNU-Health-with-Dr-Luis-Falcó
url: http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-special-1.html
content:
Software Freedom Podcast Special about GNU Health with Dr. Luis Falcón and Dr. Axel Braun<p>
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this special episode, we talk with Dr. Luis Falcón and Dr. Axel Braun about the Free health and hospital information system GNU Health.</p><p>Unfortunately, as we had to do this podcast remotely this time, we cannot provide the same level of audio quality as you are used to in this podcast. We apologise for this and will look into
better solutions for remote recordings for future episodes.</p><p>
In this special episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk about some of the advantages of <a href=" https://www.gnuhealth.org">GNU Health</a> and how as a Free health and hospital information system it can and already does help with the current Covid-19 pandemic. Our guests are Dr. Luis Falcón who is the author of GNU Health and Dr. Axel Braun who published the first live CD of GNU Health. We discover how and why Dr. Luis Falcón got the idea for the software and what are the next steps in the development of GNU Health, how it is financed and where it is already being used. Together we speak about the importance of a Free health and hospital information system and why <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">public code</a> is essential in the public health care sector during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond. This is the perfect episode for an overview of how important Free Software is in the current situation and especially in hospitals and the public health system.
</p>
  <img src="media/04c247e4.GNUHealth-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/graphics/logos/GNUHealth-800px.jpg"/>
  GNU Health – the free health and hospital information system
<p>Read more:</p>
  <a href="https://www.gnuhealth.org/#/about">GNU Health</a>
  <a href="https://meanmicio.org/2020/03/31/tackling-the-beast-using-gnu-health-to-help-the-fight-against-the-covid-19-pandemic/">"Tackling the Beast: Using GNU Health to help the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic"</a>
  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBFzCJvzgL0">GNU Health in 5 Minutes</a>
  <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">”Public Mone? Public Code!” For more background information on public code in the public administrations</a>
 <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">COVID-19 Hackathons: Only Free Software creates global solutions</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200403-01.html">FSFE Supporters write about Free Software for remote working</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html">Freeware, Free Software and the Corona Virus Crisis – Choose your tools wisely!</a>
<a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200327-01.html">FSFE in times of Corona: How a virus affects us</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware">What is Free Software?</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">The four freedoms of Free Software</a>
<p>If you liked this episode and want to support our continues work for software freedom, please help us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate/">donation</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: /srv/www/fsfe.org_git/news/2020/.news-20200427-01.en.xml
title: NGI Pointer Begins Funding Calls for Projects Designed to Improve the Internet
uri: NGI-Pointer-Begins-Funding-Calls-for-Projects-Designed-to-Improve-the
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200427-01.html
content:
NGI Pointer Begins Funding Calls for Projects Designed to Improve the Internet<p>NGI Pointer is an initiative from the European Commission designed to provide funding and expertise to Free Software projects that can improve the internet as a platform. The FSFE has joined its Advisory Board to provide assistance to these participating projects. The first call for applications to <a href="https://pointer.ngi.eu/pages/ngi-pointer-opencalls">join NGI Pointer</a> is now open until 1 June 2020.</p><p>The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of <a href="https://pointer.ngi.eu/">NGI Pointer</a>, one of the projects within the European Commission's <a href="https://www.ngi.eu/discover-ngi/">Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative </a>. By doing so, the FSFE expands the scope of our work for the NGI initiative, adding our support for NGI Pointer to our current work with <a href="https://www.ngi.eu/ngi-projects/ngi-zero/">NGI Zero</a>.</p>
  <img src="media/25ab0299.2020-ngi-pointer-creative-800px.png" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-ngi-pointer-creative-800px.png"/>
  
    NGI Architects will change the underlying fabric of the Internet
  
<p>The scope of topics eligible to gain funding and support in NGI Pointer will be in the following predefined areas:</p>
  Privacy-by-design                       
  Network optimization
  Limitations in the TCP/IP protocol suite
  Autonomous Network operations and control
  Internet at the Edge
  Virtualization and isolation
  Industrial Internet Security
  Trust for New Internet/Web Users
  Energy Efficiency
  Open Disruption of the Internet Architecture
Free Software Made Easy For Everyone<p>As part of NGI Pointer’s Advisory Board, the FSFE will provide support to successful applicants with advice about how to effectively and properly make their projects available as Free Software, as well as to provide assistance to those who wish to be <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a> compliant.</p><p>We are well-placed to assist with NGI Pointer, as our involvement will be similar to the work we are currently doing in the <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ngi0.en.html">NGI Zero (“NGI0”) project</a>. Under NGI0, the FSFE works with a consortium of non-profit organisations to similarly provide funding and technical advice for promising software projects, albeit with different topical scopes from NGI Pointer. Specifically, the <a href="https://nlnet.nl/PET/">NGI0 PET action</a> seeks to support developing technologies that enhance privacy and trust in the internet, while the <a href="https://nlnet.nl/discovery/">NGI0 Search and Discovery action</a> aims to support projects that improve how information is searched for and discovered online.</p>Get Active!<p>NGI Pointer has recently launched its first <a href="https://pointer.ngi.eu/pages/ngi-pointer-opencalls">open call for applicants on 1 April 2020</a>. Once selected, NGI Architects will enter into a 12 month support programme across different stages that will be tailored to each individual beneficiary’s needs. The deadline for this first open call is 1 June 2020. If you think that you fit the bill of an NGI Architect ready to improve the web and internet architecture, be sure to apply!</p><p>Similarly, the NGI0 PET and Search and Discovery actions also have ongoing calls within the same time frame. Apply <a href="https://nlnet.nl/propose/">here</a> to be part of NGI0 and get support for your software project now!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: .news-20200415-01
title: Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak
uri: 2020-04-29-Free-Software-Legal-and-Licensing-Workshop-2020-cancelled-due-to-COVID
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200415-01.html
content:
Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 outbreak<p>This year's FSFE's Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop has been cancelled. The FSFE thanks our contributors and looks ahead to organizing the event next year.</p><p>Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 currently gripping the world, in early March the FSFE had to make the difficult decision to cancel our upcoming Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop 2020 (the "Workshop"). Originally scheduled to take place from 15 - 17 April in Barcelona, Spain, the Workshop is an annual conference held every year since 2008 for the FSFE's <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/ln.en.html">Legal Network</a>, and serves as a meeting point for FOSS legal experts to discuss issues and best practices surrounding Free Software licensing.</p> 
			<img src="media/2fd8d3b2.202004-empty-conference-room-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/202004-empty-conference-room-800px.jpg"/>
		<p>Many exciting sessions were scheduled for this year's Workshop, including discussions on the technological relevance of copyleft licenses, on the challenges facing Free Software with machine learning and big data, on ongoing litigation from various jurisdictions on software licensing, as well as many other talks and workshops. </p><p>While we are disappointed to have to cancel the Workshop, the FSFE's priority is the health and safety of participants and staff at our events, and public health. As we face this global health crisis together, the FSFE will continue to work to empower individuals to control technology, albeit without any physical gatherings for the time being.</p><p>Nevertheless, we are grateful for companies and individuals who have chosen to continue supporting us despite the cancellation of the Workshop. The FSFE truly appreciates their support and generosity. Accordingly, we would like to extend a warm thank you to our following generous financial supporters who have maintained their contributions to us through these difficult times: our Diamond Sponsors Amazon and Red Hat; our Sapphire Sponsor Microsoft; our Topaz Sponsor HP Inc, and our Ruby Sponsors Canonical, Ericsson, and Toyota.</p><p>Additionally, we would also like to thank our individual donors Andrew Wilson, Pamela Chestek, and Alberto Pianon for their generous support and contributions for the Workshop. </p><p>We are currently looking into remote options that will facilitate the sharing of knowledge within our legal community during this difficult period, including a possible alternative online event. In the meantime, the FSFE also looks ahead to being able to put up another great Workshop again in 2021 and the years to come, under better circumstances.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: .news-20200411-01
title: Consider donating your conference budget
uri: 2020-04-29-Consider-donating-your-conference-budget
url: http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200411-01.html
content:
Consider donating your conference budget<p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times
of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences,
including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and
alive, please consider to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donate a part of
your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the
FSFE</a>.</p><p>Last week we wrote <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200327-01.html">about how the
SARS-CoV-2 virus affects the FSFE</a>. Booths and talks have been some of the
main channels over which we inform people about software freedom and the FSFE’s
work. Losing these due to cancellation of events also means a heavily limited
visibility for our topics and our organisation.</p><p>For example, last year <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html#events2019">we participated in over 60
events</a> in 11 European countries. This is more than one per week on average,
with every event contributing to spreading our message and growing our
community. These events are some of our best opportunities to explain and
discuss Free Software issues in personal conversations.  This is the same
situation with our information material and merchandise: last year, we sent out
over <a href="http://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.en.html#outreach">800 information
material packages around the world and sold over 1.100 shirts and hoodies.</a>
For the last few weeks we are no longer able to participate in events or
effectively handle requests for our information materials and merchandise - and
it is unclear how long this situation will last.</p><p>In the case of our events, like the <a href="http://fsfe.org/activities/ftf/legal-conference.html">annual Legal and Licensing
Workshop</a> or the <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">“Public Money?
Public Code!” conference</a>, it is a direct financial burden we take due to
missing sponsorships, non-refundable costs and work that we have already
invested.</p><p>In a time when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a
crisis, we cannot afford to reinvent the wheel again and again. Global problems
need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for
code development. We will keep doing our best for software freedom and
humanity, even while staying home. We will keep our campaigns running and start
new ones, take part in consultations, produce our Software Freedom Podcasts and
inform more on our digital channels.</p><p>We know these are difficult times for everyone: many others are struggling
as well, and some even more seriously.  But if you are in the position to do
so, please support the future of our movement by <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donating a part of your conference budget to
organisations for software freedom; including the FSFE.</a></p> 
			<img src="media/3280e578.201812-gnu-tux-ilovefs-fsfe-donation-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/fundraising/201812-gnu-tux-ilovefs-fsfe-donation-800px.jpg"/>
		<p>In these difficult times specifically, but also in general, we would like to
thank our volunteers who form the foundation of the FSFE with their invaluable
contributions, and our supporters and donors who enable our work for Free
Software.</p><p>Your help is highly appreciated. Thank you so much!</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: .episode-5
title: Software Freedom Podcast #5 about regulation with Professor Lawrence Lessig
uri: 2020-04-29-Software-Freedom-Podcast-5-about-regulation-with-Professor-Lawrence-L
url: http://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-5.html
content:
Software Freedom Podcast #5 about regulation with Professor Lawrence Lessig<p>
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, about regulation of society, offline as well as online, about the different means of regulation, and shed light on regulations through code.</p><p>
This fifth episode of the Software Freedom Podcast covers the complicated topic of regulation. Our guest is Professor Lawrence Lessig from the Harvard Law School. Lessig is a former board member of the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>, as well as founder and present Board member of <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>. Lessig has published several books, including the influential and often-quoted <a href="http://www.codev2.cc/">"Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace"</a>. In this episode we discuss with Professor Lessig the different types of regulation that affect society both online and offline, such as laws, norms, the market, or architecture. In this respect we also touch upon code as a means of regulation. Enjoy learning about the positive and negative effects that some of these regulations can have on society, as well as the further development of ideas.
</p> 
			<img src="media/96e01d29.201909-lessig-katta-mk-podcast-800px.jpg" data-original-source="http://fsfe.org/picturebase/people/201909-lessig-katta-mk-podcast-800px.jpg"/>
			Katharina Nocun, Lawrence Lessig and Matthias Kirschner while recording the Software Freedom Podcast.
		<p>Read more:</p>
  <a href="https://www.lessig.org/new-blog/">Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>
  <a href="https://www.lessig.org/books/">Books from Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>
  <a href="https://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</a>
  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>
  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-is-copyright-and-why-does-it-matter">Copyright</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware">What is Free Software?</a>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/basics/4freedoms.html">The four freedoms of Free Software</a>
<p>If you liked this episode and want to support our continues work for software freedom, please help us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">donation</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200506-01
title: Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"
uri: Munich-commits-to-Public-Money-Public-Code
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"</h1><p>The new coalition agreement in Munich commits to the principle of "Public Money? Public Code!". 
The FSFE welcomes this decision by the new government and will closely monitor the progress of the implementation.</p><p>The coalition of SPD and Greens in Munich agreed on a <a href="media/5cf791e1.Druckfassung_Koalitionsvertrag-2020_2026.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.gruene-muenchen.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Druckfassung_Koalitionsvertrag-2020_2026.pdf">
coalition treaty</a> last Sunday following the local elections in March. It includes a positive statement on the use of Free Software: the 
principle "Public Money? Public Code!" should apply in future. Munich thus joins the FSFE's demand.</p><p>The FSFE welcomes the "Public Money? Public Code!" policy by the new Munich government. After the last government 
of SPD and CSU had distanced itself from the prior progressive Free Software strategy this is now a positive signal again. Public 
administrations following the principle of "Public Money? Public Code!" can benefit from collaboration with other public bodies, 
independence from single vendors, potential tax savings, increased innovation, and a better basis for IT security.", says Matthias 
Kirschner, President of the Free Software Foundation Europe.</p><p>In 2014, the SPD entered a coalition agreement with the CSU, and Dieter Reiter (SPD) was elected new mayor of Munich. 
Munich abandoned their "LiMux" strategy of developing an independent IT infrastructure built with Free Software and a GNU/Linux 
operating system, and started to move back to depending on proprietary software. The Free Software Foundation Europe 
<a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190515-01.html">criticised this re-migration in the past</a>. Now, with the new coalition of SPD and Greens, 
Munich seems to be back on the track by its commitment to "Public Money? Public Code!".  Still, the treaty leaves room for improvement 
as it includes some typical loopholes such as the vague limitation to software whose code does not contain personal or confidential data.  
Therefore the FSFE will continue to closely monitor the progress of the implementation of the "Public Money, Public Code!" policy and 
how procurement procedures will be handled in future.</p>
            <img src="media/e2242fb2.2020-munich-city-map-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-munich-city-map-800px.jpg"/>
        <p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to set Free Software as the standard for publicly financed software. The Free 
Software Foundation Europe together with over 180 civil society organisations and more than 27.000 individuals signed the open letter. 
We will use the signatures to contact decision makers and political representatives all over Europe and convince them to make public code 
the standard. You are invited to add your signature to make a bigger impact on <a href="https://publiccode.eu">https://publiccode.eu/</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202005
title: Public Hackathons +++ Munich supports Public Code +++ New Podcasts
uri: Public-Hackathons-Munich-supports-Public-Code-New-Podcasts
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202005.fr.html
content:
<h1>Public Hackathons +++ Munich supports Public Code +++ New Podcasts</h1><p>Read about our demand to publish the results of publicly financed hackathons as Free Software, about a new coalition-agreement in Munich that aligns with our principles of "Public Money? Public Code!" and what happened inside the FSFE and our community. You will also read about the results of our web-sprint, about our regular podcast and an extraordinary one.</p><h2>COVID-19 Hackathons: Only Free Software creates global solutions</h2><p>In recent weeks we have seen many hackathons that have been organised to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, many of them have been organised by  governments and other public bodies who are hosting or funding these hackathons. As with our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign, at the FSFE <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">we demand that software resulting from publicly funded hackathons can be re-used globally by publishing it under a Free Software license</a>. </p><p>Especially in a time when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a crisis, we cannot afford to reinvent the wheel again and again for software that helps us contain the spread of COVID-19. Global problems need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for code development. Any proprietary solution will inevitably lead to countless isolated solutions and will waste energy and time which we as humanity cannot afford in such a critical situation.</p>
			<img src="media/ed315a80.201905-webathon-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/events/201905-webathon-800px.jpg"/>
			At the FSFE's hack-a-thons, everything we code is free.
			<h2>Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"</h2><p>Just a few years ago, a Munich government formed by SPD (social democrats) and CSU (conservatives) decided to abandon the local administration's migration to Free Software under the project name "LiMux". Since the election in March a new government has been in place and the coalition agreement between SPD and Greens in Munich <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.html">includes a positive statement on the use of Free Software: the principle "Public Money? Public Code!" should apply in future</a>.</p><p>While we welcome that the City of Munich seems to have come back on track, the agreement leaves room for improvement as it includes some typical loopholes such as the vague limitation to software whose code does not contain personal or confidential data.  The FSFE will continue to closely monitor the progress of the implementation of the "Public Money, Public Code!" policy and how procurement procedures will be handled in the future.</p><h2>Governments publish Corona tracing apps under a Free Software licence</h2><p>In early March the FSFE <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html">published its demand</a> that the use of any tracking technology to break the chains of disease infection may only be promoted on a voluntary basis, with fundamental rights respected, and that the software be published under a Free Software license. As a reaction to this, EU member states, supported by the European Commission, <a href="media/3346d8f1.covid-19_apps_en.pdf" data-original-source="https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/ehealth/docs/covid-19_apps_en.pdf">released a "Common EU Toolbox for Member States"</a>  including "Recommendations for a common approach to mobile tracing apps" asking to "openly publish the technical specifications and the source code for the apps, as a way to maximise re-use, interoperability, auditability and security". </p><p>Now more and more governments, like Germany, Austria or the Netherlands, follow the FSFE's demands and stipulate to publish the code of Corona tracing apps under a Free Software license. Still, we will closely monitor the process and want to achieve that the whole development process happen transparently as we know it from Free Software - and not to publish the code only after its development. </p><p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences, including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202005">donating a part of your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE</a>.</p><h2>Upcoming events</h2><ul>
		<li>On 16-17 May will be the online event <a href="https://ozgurkon.org/">Özgürkon</a> during which Alexander Sander will present recent developments in our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign. The FSFE is a partner organisation of the event.</li>
		<li>On 17.-18 June will be OW2online20 during which our legal coordinator Gabriel Ku Wei Bin will speak about REUSE and the NGI project.</li>
	</ul><h2>What have we done? Inside and outside the FSFE</h2><ul>
		<li>We have a <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-5.html">new episode of our regular Software Freedom Podcast, this time with Professor Lawrence Lessig</a>, founder and present board member of Creative Commons. Together we discuss the different types of regulation that affect society both online and offline, such as laws, norms, the market, or architecture.</li>
		
		                                      
                <img src="media/ad1c6b5c.201909-lessig-katta-mk-podcast-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/people/201909-lessig-katta-mk-podcast-800px.jpg"/>                        
                Katharina Nocun, Lawrence Lessig and Matthias Kirschner while recording the Software Freedom Podcast.               
                 
		
		
		<li>We also published a <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-special-1.html">special episode of the Software Freedom Podcast in which we talk about some of the advantages of GNU Health</a> and how it can and already does help with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests are Dr. Luis Falcón who is the author of GNU Health and Dr. Axel Braun who published the first live CD of GNU Health.
		</li>
		<li>The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of NGI Pointer, one of the projects within the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative. Within this role, the FSFE will provide license compliance support to successful applicants. <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200427-01.html">The first call for applications to join NGI Pointer is now open until 1 June 2020</a>. </li>
		<li>The FSFE co-organised the online event "Forum Bits&amp;Bäume" with the topic "Sustainable Soft- and Hardware". Erik Albers gave a session about the role of Free Software regarding sustainability of software. </li>
		<li>We ran a "little web sprint" to improve some major things regarding our website. Among the visible things are the relaunch of <a href="https://fsfe.org/index.html">our front page</a> and the <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/team.html">our team site</a>. Many other major improvements have been happening in the background and are only "visible" in our <a href="https://git.fsfe.org/FSFE/fsfe-website/issues">issue tracker</a>.</li>
		<li>Matthias Kirschner and Max Mehl have been covered in two episodes of the Librezoom podcast which is done by the FSFE's local group in Zürich. <a href="https://librezoom.net/lz20-paradox/">Max Mehl talks about security and privacy</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/https://librezoom.net/lz19-die-nexte-bitte/">Matthias Kirschner about "cloud" and Free Software</a>. Both episodes are in German.</li>
		</ul><h2>Netherlands commits to Free Software by default</h2><p>In an open letter to the Parliament, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200424-01.html">the Dutch minister for internal affairs, Raymond Knops, commits to a "Free Software by default" policy</a> and underlines its benefits for society. A rewording of current market regulations shall be proposed to allow publishing of Free Software by the government. </p><h2>Stories from the FSFE Planet</h2><ul>
		<li>Hannes Hauswedell <a href="https://hannes.hauswedell.net/post/2020/04/20/gamestream/">writes about Game-streaming without the "cloud"</a>: how to stream a native Windows game, "Divinity Original Sin 2", installed DRM-free from GOG, via Steam Remote Play from his Desktop running Devuan GNU/Linux in 4K resolution and maximum quality directly to his TV running Android. </li>
		<li>Dmaphy <a href="http://blog.dmaphy.de/2020/04/terminator-192-released.html">writes</a> about a new update for the terminal emulator Terminator 1.92, now supporting Python 3.</li>
		</ul><h2>Get Active: Convince hackathons to create global solutions</h2><p>We are still looking for hackathons that are organised by public entitites and trying to convince them to publish their software under a Free Software license. If you know such a hackathon, then help us to gather more of them on <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Hackathons4Freedom">our dedicated wiki page</a>. </p><p>Please ask for others to help you or directly get in contact with the organisers yourself to make them aware that the results of these hackathons should be made ready to be used globally and adapted locally - which is only possible if the software can be used, studied, shared and improved. You can find help for your communication on <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Hackathons4Freedom">the very same wiki page</a>. </p><h2>Contribute to our newsletter</h2><p>If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202005">a donation or a monthly contribution</a>. </p><p>Thanks to our community, all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Stay safe,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202004">Support us with your donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200514-01
title: FSFE nudges emergency ventilator project towards a Free Software License
uri: FSFE-nudges-emergency-ventilator-project-towards-a-Free-Software-Licen
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200514-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>FSFE nudges emergency ventilator project towards a Free Software License</h1><p>After a nudge by the FSFE, the Dutch OpenAIR initiative has provided licenses on their material to support reuse.</p><p>In the Netherlands an initiative has started to cope with COVID-19 by developing an easy producible emergency ventilator for which parts could mainly be sourced locally: <a href="https://www.operationair.org/">OperationAIR</a>. This project was started on 16 March by professor Harlaar and students of the Department of BioMechanical Engineering of Delft Technical University in order to ensure enough ventilator capacity for treating COVID-19 patients. The team intended their design to be publicly available for reuse. To adhere to the principles of Open Science all documentation, technical design and source code was <a href="https://osf.io/mn7xq/">published in a coherent fashion on their website</a>.</p>
  <img src="media/52e76059.202005-OperationAIR-800px.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/202005-OperationAIR-800px.png"/>
  Render of the OperationAIR ventilator. CC-BY-4.0 International OperationAIR
<p>The Dutch FSFE team noticed however that the project as published was not reusable. It lacked a license and contained a disclaimer prohibiting commercial use. The FSFE reached out to the team to make them aware that their current publication did not meet their intentions. The team agreed and after a meeting with their lawyers decided to change the disclaimer, put a CC-BY 4.0 Internation license on all documents, and provided the software under a Free Software license (Apache 2.0 license).</p>
The FSFE applauds the OpenAIR team for adhering to the principles of Free Software and Open Science and for contributing in the COVID-19 crisis. We hope that more people will follow this example to <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.en.html">to release solutions for COVID-19 under a Free Software License for reuse</a>, say Nico Rikken, the FSFE's coordinator for the Netherlands.<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200519-01
title: FSFE calls for a more inclusive competition law in Europe
uri: FSFE-calls-for-a-more-inclusive-competition-law-in-Europe
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200519-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>FSFE calls for a more inclusive competition law in Europe</h1><p>In order to contribute to the EU Commission assessment of the Market Definition Notice, the FSFE has taken part in the public consultation to call for more attention to smaller stakeholders and civil society in topics of EU competition law.</p><p>The European Commission has launched an evaluation of some central concepts of EU competition law. The so-called EU Market Definition Notice (the "Notice") enables the Commission to identify actual competitors of relevant products and geographic markets to enforce prevailing competition policy and law. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether the Notice, introduced in 1997, remains fit for its purpose in light of recent developments. This is especially necessary when we also consider the dramatic digitalisation of the European markets that has occurred in the past 23 years.</p><p>In order to contribute to a fair and inclusive assessment, the FSFE took part in the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12325-Evaluation-of-the-Commission-Notice-on-market-definition-in-EU-competition-law/F519118">public consultation</a> to highlight the necessity of having the experience of grassroot organisations and civil society actors heard by the Commission. Notwithstanding the deep expertise in competition law in the software and telecommunications field these smaller stakeholders have, they might be disadvantaged in raising attention to essential competition topics, since the Commission might hear a biased account of the needs of the market when only large and well-funded business organisations have sufficient resources to effectively provide feedback in consultation procedures.</p>
            <img src="media/6582e613.competition-law-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/competition-law-800px.jpg"/>
<p>Since 2001 the FSFE has strongly advocated in favour of Free Software technologies because of their benefits to a competitive market. The FSFE has collaborated with the Commission in <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html">top antitrust cases</a>, providing a substantial contribution in the defence of landmark decisions that have shaped competition case law, both in court and in the public outreach fora. You can learn more about the FSFE's feedback at the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12325-Evaluation-of-the-Commission-Notice-on-market-definition-in-EU-competition-law/F519118">initiative's page</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200601-01
title: Router Freedom challenged by new European rules
uri: Router-Freedom-challenged-by-new-European-rules
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200601-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Router Freedom challenged by new European rules</h1><p>From 21 June a new set of rules will guide the implementation of Router Freedom in Europe. The internalisation of the rules by the 27 EU member states will face challenges with negative consequences for Router Freedom. The FSFE contributed to several improvements of the guidelines and will monitor compliance with them.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic shows how dependent people are on the Internet for their work and personal life. In times of lockdown, when people need to stay home and work remotely, the whole internet traffic, encryption, business and work interaction are transferred through personal routers. Since 2013, the FSFE has been advocating for Router Freedom in Europe with outstanding results in Germany and effects beyond its borders. Now, a new set of rules, for which the FSFE <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191120-01.html">contributed to improve</a>, will guide the implementation of Router Freedom in Europe. We summarise the positive outcomes as well as the challenges ahead.</p><h2>Router Freedom's legal framework</h2><p>In Europe, Router Freedom is regulated by three sets of rules. The first one comes from the <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.310.01.0001.01.ENG">Net Neutrality Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/2120)</a>, which establishes that people are free to choose their own digital equipment. The second set are the new <a href="media/69a1672d.9033-berec-guidelines-on-common-approaches-to_0.pdf" data-original-source="https://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/9033-berec-guidelines-on-common-approaches-to_0.pdf">Guidelines on the Location of the Network Termination Point (NTP)</a>, drafted by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). National legislation and administrative acts in each EU member state will compose the third set. These are to be implemented locally by states' National Regulatory Agencies (NRAs) in accordance with the aforementioned Net Neutrality Regulation and Guidelines on the NTP.</p><p>The Guidelines on the NTP have the objective of providing guidance to the NRAs to determine in their jurisdiction if the router/modem should belong to users or to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In March, BEREC published the final version of the text, after a public consultation which the FSFE <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191120-01.html">took part</a> in November 2019. The Guidelines will come into effect on 21 June 2020, and the NRAs are supposed to take utmost account of these Guidelines when defining the location of the NTP.</p><p>"The FSFE welcomes BEREC's effort to provide a set of principles to determine the Network Termination Point. However, due to the unclear terms in the new Guidelines, the lack of enforcement commitment by the NRAs and abusive behavior of ISPs, the implementation of Router Freedom by 27 EU member states will be challenging. Our task at FSFE will be the compliance monitoring and the reporting of illegal practices", says Max Mehl, FSFE Programme Manager.</p>
  <img src="media/473b2b81.rf-timeline.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/rf-timeline.png"/>
  
    Timeline of the Router Freedom's legal framework.
  
<h2>FSFE's contribution</h2><p>The final version of the Guidelines on the NTP brought changes of a clarifying and explanatory nature. Fundamentally, BEREC kept the original proposal of the draft to give the NRAs the possibility to choose from three different locations for the Network Termination Point:</p><p>
 <ol>
   <li>The NTP is at point A. This means that routers and modems are under the control of the user, who can decide which device to use - either the one recommended and provided by the ISP or one from a third party. That would result in Router Freedom.</li>
   <li> The NTP is at B. This means that the modem (so the device connecting to the ISP) will be part of the ISP's network, but additional routers or media boxes will be in the user's domain. We advise against this configuration because it will have a negative impact on users' local networks, obstructing Router Freedom.</li>
   <li>The NTP is at C. That's the most restrictive option as it results in the modem and router or a combined device being solely under the control of the ISP. This arrangement completely denies Router Freedom, since the users have no right to use their own equipment.</li>
 </ol>
</p>
  <img src="media/9d35a49c.BEREC-NTP-locations.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/BEREC-NTP-locations.png"/>
  
   NRAs will choose which NTP model to implement in their jurisdiction. Source: BEREC.
  
<p>Although the FSFE argued that only point A could be Router Freedom compliant, BEREC kept the possibility of having the NTP in three different configurations. Nevertheless, we exerted a <a href="media/2030756a.Fsfe-contribution-berec-guidelines.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/routers/Fsfe-contribution-berec-guidelines.pdf">positive influence</a>, stressing the necessity of keeping Router Freedom as the major principle when defining the NTP. Here are the key changes and reactions to the FSFE's input:</p><ul>
  <li>BEREC slightly modified the official text in order to adopt our position to the extent that point A should be the rule when determining the NTP. They clarified the fact that an objective technological necessity must exist if an NRA wants to determine the NTP at B or C, and therefore denying Router Freedom.</li>
  <li>BEREC explicitly recognised our argument that it was not possible to find a real case where any incident with Router Freedom could justify the violation of the Net Neutrality Regulation. The experience in Germany with NTP at point A since 2016 serves as a positive example that devices chosen by end-users do not cause technological damage for ISPs.</li>
  <li>BEREC explicitly agreed to our argument that locating the NTP at point A contributes the most to innovation and competition in the router/modem market.</li>
  <li>BEREC acknowledged our comments that liberalisation of the router/modem market did not cause harm to the public network. BEREC therefore asks ISPs and manufacturers to work together instead of trying to create a false sense of security by isolating the public network.</li>
  <li>BEREC acknowledged our argument that points B or C would seriously hamper end-users' digital sovereignty, data protection and ecological footprint, and largely increase end-users' switching costs.</li>
</ul>
  <img src="media/827bf71c.benefits.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/benefits.png"/>
  
    Some of the various benefits of Router Freedom.
  
<h2>Challenges ahead for Router Freedom</h2><p>Notwithstanding the efforts BEREC made to carefully weigh the different possible locations for the NTP and accepting the stakeholders' suggestions, there are still threats that could have a negative impact on Router Freedom in Europe. They are related to the vague terms used by the Guidelines that will cause discrepancies during the national implementations, the lack of commitment by NRAs to protect Router Freedom, and the abusive behavior of ISPs.</p><h3>The NRAs' discretionary power to define "technological necessity"</h3><p>The Guidelines on the NTP grant the NRAs the discretionary power to decide whether there is an "objective technological necessity" for routers to be part of the ISP's network. Allowing NRAs to decide the location of NTP based on "technological necessity" opens a dangerous precedent for discretionary and abusive interpretation of the Guidelines. While such necessity to establish the NTP on point C would be hard to prove, political and economic influence could easily override the high thresholds for these necessities in order to have at least the modem at ISPs' premises (point B) – and thereby cause serious harm to the Router Freedom of users. Besides, the decision by the NRAs to determine "technological necessity" would be hard to counteract, perhaps only through judicial channels.</p><h3>The NRAs' lack of commitment to protect Router Freedom</h3><p>A <a href="https://en.epicenter.works/content/report-net-neutrality-compliance-and-enforcement-in-the-eu-is-spotty">recent study</a> has demonstrated that NRAs have been extremely conservative in applying penalties against Net Neutrality violations. Even worse, some countries, like Ireland and Portugal, have completely failed to establish sanctions against non-compliant ISPs. Other NRAs have set their fines at a very low amount, which certainly will not hinder ISPs from violating Router Freedom again. Big ISPs in Europe have annual revenues in nine figures and above. For them, a four to seven figure penalty is neither dissuasive nor effective as a deterrent for economically lucrative infringing activity. Therefore, Router Freedom could be easily violated by ISPs without any effective counteraction by NRAs.</p>
  <img src="media/5db1bccf.chart-penalties-net-neutrality.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/chart-penalties-net-neutrality.png"/>
  
    Penalties chart for net neutrality violations. Source: epicenter.works, 2019.
  
<h3>The soft and hard barriers imposed by ISPs</h3><p>As we have <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200302-01.html">experienced in Germany</a>, ISPs are very creative in forcing their routers on customers, creating barriers that can completely block Router Freedom. We call these soft barriers when ISPs do not prevent customers by contractual means from using their private routers, nor deny vital information for the router configuration (login data), but otherwise try to persuade customers not to use their own routers with unscrupulous arguments. In many cases, this is sufficient to scare people away from Router Freedom. Sometimes, ISPs push the limits and create hard barriers for customers. For example, ISPs impose contractual limitations, do not provide necessary login data, or completely refuse to provide technical support.</p>
  <img src="media/06fd5f38.rf-barriers.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/rf-barriers.png"/>
  
    Some usual barriers imposed by ISPs. Check <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200302-01.html">here</a> what you can do against them.
  
<h2>Help us monitor the future of Router Freedom in Europe</h2><p>The FSFE will continue monitoring the new developments of Router Freedom in Europe closely. The new Guidelines on NTP will have to be enforced by NRAs of 27 different countries, which  will certainly lead to a lot of discrepancies. The next six months will be essential to understanding if the NRAs' approach will benefit or harm Router Freedom. Our long-term expertise advocating for users' right to choose their own equipment, and the groundbreaking success we have achieved in Germany, put us in the best position to continue being a leading advocate for Router Freedom.</p><p>But this kind of long-term engagement is only enabled by <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">your help</a>. You can make a difference by joining us as a sustaining supporter and thereby make a stand for Router Freedom! As you can see, there is a lot to be done.</p>
  <img src="media/d8afebf5.chart-rf-eu.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/chart-rf-eu.png"/>
  
   There is a lot to be done for Router Freedom in Europe.
  
<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200609-01
title: Etalab shows how Free Software can be made available for the public sector
uri: Etalab-shows-how-Free-Software-can-be-made-available-for-the-public-se
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200609-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Etalab shows how Free Software can be made available for the public sector</h1><p>Etalab maintains two lists of Free Software. One is about the Free Software recommended for the public sector (called SILL) while the other one links to Free Software repositories created by the public sector. To find out more about the two lists we conducted an interview with Bastien Guerry from Etalab.</p><p>Etalab, a department of the French public administration in charge of digital affairs, has created two lists of Free Software. One lists the Free Software recommended for the public sector (called SILL) while the other links to Free Software repositories created by the public sector. So far there are 3,739 Software repositories that contain Free Software developed by the public sector. These lists are available online, to browse through, since 2019. This move is in line with the FSFE’s “Public Money? Public Code!” Initiative, where we demand that software developed from and for the public sector should be made publicly available. To find out more about the two lists deployed by Etalab, how they came into being, and the ideas behind it, we conducted an interview with Bastien Guerry from Etalab.</p><p>Could you briefly explain what Etalab is and what are its goals?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: <a href="https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/">Etalab</a> is a department of the administration in charge of digital affairs, named direction interministérielle du numérique (<a href="https://www.numerique.gouv.fr/dinum/">DINUM</a>). In this organisation, Etalab coordinates efforts made by the french public sector to release its data and administrative documents as open data. To accomplish this, Etalab operates the data.gouv.fr platform since 2011.</p>
			<img src="media/20244c86.2020-digital-republic-france.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-digital-republic-france.png"/>
		<p>Why did you start the repository to collect Free Software used by the public sector? Why do you see a need for this?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: Well, there is no "repository of free software used by the public sector". Such a list would be too long and probably never complete.</p><p>Etalab maintains two lists: the catalogue of recommended free software for the administration and the list of source code repositories published by public organisations.</p><p>The first list is called the SILL (for "Socle Interministériel des Logiciels Libres") and you can read it on <a href="https://sill.etalab.gouv.fr/en/software">sill.etalab.gouv.fr</a>.</p><p>In 2006, a group of public agent tried to gather information on the use of some free software like LibreOffice (OpenOffice at the time) within central administrations. In 2012, the french prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault published a <a href="media/d7b84865.cir_35837.pdf" data-original-source="http://circulaire.legifrance.gouv.fr/pdf/2012/09/cir_35837.pdf">note</a> stating why and how free software should be preferred in the public sector. After this note, the 2006 group had a more targeted goal: listing all free software that public agencies should prefer. At the time, the big idea is mainly to let administrations converge toward common solutions.</p><p>Up to 2018, the SILL was published once in a year as a PDF document and helped administrations knowing what free software they could use, what version was recommended, etc. In 2020, Etalab built a website where the SILL can be easily accessed and updated, not just once in a year. Also, the initial purpose of the SILL slightly evolved: it is not to let public agencies converge toward the same solutions but to make them confident that free software X or Y is significantly used by another agency and thus can be trusted as a mature and useful solution.</p><p>Note that the SILL has really two functions: sending a clear message to the public sector ("You should consider using these free software") and to gather tech-savvy agents and let them share their knowledge about detailed use cases of these software within their own central administration or agency.</p>“Etalab maintains two lists: the catalog of recommended free software for the administration and the list of source code repositories published by public organisations.”<p>What are the requirements for software to be published on code.etalab.gouv.fr?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: This is the second list Etalab publishes and maintains: the website <a href="https://code.etalab.gouv.fr">code.etalab.gouv.fr</a> lists source code repositories authored by public agencies.</p><p>We manually collect links to public organisations, then we automatically retrieve source code repositories from these organisations.</p><p>The law for a digital republic of 2016 considers source code to be an "administrative document" and, as such, public agencies are required to publish it under one of the <a href="https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/licences">allowed licenses</a>, just like other open data documents - given, of course, certain restrictions.</p><p>How many repositories do you have so far?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: As of 18 May 2020 we have 422 groups or organisations and 3739 repositories.</p><p>How was the resonance of the public administrations, have they submitted software on their own?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: Yes. Etalab started to list organisations manually, then some organisations spontaneously submitted their own links.</p><p>Note, that while most of them use GitHub to publish source code, some use GitLab and some other use their own GitLab instance.</p><p>What kind of software is published most often and by which actors?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: I don't have detailed numbers but my guess is that we have 20% of the organisations publishing 80% of the repositories.</p><p>I cannot answer about what kind of software is published most often, this requires a careful scrutiny – but I do encourage you to see by yourself.</p><p>Could you give an example of a software that was widely reused by another administrations?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: We are working on this. For now <a href="https://code.etalab.gouv.fr">code.etalab.gouv.fr</a> addresses two simple needs: it promotes the efforts of public agencies which take the time to publish their source code and it helps developers from other public organisations finding out whether some source code has already been written by other administrations.</p><p>But as of today, we don't know yet what is reused by who. We are working on this.</p><p>Do you have numbers on how often the website is used to find a software?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: Our stats for <a href="https://sill.etalab.gouv.fr">sill.etalab.gouv.fr</a> and <a href="https://code.etalab.gouv.fr">code.etalab.gouv.fr</a> are public on <a href="https://stats.data.gouv.fr/">stats.data.gouv.fr</a>.</p>
			<img src="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-code-etalab-visits-Overview-800px"/>
			Statistics for <a href="https://stats.data.gouv.fr/">code.etalab.gouv.fr</a> from 30.07.2019 till 28.05.2020
		
			<img src="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-SILL-etalab-visits-Overview-800px"/>
			Statistics for <a href="https://stats.data.gouv.fr/">SILL</a> from 30.07.2019 till 28.05.2020
		<p>Would you encourage other countries to also have a collection of the Free Software used by public administrations? If so, why?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: I would encourage other countries to make a list of recommended free software for their own administration: it helps small public agencies by strengthening their trust in free software and guiding them toward the right tools. It also helps administrations by letting knowledgeable persons discuss with each other about the use of these free software.</p>“I would encourage other countries to make a list of recommended free software for their own administration”<p>What are the next steps in the development of the repository?</p><p>Bastien Guerry: For <a href="https://sill.etalab.gouv.fr">sill.etalab.gouv.fr</a>, we want to enrol more public agents to help with identifying more free software and publishing more use cases.</p><p>For <a href="https://code.etalab.gouv.fr">code.etalab.gouv.fr</a>, we focus on identifying free software published by the public sector that other administrations would want to reuse.</p>
			<img src="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-Bastien-Guerry-400px"/>
			<a href="media/aa618685.FileBastien_guerry.jpg" data-original-source="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bastien_guerry.jpg">Bastien Guerry</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>
		<p>We are looking forward to the future use and development of SILL and code.etalab.gouv.fr. Thank you very much for this very interesting interview!</p><p><em>Questions asked for FSFE: Bonnie Mehring</em></p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to set Free Software as the standard for publicly financed software. The Free Software Foundation Europe together with over 180 civil society organisations and more than 27.000 individuals signed the open letter. We will use the signatures to contact decision makers and political representatives all over Europe and convince them to make public code the standard. You are invited to add your signature to make a bigger impact on <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publiccode.eu</a>.<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200610-01
title: Hamburg wants to focus more on Free Software
uri: Hamburg-wants-to-focus-more-on-Free-Software
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200610-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Hamburg wants to focus more on Free Software</h1><p>In Hamburg, the SPD and the Greens are stating in their coalition
    agreement to focus more on Free Software during their future term.  The
    FSFE welcomes this step and will critically monitor its implementation.</p><p>In order to strengthen digital sovereignty of Hamburg, the city wants to
    use more Free Software in the future <a href="media/bc92a0fc.Koalitionsvertrag2020.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.spd-hamburg.de/fileadmin-hamburg/user_upload/Koalitionsvertrag2020.pdf">(see
    the PDF of the coalition agreement)</a>. The goal is to minimise the
    dependence on individual providers and create transparency. Wherever it
    appears meaningful, cooperation with other administrations should be
    established. However, the coalition agreement contains several loopholes,
    for example for procurement procedures and diffuse justification to protect
    proprietary software vendors.</p>Alexander Sander, the FSFE's Policy Manager, explains: "We are
    pleased that Hamburg has recognised the problems associated with the use of
    proprietary software and wants to focus more on the use of Free Software.
    However, the exceptions in the coalition agreement indicate at this point
    in time that the implementation could lead to problems and counteracting
    the goals. We will critically monitor the process and demand that first
    steps be taken quickly to make software developed with public money
    available to the general public. If it is public money, it should be public
    code as well."
			<img src="media/eddd474f.2020-hamburg-rathaus-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-hamburg-rathaus-800px.jpg"/>
		<p>Free Software gives everyone the right to use, understand, distribute
    and improve software for any purpose. Administrations also benefit from
    these freedoms when they rely on Free Software. More and more
    administrations all over Europe are using and developing Free Software in
    order to benefit from interoperable solutions, to avoid vendor lock ins, to
    be transparent and sovereign, to spend funds in the most efficient way and
    to foster innovation and collaboration.</p><p>As part of the "Public Money?  Public Code!" campaign, FSFE is
    specifically campaigning for a change in policy towards Free Software. The
    "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to set Free Software as the
    standard for publicly financed software.  The Free Software Foundation
    Europe together with over 180 civil society organisations and more than
    27.000 individuals signed the open letter. We will use the signatures to
    contact decision makers and political representatives all over Europe and
    convince them to make public code the standard. You are invited to add your
    signature to make a bigger impact on <a href="https://publiccode.eu">publiccode.eu</a>/</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202006
title: La Liberté des Routeurs en Europe +++ Hambourg soutient le Logiciel Libre +++ Parlement Européen
uri: La-Liberté-des-Routeurs-en-Europe-Hambourg-soutient-le-Logiciel-L
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202006.fr.html
content:
<h1>La Liberté des Routeurs en Europe +++ Hambourg soutient le Logiciel Libre +++ Parlement Européen</h1><p>Dans notre lettre d'informations de Juin, vous pouvez vous informer entre autres sur les réalisations de la FSFE concernant la Liberté des Routeurs en Europe, sur un nouvel accord de coalition à Hambourg mettant en avant le Logiciel Libre et sur le Parlement Européen réclamant "Argent Public ? Code Public !". Comme toujours, vous y trouverez aussi des informations sur les activités de nos diverses communautés.</p><h2>La Liberté des Routeurs est mise au défi par une nouvelle série de règles</h2><p>Depuis 2013, la FSFE plaide pour la Liberté des Routeurs en Europe avec d'excellents résultats en Allemagne et une influence positive à travers l'Europe. Aujourd'hui, une nouvelle série de règles entre en jeu et concerne la Liberté des Routeurs, les <a href="media/69a1672d.9033-berec-guidelines-on-common-approaches-to_0.pdf" data-original-source="https://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/9033-berec-guidelines-on-common-approaches-to_0.pdf">nouvelles directives sur la position du Point de Terminaison du Réseau (PTR)</a>. Celles-ci sont le résultat de l'ébauche du corps des régulateurs Européens pour les communications électroniques (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, BEREC). Dans la phase suivante, ces directives doivent être implantées localement par les agences de régulation nationales des états (National Regulatory Agencies, NRAs). Nous avons résumé les <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200601-01.html">opportunités ainsi que les défis à venir</a>.</p><p>D'un point de vue positif, le BEREC a reconnu la contribution apportée dans la discussion par la FSFE. Plus important encore, le BEREC a modifié le texte original afin d'y adopter notre position dans la mesure où la Liberté des Routeurs devrait être la règle lors de la détermination du Point de Terminaison du Réseau (PTR). Le BEREC a aussi explicitement reconnu un grand nombre d'arguments supplémentaires que nous avons apportés dans la discussion en faveur d'une réelle Liberté des Routeurs - de la neutralité du net à la souveraineté digitale des utilisateurs en passant par l'amélioration de l'innovation et de la concurrence. Malheureusement, les nouvelles directives du BEREC maintiennent la capacité de restreindre la Liberté des Routeurs à la discrétion des différents NRAs  si celles-ci décident qu'il y a une "nécessité technologique objective" à intégrer les routeurs au réseau du fournisseur d'accès à internet (Internet Service Provider, ISP).</p><p>Les termes imprécis utilisés dans ces directives vont probablement créer des disparités lors des mises en œuvre nationales de 27 pays différents. Aidez-nous maintenant à surveiller leur implémentation. Les prochains six mois vont être essentiels pour comprendre si l'approche des NRAs va nuire ou profiter à la Liberté des Routeurs.</p>
                        <img src="media/854a4d73.router-freedom-benefits-800px.jpg" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/campaigns/routers/router-freedom-benefits-800px.jpg"/>
                        Quelques-un des nombreux bénéfices de la Liberté des Routeurs.
                    <h2>Hambourg met en avant le Logiciel Libre</h2><p>Le mois dernier nous avons rendu compte du nouvel accord de coalition dans <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.html">Munich adopte le principe de "Argent Public ? Code Public !"</a>. Ce mois-ci, nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que le nouvel accord de coalition à Hambourg suit une direction similaire et <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200610-01.html">met en avant le Logiciel Libre</a>.</p><p>Afin de renforcer la souveraineté numérique de Hambourg, la ville souhaite utiliser plus de Logiciel Libre dans le futur (<a href="media/bc92a0fc.Koalitionsvertrag2020.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.spd-hamburg.de/fileadmin-hamburg/user_upload/Koalitionsvertrag2020.pdf">voir l'accord de coalition en Allemand</a>). Le but est de minimiser la dépendance aux fournisseurs individuels et de créer de la transparence. Partout où cela a du sens, la coopération avec d'autres administrations devrait être établie. Malheureusement, l'accord de coalition contient encore de nombreuses échappatoires, par exemple pour les procédures d'approvisionnement et pour les justifications diffuses protégeant les vendeurs de logiciel propriétaire.</p><h2>Procédure de décharge au Parlement Européen</h2><p>À la mi-mai, le Parlement Européen a voté la décharge de plusieurs institutions communautaires Européennes. Afin d'éviter des verrouillages de fournisseurs, d'être plus transparent et d'utiliser des systèmes plus sécurisés, le Parlement Européen recommande dans ses résolutions (<a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0084_EN.html">1</a>, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0086_EN.html">2</a>, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0088_EN.html">3</a>, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0087_EN.html">4</a>, <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0094_EN.html">5</a>) que "le logiciel développé pour les institutions soit rendu disponible au public sous licences logicielles libres et open-source". À la FSFE, nous sommes heureux de voir nos demandes "Argent Public ? Code Public !" amplifiées par le Parlement Européen. Nous gardons un œil sur les institutions Européennes, afin de voir si elles vont adopter les recommandations du Parlement Européen dans le futur.</p><p>La FSFE fait face à un impact financier majeur en ces temps de distanciation physique de par l'annulation des conférences sur le Logiciel Libre, y compris nos propres évènements. Pour garder le mouvement pour la liberté logicielle solide et actif, merci de considérer <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202005">donner une part de votre budget de conférence à des organisations de Logiciel Libre, incluant la FSFE</a>.</p><h2>Qu'avons-nous fait ? En interne et en dehors de la FSFE</h2><ul>

            <li>Dans notre dernière lettre d'information, nous avons rendu compte de <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200424-01.html">l'adoption par le ministre des affaires internationales Hollandais Raymond Knops d'une politique du "Logiciel Libre par défaut"</a> et nous avons souligné les bénéfices pour la société. Ce mois-ci, nous somme heureux d'annoncer que <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200514-01.html">l'équipe Hollandaise FSFE a pu convaincre l'équipe derrière OperationAIR</a> - un respirateur facile à produire à partir de pièces d'origine locale - de fournir le logiciel sous licence de Logiciel Libre.</li>

            <li><p>Nous avons eu un entretien avec Etalab, un département de l'administration publique Française en charge des affaires numériques. Etalab maintient deux listes de Logiciel Libre. Une sur le Logiciel Libre recommandé pour le secteur public, l'autre offrant un lien vers les dépôt de Logiciel Libre créés par le secteur public. Pour en savoir plus sur les deux listes déployées par Etalab, nous avons conduit un <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200609-01.html">entretien avec Bastien Guerry, d'Etalab</a>.</p></li>

                
                    <img src="media/20244c86.2020-digital-republic-france.png" data-original-source="https://fsfe.org/picturebase/miscellaneous/2020-digital-republic-france.png"/>
                


            <li><p>La Commission Européenne a lancé l'évaluation de certains concepts centraux de la loi de concurrence Européenne. Afin de contribuer à une évaluation équitable et inclusive, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200519-01.html">la FSFE a pris part à la consultation publique</a>. Depuis 2001, la FSFE plaide fortement en faveur des technologies de Logiciel Libre en raison de leurs bénéfices dans un marché concurrentiel.</p></li>
            <li>Alexander Sander a tenu une conférence sur <a href="https://ozgurkon.org/sessions/public_money_public_code/">"Argent Public Code Public – Des problèmes globaux nécessitent des solutions globales !"</a> programmée lors de l'évènement en ligne Özgürkon.</li>
            <li>Un enregistrement de l'intervention de Erik Albers sur comment faire du Logiciel Libre un sujet lors d'élections démocratiques, tenue en 2017 lors des Kielux Linuxtage, est désormais <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Zt0bYYd2E">disponible (DE)</a>.</li>
            </ul><h2>Soyez actifs</h2><p>Beaucoup de nos groupes locaux tiennent des réunions en ligne désormais, des réunions de groupe local à Berlin aux réunions de groupes nationaux en Italie et en Espagne, en passant par les réunions de groupes régionaux en Rhénanie. La plupart des ces réunions sont ouvertes à la participation des sympathisants de la FSFE. De nombreuses autres organisations qui se soucient de la liberté logicielle et des droits numériques tiennent aussi des réunions en ligne. Rejoignez-les et faites la connaissance de nouvelles personnes, discutez avec elles des sujets brûlants sur le Logiciel Libre et d'autres thèmes associés. Et <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">utilisez du Logiciel Libre pour votre participation</a>.</p><h2>Participez à notre lettre d'information</h2><p>Si vous souhaitez partager vos opinions, photos ou actualités, merci de nous les envoyer. Comme toujours, notre adresse est newsletter@fsfe.org. Nous sommes impatients de vous lire !</p><p>Si de plus vous souhaitez nous soutenir ainsi que notre travail, rejoignez notre communauté et aidez-nous avec <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202006">un don ou une contribution mensuelle</a>.</p><p>Merci à notre communauté, tous les <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volontaires</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> et <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donatrices et donateurs</a> qui rendent notre travail possible. Et merci à <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">nos traductrices et traducteurs</a>, qui vous permettent de lire cette lettre d'information dans votre langue maternelle.</p><p>Votre éditeur,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202006">Soutenez notre travail par un don</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200629-01
title: Denmark keeps source code of Coronavirus tracing app secret
uri: Denmark-keeps-source-code-of-Coronavirus-tracing-app-secret
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200629-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Denmark keeps source code of Coronavirus tracing app secret</h1><p>
  Like many other European countries, Denmark also tries to track
  Sars-CoV-2 infections with a mobile phone tracing app. However,
  against advice by health organisations and despite positive examples
  by other countries, the app is proprietary, so not being released
  under a Free Software (also called Open Source) license.
</p><p>
  <a href="https://smittestop.dk/spoergsmaal-og-svar">Smittestop</a>,
  the official tracing app released by the Danish government, is
  supposed to supplement the more traditional ways of combatting the
  Coronavirus with contact tracing. But instead of releasing the source
  code of the app under a <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/">Free Software</a>
  license and thereby empowering the public as well as the scientific
  community to inspect, verify, improve and experiment with it, the
  app's source code is kept hidden.
</p><p>
  This goes directly against the most recent <a href="media/9d65b4a1.WHO-2019-nCoV-Ethics_Contact_tracing_apps-2020.1-eng.pdf" data-original-source="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332200/WHO-2019-nCoV-Ethics_Contact_tracing_apps-2020.1-eng.pdf">recommendations
  from the WHO</a> as well as the EU Commision's eHealth network. In
  the referenced paper, the WHO specifically states that:
</p>
 "There should be full transparency about how the applications and
 application programming interfaces (APIs) operate, and publication of
 open source and open access codes. Individuals should also be provided
 with meaningful information about the existence of automated
 decision-making and how risk predictions are made, including how the
 algorithmic model was developed and the data used to train the model.
 Furthermore, there should be information about the model's utility and
 insights as to the types of errors that such a model may make."
<p>
  Had the Danish government published the source code under a Free
  Software license, such transparency would have been provided to the
  public, and scientists and IT experts would have been able to peer
  review and improve the app's error margins, possibly helping
  interrupt more chains of infection.
</p>
  <img src="media/bd4f9a8c.dd7b6b1c5ec14ab05ec474b3747c0eff.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/dd7b6b1c5ec14ab05ec474b3747c0eff.png"/>
<p>
  On the app's homepage, the Danish government explains that the source
  code is not being published because of the risk of "security
  breaches" and to protect the public against malicious actors.
  However, IT security does not arise through an attackers' ignorance
  of the system under attack, but due to a proper and well-reviewed
  security design (also read p.22 in our <a href="https://fsfe.org/campaigns/publiccode/brochure">expert
  publication</a>). This decision, if anything, makes the app less
  secure – not more. Moreover, since the app is decentralised and is
  wired to nemID, the official Danish digital signature, security
  breaches are unlikely to occur.
</p><p>
  Such false security concerns have not stopped the governments of <a href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app">Germany</a>, <a href="https://github.com/austrianredcross">Austria</a>, <a href="https://github.com/immuni-app/">Italy</a> and <a href="https://github.com/nhsx/">Great Britain</a> from complying with
  the WHO's and the EU Commission's transparency requirements and
  publish their contact tracing apps under a Free Software license. In
  fact, Germany, Austria and Italy all quoted security as one of the
  main points in favour of publishing the source code.
</p><p>
  The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) strongly urges the Danish
  government to immediately rectify this situation and publish its
  "Smittestop" app under a Free Software license, with the source code
  fully available to the public.
</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200630-01
title: The public sector of Bühl uses Free Software
uri: The-public-sector-of-Bühl-uses-Free-Software
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200630-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>The public sector of Bühl uses Free Software</h1><p>The town of Bühl, Germany, has started the successful Free Software based video conference platform “Palim! Palim!”. To find out more about the relations between Bühl and Free Software we conducted an interview with Eduard Itrich, the digitisation officer from the town of Bühl.</p><p>The town of Bühl, in the south-west of Germany, started a video conference platform, called “Palim! Palim!” based on the Free Software “Jitsi Meet” to ease the effects of the COVID-19 lock-down for their citizens. “Palim! Palim!” quickly became a striking success; the citizens were thrilled with it and also other municipalities started to became interested. But “Palim! Palim!” is not the only Free Software project used and maintained by the town of Bühl. To find out more about the background behind “Palim! Palim!” and what other relations the town of Bühl has with Free Software we conducted this interview with the “Chief Digital Officer,” Eduard Itrich, from the public administration of Bühl.</p><p>FSFE: Mr. Itrich, can you quickly introduce yourself and the town of Bühl, and explain what a “Digitalisierungsbeauftragter” is?</p><p>Eduard Itrich: First of all I would like to thank you very much for this interview. I have been following the work of FSFE e.V. for many years now and I am all the more thankful for the opportunity to talk to you directly. My name is Eduard Itrich, I am 31 years old and after my studies of mathematics I first worked as a Linux software developer. As you can see, Free Software has always been an integral part of my profession. After my two-year parental leave to look after my two twin daughters, I started working for the <a href="https://www.buehl.de/willkommen">town of Bühl</a> as a "digitisation officer" at the end of last year. Characteristic of the town of Bühl is its diversity. Located in the south-west of Germany between the Rhine plain, vineyards and the Black Forest, the large district town with almost 30,000 inhabitants offers numerous criteria that make the community liveable and lovable. An extremely diverse range of associations, excellent childcare facilities, an active community of retailers, lively church communities and very committed citizens speak for the quality of life on site, as do the town's measures in urban development, climate protection and, of course, digitisation.</p><p>Perhaps the position of digitisation officer is more familiar to some under the title of "Chief Digital Officer". Essentially, it is about consolidating a digitisation strategy and orchestrating the digital transformation both within and outside the town administration. I deal with topics such as eGovernment and Smart City, as well as Open Data, and within the town hall of course also with the automation of existing administrative processes.</p>
			<img src="media/24b279b6.4383726413c1de68fc8f5650e93079b5.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/4383726413c1de68fc8f5650e93079b5.png"/>
		<p>You recently introduced a video platform “Palim! Palim!” - can you explain the use case and what “Palim! Palim!” exactly is?</p><p>We have developed an open video conferencing platform, based on the Free Software “Jitsi Meet”, called <a href="https://konferenz.buehl.digital/">“Palim! Palim!”</a>. This offers video telephony to all Bühl citizens at no charge and, of course, beyond the town limits. We support families, groups of friends, associations, initiatives, and also companies in their efforts to be able to meet digitally in an uncomplicated and low-threshold manner. It does not require more than an up-to-date browser to stay in touch. No need to register or collect sensitive metadata. Since the launch of our platform at the beginning of April, we have seen many interesting use cases: for example, the digital children's leisure program for doing handicrafts together or the long-awaited reunion between nursing home residents and their families.</p>“We have developed an open video conferencing platform, based on the Free Software “Jitsi Meet,” called “Palim! Palim!”. This offers video telephony to all Bühl citizens at no charge and, of course, beyond the town limits.”<p>How did the idea behind “Palim! Palim!” start?</p><p>The idea of a video conferencing platform of our own was originally born out of the desire to continue to offer group lessons at the municipal music school during the Corona pandemic. Due to free capacities we decided in the further course of the project to make the platform available to all citizens. Today, we are very proud to have taken this courageous step and note that some very new discussions about digital sovereignty and services of general interest in the digital age have developed.</p><p>Why did you choose Jitsi Meet for “Palim! Palim!”?</p><p>The Free Software project "Jitsi Meet" was exactly the software we were looking for. It offers a very easy access for our target group to video conferencing, is easy to administer and the active community quickly finds a solution to any problems that may arise. Furthermore, we had the possibility to customise the software exactly according to our ideas, for example to include the urban design.</p><p>What difference does it make if you use Free Software, or not?</p><p>Especially the option to customise the software at will gave us the opportunity to create our own individual video conferencing solution for the city. We are convinced that exactly this local reference and the associated trust has contributed significantly to the success of the platform. At the same time, Free Software gives us the opportunity to think about the protection of personal data and the privacy of our users right from the design process. We can make a conscious decision for data economy and against the integration of unnecessary trackers. And last but not least, the very active community of Jitsi Meet was a good support for the implementation of an instance of our own. There was no problem we could not find a solution for in the forums or channels.</p>"Free Software gives us the opportunity to think about the protection of personal data and the privacy of our users right from the design process."<p>How was the feedback on “Palim! Palim!” so far?</p><p>Amazing! At no time did we expect such a great response. Many citizens express their personal thanks to us and we have stopped counting how many municipalities have approached us with great interest. I believe that Free Software is currently experiencing an incredible boost and that the sensitivity for data sovereignty is growing rapidly.</p><p>Are there any other Free Software projects you and your department are working on, or are you contributing to other Free Software projects?</p><p>We had been searching for a long time for a simple solution to make the minutes of meetings and discussions available to all participants in a bundled form and to be able to track important tasks. With the Free Software project <a href="https://www.4minitz.com/">"4Minitz!"</a> we found a strong candidate that met almost all our requirements. The only catch: the interface was completely in English at that time and there was a risk of insufficient acceptance within the various specialist offices. With a total of more than 11,000 lines of changes to the code base, we initiated the development of internationalisation and localisation. It is very important to us not only to use Free Software, but also to give something back to the community. By now 4Minitz! can be used in 18 different languages.</p>
			<img src="media/cecee914.48c2c1c78a607c4e8774e847e16547e5.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/48c2c1c78a607c4e8774e847e16547e5.png"/>
		<p>You also use “decidim”. Could you explain what it is used for?</p><p>Our approach to digitisation is not to simply dictate it from the top down without any involvement. We want all employees to be able to express themselves - especially reservations or criticism of new solutions or offers. In the course of this we were looking for a suitable participation platform. Again, we found what we were looking for in a Free Software project. With the <a href="https://decidim.org/">"decidim"</a> framework, we were able to very quickly set up an internal participation and suggestion portal that promotes direct exchange within our administration. With "decidim", the digitisation team, which is distributed across all offices, can now easily bundle and discuss ideas and make internal decision-making processes transparent for all employees.</p>
			<img src="media/7ac3edb6.85c88496eff87cb66e92138b297b233c.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/85c88496eff87cb66e92138b297b233c.png"/>
		"Again, we found what we were looking for in a Free Software project."<p>What made you choose “decidim”?</p><p>A central component of decidim is the networking of online discussions with analogue meetings on site. This means that we can easily transfer suggestions and ideas into a meeting and present the results of this meeting transparently on the platform. This healthy mix of online and offline formats is, in our opinion, the key to a successful participation platform.</p><p>Do you use “decidim” only for internal communication or also for public communication with the citizens?</p><p>At present, unfortunately only for internal idea management, but we are firmly planning to provide an open participation platform for all citizens based on decidim.</p><p>What are the hurdles and what would need to be improved before you could use “decidim” for public communication with the citizens?</p><p>From a technical point of view the framework is great and again a strong community is worth its weight in gold. However, the mainly machine-made translation into German is rather unsuitable for a public operation. But here too, we are currently planning another bold step and are considering a crowdfunding campaign to finance a professional translation. You may remain curious!</p><p>Would you encourage other municipalities to also use Free Software?</p><p>Absolutely! The additional time required at the beginning of a Free Software based project may be a deterrent. But the long-term effect outweighs the initial investment. With a strong community behind you, the further development of the project and support for your own implementation are guaranteed.</p>"With a strong community behind you, the further development of the project and support for your own implementation are guaranteed."<p>What would you say are the three main advantages of using Free Software in the public administration?</p><p>We see the main advantages of Free Software in its full adaptability, data sovereignty, and the strengthening of the public good through collaborative development. In particular, the last point ensures that the project is not only developed further in terms of marketability, but also that the security and maintainability of the code base is ensured.</p><p>Final tip: What is a good start for a public administration to go for Free Software?</p><p>Start with something new and do not try to completely replace an existing system as a first step. You are looking for a new digital solution or want to launch a new offer? Free Software first! With this little reminder in mind, I am sure that your first Free Software based project can be a success.</p><p>We are looking forward to the future use and implementation of Free Software in Bühl's public sector. Thank you very much for this very interesting interview!</p><p><em>Questions asked for FSFE: Bonnie Mehring</em></p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to set Free Software as the standard for publicly financed software. The Free Software Foundation Europe together with over 190 civil society organisations and more than 28.000 individuals signed the open letter. We will use the signatures to contact decision makers and political representatives all over Europe and convince them to make public code the standard. You are invited to add your signature to make a bigger impact on <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publiccode.eu</a>.<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: episode-6
title: SFP#6 Copyright enforcement with Dr. Miriam Ballhausen
uri: SFP-6-Copyright-enforcement-with-Dr-Miriam-Ballhausen
url: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-6.fr.html
content:
<h1>SFP#6 Copyright enforcement with Dr. Miriam Ballhausen</h1><p>We invited Dr. Miriam Ballhausen to talk with us about copyright enforcement. She is a German lawyer with the focus on software, data protection, copyright law and specifically Free Software copyright. This is the sixth regular episode of the Software Freedom Podcast for which we invite experts from our community.</p><p>In this sixth episode of the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">Software Freedom Podcast</a> we talk about Free Software copyright enforcement with our guest <a href="https://www.twobirds.com/de/our-lawyers/d/dr-miriam-ballhausen">Dr. Miriam Ballhausen</a>. Dr. Miriam Ballhausen is a German laywer and is specialised in Free Software copyright questions. Together we cover the basics about Free Software licensing and discuss, how Free Software copyright can be enforced, what are the steps to enforce it and why it is often enforced in Germany. We also explore how the <a href="https://reuse.software">REUSE project</a> could help with being in compliance with Free Software licenses.</p><p>Read more:</p><ul>
  <li><a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/freesoftware.html">"What is Free Software?"</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.fsf.org/licensing/enforcement-principles">The Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.fsf.org/licensing/education">Free Software Licensing Resources</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html">Violations of the GNU Licenses</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://git.fsfe.org/reuse/">REUSE Git
repositories</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://github.com/fsfe/reuse-tool">REUSE helper tool</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ln/">The Legal Network</a></li>
 </ul><p>If you liked this episode and want to support our continues work for software freedom, please help us with a <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate/">donation</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200720-01
title: (Y)our recent successes towards software freedom in Europe
uri: (Y)our-recent-successes-towards-software-freedom-in-Europe
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200720-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>(Y)our recent successes towards software freedom in Europe (despite the crisis)</h1><p>The spread of Covid-19 brought dramatic and drastic changes for us and our societies. And thus shed light on the global need for global solutions like Free Software is. A short summary about the recent successes towards software freedom in Europe we achieved together with your help and despite the crisis. </p><p>The spread of Covid-19 brought dramatic and drastic changes for us and our
		societies. One of the things most of us experienced was to stay at home or in
		quarantine. Apart from severe consequences people have been facing, suddenly
		many people also have been forced to work from home. In response, our
		community was quick and eager in helping people to stay in control of
		technology. In the very beginning already, our community members gathered
		knowledge and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200403-01.html)">wrote a guide to freedom respecting online collaboration and
		communication tools into our wiki.</a></p><p>In our official channels, the FSFE focused early on highlighting that <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">global
		problems need global solutions</a>. And on explaining why <strong>only Free Software 
		creates global solutions and cooperations</strong>. We received positive feedback and 
		we luckily have seen tremendous success with our message: the European Union,
		the World Health Organsation and the EU eHealth Network followed our 
		arguments and they now recommend to any COVID-19 contact tracing app 
		development to be published as Free Software. Many countries followed their 
		recommendations, for example StoppCorona in  Austria, PrivateTracer in the 
		Netherlands, the Corona Warn App in Germany or eRouška in Czech Republic.</p><p>This is a huge success for software freedom! And it is a result of our daily
		work we all persistently invest in Free Software advocacy. <strong>Since almost 20
		years the FSFE is part of an ever growing freedom respecting community in
		Europe.</strong> We gather reliable expertise and consultancy and continuously explain
		the public and political representatives the benefits of software freedom.
		Now, in the face of the crisis, national and international players finally
		seem to realize the advantages of Free Software.</p>
			<img src="media/31d7f10b.ab03df8aad289367c8d03410b8b13b05.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/ab03df8aad289367c8d03410b8b13b05.jpg"/>
			Free Software creates global solutions.
		<h2>Health care apps as Free Software</h2><p>Hopefully, the decision to publish Covid-19 health care apps as Free Software
		alone helps to change mindsets of decision-makers in the long run. But also
		the viral effect the preceding discussions and decisions had are priceless. In
		international and national major news agencies they reported about health care
		apps to become Free Software and the benefits involved. In several countries
		we have seen a coalition of scientists, data protection agencies, ministries
		and politicians who argued in favor of software freedom. And every time they
		do, <strong>more people understand why software freedom matters for our society</strong>. And
		any time more people understand the importance of software freedom, it is
		likely some of them join our cause.
		</p><p>These developments are part of the success of our work and they show that even
		in dramatic crisis  you can help people to understand the benefits of
		controlling technology. On the other hand there is still a lot to do. Many
		countries still encourage the use of proprietary tracing apps. In other
		countries  - for example the Corona Warn App developed in Germany - the
		tracing apps themselves are Free Software but they depend on proprietary
		"Exposure Notification Framework" only accessible by installing the
		proprietary Google Play services. Also you need to use a proprietary app
		market to install the app itself. Then <strong>what is all freedom worth if the
		solution depends on third-party proprietary blobs?</strong> And if you have to use
		proprietary software to install them?
		</p><h2>Public administrations for Free Software</h2><p>If we take a look at the big picture and away from the COVID-19 apps, <strong>many
		administrations recently have announced to follow our road to freedom</strong>.
		<a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200610-01.html">Hamburg</a> wants to focus more on Free Software, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200630-01.html">Munich</a> commits to "Public
		Money? Public Code!", <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200424-01.html">the Netherlands</a> commit to Free Software by default,
		the Spanish Municipality of <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202007.html#-dinero-p-blico-c-digo-p-blico-">Benigànim</a> signs our Open Letter of the "Public
		Money? Public Code!" campaign and the German city of <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200630-01.html">Bühl</a> uses Free Software
		to connect their citizens. We like to help them on their journey and ask more
		to join! We like to make sure people understand that this is a long term
		activity and offer help and guidance.</p><p><strong>Now is a good time to raise awareness about our topic within new audiences</strong>.
		Based on the shoulders of our long term work, the recent successes and the
		public discussions about Free Software we like to speed up the path towards a
		Europe build on Free Software. Please help us to convince more decision-takers
		and to supply them with good material to understand the benefits of Free
		Software.</p><p><strong><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=cwanews">Join us as a supporter</a> and help us with a financial contribution</strong> so we can
		boost our work, repeat our recent successes and help people understand why
		Free Software is important for our future:</p><h3><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=cwanews">Join us as a supporter and make our success your success!</a></h3>
			<img src="media/17540689.c2dae610ff67340f2e0642ed6088cb5c.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/c2dae610ff67340f2e0642ed6088cb5c.jpg"/>
		<p><strong>The FSFE wishes you all an enjoyable and healthy summer in (software) freedom.</strong></p><p>PS: A financial support towards the FSFE is tax-deductible in some countries.
They say it is good for your karma in any country around the globe.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202007
title: Benigànim signs Open Letter +++ Interview with city of Bühl +++ New Podcast
uri: Benigànim-signs-Open-Letter-Interview-with-city-of-Bühl-New
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202007.fr.html
content:
<h1>Benigànim signs Open Letter +++ Interview with city of Bühl +++ New Podcast</h1><p>From hackathons to apps to public administrations: Read about the recent successes in Europe regarding Free Software in our July Newsletter. Also find videos from multiple online events where the FSFE was represented and read about our diverse community activities. </p><h2>When many people do many small things together</h2><p>We just sent out a big thank you to all the people who supported us over the years and who are supporting us now. With their help we have been able to build trust and grow expertise in the last decade and to cope with troubling times introduced with the global spread of the corona virus and its dramatic effects. With your help we even have been able to raise attention that <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">we need global solutions to tackle global problems</a>. And we have been heard.</p><p>Members from our community convinced public hackathons to publish their results under free licenses. International and national political fora continue to demand that contact tracing apps have to be Free Software. Many national authorities are complying with these demands. Also in the last months, administrations in Hamburg, the Netherlands and Spain committed to use and focus more on Free Software. These are the positive developments we have seen in the last months - despite the crisis - and these are <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200720-01.html">the fruits of our long-term commitment and your long-term support</a>. </p><p>It's now time to share this good news. Let people know that Free Software matters even, or especially, in such difficult times introduced to us by the coronavirus. Use the chance yourself to order <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html">our professional promotion material</a>, to talk with your friends, neighbours, employers or anyone else about the benefits of Free Software. </p><p>Written on the leftovers of the Berlin Wall is an African saying: "Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world." This is exactly what we have been doing since 2001 and we encourage you to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202007">join us today</a>!</p>
					<img src="media/ec519e9c.a685ca30d058dff907ce14682a318278.JPG" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/a685ca30d058dff907ce14682a318278.JPG"/>
					Participants at "Software development for girls and boys, with Free Software and Linux" in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. (Peter Bittner, CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0)
				<h2>¿Dinero público? ¡Código Público!</h2><p>"¿Dinero público? ¡Código Público!" - this is the Spanish translation of <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">"Public Money? Public Code!"</a> and a demand that circulates on and on. After <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2018/news-20180705-01.html">the city of Barcelona</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190514-01.html">the Parliament of Asturias</a>, the Municipality of Benigànim is now the third administration in Spain who signed <a href="https://publiccode.eu/#action">our open letter demanding public code</a>. </p><p>This provides good motivation for our new Spanish team, which is currently finding form with the aim to influence even more administrations to sign the open letter but also for more than 28.600 individuals who signed our call as well. </p><p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences, including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202007">donating a part of your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE</a>.</p><h2>What have we done? Inside and outside the FSFE</h2><ul>
			<li>The Municipality of <a href="http://www.beniganim.es/noticia/lajuntament-beniganim-utilitzara-programari-lliure-dispositius-mobils-produits-duna-forma-etica-sostenible">Benigànim in Spain signed our open letter "Public Money? Public Code!"</a></li>
			<li>Peter Bittner used the Swiss holiday time to offer <a href="https://ferienpass.gitlab.io/blog.html">"Software development for girls and boys, with Free Software and Linux"</a> and to share the FSFE's educational material. </li>
			<li>In <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-6.html">our sixth Software Freedom Podcast</a> we invited Miriam Ballhausen to talk with us about copyright enforcement. Miriam is a German lawyer who specialises in Free Software copyright questions. Together we cover the basics about Free Software licensing and discuss how Free Software copyright can be enforced, what the steps to enforce it are, and why it is often enforced in Germany. We also explore how the <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE project</a> could help with being in compliance with Free Software licenses.</li>
			
				
					<img src="media/e941cc05.0418b6e4006c22d87b08165ce16d6621.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/0418b6e4006c22d87b08165ce16d6621.png"/>
				
			
			<li>The town of Bühl, in the south-west of Germany, started a video conference platform, called “Palim! Palim!” based on the Free Software “Jitsi Meet”, to ease the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown for their citizens. After a striking success, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200630-01.html">the FSFE conducted an interview with Eduard Itrich</a>, the digitisation officer from the town of Bühl.
			</li>
			<li>Unlike many other European countries, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200629-01.html">Denmark keeps the source code of their Coronavirus tracing app a secret</a>. This goes directly against the most recent recommendations from the WHO as well as the EU eHealth network. We hope that they reconsider and publish the code under a free license as soon as possible.</li>
			<li>Our Public Policy Manager, Alexander Sander, was invited to <a href="https://www.kas.de/de/web/analyse-und-beratung/veranstaltungen/detail/-/content/forum-digital-alles-open-oder-was">"forum digital: Alles Open - oder was?"</a>  in Berlin, Germany (<a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/12e76c94-45a9-4e00-9bdc-cac8f6f36ab9">video</a>). On stage, Alexander discussed the idea of Open-X and examples such as Free Software, open standards and interfaces. </li>
			<li>Lucas Lasota, FSFE's Deputy Legal Coordinator, gave a talk at the online-version of OpenExpo Europe (<a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/4b1859b9-a96b-4819-b5ca-3ffc80a5b4f0">video</a>). Lucas explained how Free Software is essential for <a href="https://www.eventbrite.es/e/registro-openexpo-virtual-experience-innovacion-transformaciondigital-opensource-104035721644">the future of the Internet</a>. In particular how <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a> can help everybody to have copyright and licensing information properly displayed.</li>
			<li>At the online version of OW2Con, FSFE's volunteer Vincent Lequertier talked about the <a href="https://www.ow2con.org/view/2020/Program?year=2020&amp;event=OW2con20">upcoming Challenges in Artificial Intelligence Research and Development</a> with regard to Free Software (<a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/d6fa2ebe-7e2f-4fea-9e9a-bc08a189c27c">video</a>). </li>
			<li>Also at the online version of OW2Con, our Legal Coordinator, <a href="https://www.ow2con.org/view/2020/?year=2020&amp;event=OW2con20">Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, presented our work with the European Commission's Next Generation Internet Initiative</a> (<a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/4254f307-7298-439e-9cc3-2d877fab12fa">video</a>).</li>
			<li>Björn Schießle, FSFE's Germany Coordinator, gave a <a href="https://openup.iuk.hdm-stuttgart.de/programm/">webinar about Free Software at the HDM Stuttgart</a>, Germany.</li>			

		<li>Iain R. Learmonth reports how he <a href="https://iain.learmonth.me/blog/2020/2020w285/">tracks GPS traces for OpenStreetMap using a handheld radio</a> and converts the data afterwards.</li>
		</ul><h2>Get Active</h2><p>Tell people about <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200720-01.html">our recent successes and the good developments we have seen regarding Free Software</a> in the last months. Show other people that Free Software is not a niche phenomenon but at the core of our global and future development, and that more and more administrations, institutions and people understand the benefits of Free Software and demand its usage. If you need some help and inspiration, order our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html">professional promotion material</a>.</p><h2>In-memoriam notice</h2><p>With deep mourning we have received knowledge of the death of Andreas Hilboll. The mathematician became one of our first supporting members in 2006. Andreas regularly told us about his activities or gave us suggestions for improvement; for example we implemented his suggestion to switch to fair-trade-products in our online shop and have relied on these products wherever possible since then.</p><p>We will miss Andreas as a person who supported our goal to empower people to control technology with all his heart and we will continue to work towards these goals, which were important to Andreas for over 14 years. </p><p>Our condolences go out to his family and relatives, his friends and the people he worked with to spread software freedom.</p><h2>Contribute to our newsletter</h2><p>If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202007">a donation or a monthly contribution</a>. </p><p>Thanks to our community, all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Your editor,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202007">Support us with your donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200810-01
title: 100 days of 'Public Money? Public Code!' in Munich
uri: 100-days-of-Public-Money-Public-Code-in-Munich
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200810-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>100 days of 'Public Money? Public Code!' in Munich</h1><p>100 days ago, the new Green-Red coalition in Munich adopted the principle of 'Public Money? Public Code!' to guide 
		their procurement of software. Now, we take a look at the first activities undertaken for the use of Free Software.</p><p>100 days ago, the coalition agreement "Mit Mut, Visionen und Zuversicht: Ganz München im Blick 
		(With courage, vision and confidence: All of Munich in view") <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.en.html">was signed in Munich</a> 
		by the new government groups Grüne/Rosa Liste and SPD/Volt, as well as by the Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter. 
		This agreement contains a strong commitment to the use of Free Software; that in the future, the principle of 'Public Money? Public Code!' 
		shall apply. Munich has thus <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">agreed to the FSFE's demand</a>; in turn, we are happy about this decision and have 
		promised to follow and evaluate its implementation.</p><p>Together with LibreOffice Foundation "The Document Foundation", we asked the two groups what activities they have undertaken 
		in the last 100 days to implement 'Public Money? Public Code!' in Munich.</p><p>Of course, significant changes cannot always be accomplished after a mere 100 days, especially considering 
		the difficulties in current events. However, it is still easy to see if the new government is serious about its commitment, 
		or if is just empty words, by their actions so far. </p>
			<img src="media/12ea29a1.ffb20744b1807fe1f661502e42eceb5e.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/ffb20744b1807fe1f661502e42eceb5e.png"/>
			Public Money? Public Code!
		<p>The Green-Red government has set some high goals in its coalition agreement, not only by committing to "Public Money? Public Code!", 
		but also through innovative models, such as the introduction of a Free Software sabbatical ("open source sabbatical") for city employees 
		to promote the development of Free Software.</p><p>At the moment, the coalition partners are in close talks about a package of proposals that will be put discussion in autumn. Part of the application 
		package proposes that all software that does not contain personal data and is developed by the administration shall be transferred to a public code base. 
		The introduction of the Free Software sabbatical is also part of the first proposal package.</p><p>In the short term, the coalition will also have to deal with the issue of data protection. Tools such as Cisco Webex are to be replaced by 
		a privacy-friendly Free Software solution. Products from Microsoft's Office family are also being put to the test. In addition, the employees 
		of the city's public administration will be free to use Free Software products in the future. However, a return to the prestigious LiMux project 
		is currently not being sought; instead, a free operating system should be introduced which will also be used in other public contexts. In doing 
		so, cooperation with other administrations will also be taken into account.</p><p>In addition, the new coalition also wants to deal with the public procurement system and examine the extent to which reforms are necessary. 
		Municipal enterprises are also to be put to the test. However, in this context, the administration, in particular the IT department, will also be 
		called upon. Cooperation with the department could still prove difficult, however, as the plans are not met with much enthusiasm at this point in particular.</p><p>The new coalition will continue the 'Public Money? Public Code!' project, even though it remains to be seen how the proposals will be 
		formulated and ultimately implemented. We will continue to closely monitor the process and push for an end to the dependency on individual 
		vendors and pave the way for sustainable digital sovereignty, which benefits not only the city, but also its citizens.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200820-01
title: FSFE: EU should reconsider the notion of "intellectual property"
uri: FSFE-EU-should-reconsider-the-notion-of-intellectual-property
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200820-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>FSFE: EU should reconsider the notion of "intellectual property"</h1><p>In order to contribute to the European Commission public consultation regarding the update of the "Intellectual Property (IP)" regulatory system, the FSFE has published a first feedback. Based on its world-wide experience with Free Software, the FSFE calls for a more inclusive and decentralized regulatory system that allows sustainable knowledge sharing and intangible wealth.</p><p>The European Commission has launched an <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12510-Intellectual-property-action-plan">evaluation</a> on the update of the European "intellectual property" regulatory system. In order to contribute to a fair and inclusive assessment, the FSFE took a stand against the expansion of copyrights, patents and trade secrets. We understand that expanding their scope of protection does not necessarily lead to innovation, competition and progress. Instead, increasing patentable or copyrightable matter could rather have the effect of stagnating sustainable innovation by limiting access and improvements to know-how, raising unfairness, and leading to stronger monopolies.</p><p>The FSFE urges the Commission to question the outdated notion that expanding monopolies over knowledge means more progress, consider whether EU companies will really benefit under these regulatory tools, and question the existing trend to expand state granted monopolies on software.</p><p>You can read our entire contribution below.</p>
	<img src="media/a085112f.33e0ad24f2a5c26ad9f5d1b82b4162b5.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/33e0ad24f2a5c26ad9f5d1b82b4162b5.jpg"/>
	Sharing knowledge leads to progress
<h2>Input to the Roadmap on the European Commission "Intellectual Property Action Plan"</h2><p>The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) welcomes the European Commission's (Commission) initiative to upgrade the current "intellectual property (IP)" system. Nevertheless, we question the EC's strategy, which may lead to increased regulation on knowledge and intangible wealth. The FSFE understands that achieving a fairer and more sustainable environment for the digital economy is only possible by changing the existing paradigm that fortifying existing monopolies over knowledge and creating new barriers to knowledge sharing leads to progress. Based on our world-wide experience with Free Software (also known as Open Source), we advocate for a more inclusive and decentralized regulatory system that allows for the sustainable sharing of knowledge and intangible wealth.</p><h3>"Intellectual Property" is a misleading term</h3><p>Since 2001, the FSFE has been working as an independent non-profit organisation to protect and enhance the freedoms of technology users in Europe, fostering the dissemination of Free Software (also known as Open Source) principles and the adoption of technological solutions that promote innovation, competition and cooperation based on the rights of using, sharing, studying and improving software. The FSFE understands the term "intellectual property" to be ideologically charged and dangerously oblivious to the significant differences that exist between the many areas of law that it tries to subsume.</p><p>We therefore find the general premise of this public consultation to be problematic. The generalisation that strengthening "IP rights" must lead to better protection of creative works and a more resilient, greener, and more digital economy, does not fully take into account how copyright, patent law, trademark law, and trade secrets have diverse scopes of regulation, that can sometimes be at odds. There is no one unified set of law as “intellectual property”; these laws originated separately, evolved differently, cover different activities, have different rules, and raise different public policy issues.</p><p>Combining the term "rights" with "intellectual property" conveys the false idea that they are natural and intrinsic to our activity as human beings. This is however far from the truth. The effect of patent law, copyright and other related areas is to create temporary monopolies that exercise private power over other people. Monopolistic market actors can often benefit from such a structure, at the expense of healthy competition and other benefits for the commons. The FSFE therefore urges the Commission to use this opportunity to examine the effects that utilising the term "IP" and its current relevant definitions in EU policies, and the impact that this would have on the creation of a digital economy that can realistically achieve the goals the Commission has set in its initiative.</p><h3>Fostering wealth not monopolies</h3><p>The global issues raised by patents, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets show that it is too simplistic to say that each of these areas of law can jointly promote progress, fairness, innovation sustainably. The notion of "IP" management, protection and enforcement in Europe has been based on the school of thought that "more protection and expansion of "IP" rights must result in higher levels of innovation, development and competition". However, the Free Software regulatory and management models around the world have shown in the past 40 years that allowing the broadest amount of knowledge to be shared in society is a sustainable and more equitable regime to foster societal progress and wealth.</p><p>Free Software has revolutionised the way people interpret and work with copyright, showing that a balance between the protection and the sharing of knowledge can be achieved in a more equitable manner for people who depend on those rights to regulate their creations. Examples of that are the permissive and copyleft licensing regimes, which has enabled the utilisation, development, sharing and vendoring of software in models that respect the copyright owner’s private interests, as well as the collective interests of others to use, re-use, and further develop this software based on those rights.</p><p>Expanding the scope of protections around patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets does not lead necessarily to innovation and competition, but to stronger monopolies. The FSFE urges the Commission to consider whether EU companies will really benefit under these regulatory tools, and how many would be pushed out of markets. Patent pools and restrictive copyright policies have become the privilege of larger multinational corporations, at the cost of smaller enterprise. In order for this initiative to be fully effective in forging a brighter digital future, the FSFE believes that an examination on how the existing copyright, trademark, and patent regimes have contributed to market consolidation and monopolies is also necessary, and whether introducing new laws to regulate large monopolies or oligopolies would help to achieve the goals the Commission has set in its initiative.</p><h3>Finding better balance between copyright, patents and trade secrets</h3><p>Just how fair, innovative, and sustainable the future European digital economy will be will depend on how patents, copyrights and trade secrets will be managed and enforced. The FSFE urges the Commission to investigate how the patents, copyrights and trade secrets intertwine to affect the future of the digital economy. It is impossible to explore the full capabilities of each system by promoting all of them at once. Software, an asset on which so many other areas of the human knowledge depends, is a work to which copyright, patents, and trade secrets can be applied at once. While generally either the concrete work (e.g. copyright in literature) is protected, it is possible to submit the underlying concept under patents in mechanical engineering. So with software it is clear that increasing the scope of patents can decrease the subject matter of copyright. Therefore, society's collective digital abilities cannot grow well, if large businesses can still restrict society with trade secrets, even -- or in the case of Free Software copyleft licenses especially -- if copyright rules are relativised.</p><p>The current regulatory systems for intangible works do not necessarily encourage innovation, but rather can have the effect of stagnating innovation by limiting access and improvements to know-how, specially for software. We therefore encourage the Commission to set up clear goals and strategies for patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, incorporating principles of human rights, social equity, and intellectual wealth. In practical terms, we believe that a digital economy requires a better and less restrictive approach to each one of these regulatory subsets in order to flourish. For software-related areas, we advocate in favor of a more collaborative patent regime, eliminating software patents, fairer copyright rules, a more equitable handling of trade secrets, as well as the enlargement of public domain.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Overall, the FSFE acknowledges the Commission's commitment to upgrade the existing regulatory system into a fairer environment for the digital economy. We recognise this as an opportunity to question the outdated notion that expanding monopolies over knowledge means more progress and question the existing trend to expand state granted monopolies on software. The Free Software regulatory and management model represents one of the best examples the Commission can take to deepen its understanding on how new models based on knowledge sharing are fundamental for a more innovative, fair, and socially just society.</p><p>You can find the submitted feedback <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12510-Intellectual-property-action-plan/F543318">here</a>.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202008
title: Consultation Européenne +++ 100 jours à Munich +++ Coordinateur pour la Science Ouverte
uri: Consultation-Européenne-100-jours-à-Munich-Coordinateur-pour
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202008.fr.html
content:
<h1>Consultation Européenne +++ 100 jours à Munich +++ Coordinateur pour la Science Ouverte</h1><p>Dans notre lettre d'information du mois d'août, nous nous interrogeons sur les raisons pour lesquelles la Commission Européenne devrait éviter d’utiliser le terme "propriété intellectuelle". Nous avons aussi interrogé le nouveau gouvernement de Munich sur son progrès concernant le Logiciel Libre, et nous présentons notre nouveau Coordinateur pour la Science Ouverte, Christian Busse. Comme toujours, vous y trouverez aussi des informations sur les activités de nos diverses communautés.</p><h2>L'UE devrait reconsidérer l'usage de "propriété intellectuelle"</h2><p>La FSFE a <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200820-01.html">publié un premier retour d'informations</a> à la consultation publique de la Commission Européenne concernant la mise à jour du système réglementant la "Propriété Intellectuelle (IP)". Dans ce retour, la FSFE expose à la Commission notre compréhension du terme "propriété intellectuelle" qui est chargé d'idéologies et dangereusement inconscient des importantes différences qui existent entre les nombreux domaines légaux qu'il essaie de résumer. De plus, les lois sur les brevets, les droits d'auteur et d'autres domaines apparentés ont pour effet de créer des monopoles temporaires exerçant leur pouvoir privé sur d'autres individus. Les acteurs de ce marché de monopole peuvent souvent profiter d'une telle structure, aux dépens d'une concurrence saine et d'autres bénéfices pour  tous.</p><p>Par contraste, les modèles de gestion et de régulation du Logiciel Libre de par le monde ont démontré lors des 40 dernières années que partager le plus de connaissances est un régime plus durable et plus équitable pour promouvoir le progrès et la richesse de la société. La FSFE exhorte donc la Commission à utiliser cette occasion pour remettre en question la notion surannée selon laquelle étendre les monopoles sur la connaissance conduirait à plus de progrès. Le modèle du Logiciel Libre constitue un des meilleurs exemples que la Commission peut exploiter pour approfondir sa compréhension de la façon dont les nouveaux modèles basés sur le partage des connaissances sont fondamentaux pour une société plus innovante, équitable et socialement juste.</p>
            <img src="media/e3c9e256.6a55481b70dcb1f0666b1c8cd1606a4a.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/6a55481b70dcb1f0666b1c8cd1606a4a.jpg"/>
            Les lois sur les brevets, les droits d'auteur et d'autres domaines apparentés restreignent l'accès à la connaissance et génèrent souvent des monopoles temporaires qui exercent leur pouvoir privé sur d'autres individus.
        <h2>100 jours du nouveau gouvernement à Munich</h2><p>Comme <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202005.html#munich-commits-to-public-money-public-code-">rapporté dans notre lettre d'informations de mai</a>, l'accord de coalition du nouveau gouvernement de Munich entre le SPD (NDT: Parti social-démocrate d'Allemagne) et les Verts comprend des déclarations positives sur l'utilisation de Logiciel Libre. En particulier, il y est mentionné que le principe "Argent Public ? Code Public !" devrait s'appliquer dans le futur. 100 jours plus tard, avec "The Document Foundation", <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200810-01.html"> nous avons interrogé les deux groupes politiques sur les activités qu'ils ont engagées jusqu'à maintenant</a> pour atteindre leurs objectifs.</p><p>En réponse, les partenaires de la coalition ont confirmé être en pourparlers sur un ensemble de propositions qui sera discuté à l'automne. Alors qu'il n'y a aucun plan pour revenir au prestigieux projet LiMux, tout logiciel ne contenant aucune donnée personnelle et développé par l'administration devra être transféré à une base de code publique. De plus, les employés de l'administration publique de la ville seront libres d'utiliser des produits de Logiciel Libre dans le futur. La FSFE continue d'observer l'implantation en cours à Munich.</p>
            <img src="media/54d19662.d15e8c701bebc1804bf73fe3d7e94455.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/d15e8c701bebc1804bf73fe3d7e94455.jpg"/>
            Mairie de Munich.
        <h2>Nouveau Coordinateur de la Science Ouverte à la FSFE : Christian Busse</h2><p>Christian Busse a récemment rejoint <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/team.html">l'équipe de la FSFE</a> comme notre nouveau Coordinateur pour la Science Ouverte. Pour son métier, il travaille comme scientifique pour le Centre Allemand de Recherche sur le Cancer. La Science Ouverte est un thème à l'importance grandissante, et <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20170105-01.html">la FSFE appelle à considérer le Logiciel Libre et les Normes Ouvertes comme éléments vitaux de la Science Ouverte pour toute la recherche financée publiquement en Europe</a>. Dans son nouveau poste, Christian a déjà tenu une <a href="https://av.tib.eu/media/47776#t=01:00:19">une conférence sur l'équité (FAIRness) des logiciels de recherche</a> lors de l'atelier annuel de la TKFDM (l'initiative de gestion des données de recherche de l'état de Thuringe). Si vous êtes intéressés par la formation d'un groupe de travail sur le sujet de la Science Ouverte et du Logicel Libre, <a href="mailto:purine_bitter@fsfe.org">contactez-nous</a>.</p><p>En ces temps de distanciation physique, le plus gros impact financier pour la FSFE est l'annulation des conférences sur le Logiciel Libre, comprenant nos propres évènements. Afin de maintenir le mouvement pour la liberté logicielle solide et en vie, merci d'envisager de <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl">donner une partie de votre budget de conférence à des organisations de Logiciel Libre, y compris la FSFE</a>.</p><h2>Qu'avons-nous fait ? En interne et en dehors de la FSFE</h2><ul>
            <li>Alexander Sander, Directeur de la Politique UE de la FSFE, avec Basanta Thapa, employé de recherche au centre de compétence pour une IT ouverte, <a href="https://www.fokus.fraunhofer.de/de/dps/barcamp_200820">a tenu une session</a> sur l'usage du Logiciel Libre, y incluant une présentation de la campagne 'Argent Public ? Code Public !'.</li>
            <li>Matthias Kirschner <a href="https://programm.froscon.de/2020/events/2571.html">a donné une conférence</a> lors de l'évènement à distance du FrOSCon sur "Les valeurs fondamentales de la liberté logicielle" (<a href="fixme:URL">vidéo</a>, Allemand). Dans son discours, Matthias argumente que les valeurs fondamentales de notre mouvement sont que tout le monde, quel que soit leur contexte, doit être en mesure d'utiliser du logiciel, quel qu'en soit le but, sans discrimination.</li>
            <li>Max Mehl explique <a href="https://mehl.mx/blog/2020/the-power-of-git-sed/">la force de git-sed</a>: dans les dernières semaines et derniers mois, l'<a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/web/">Equipe Web de la FSFE</a> a effectué des travaux lourds sur le site Internet de la FSFE. Ils ont eu besoin d'un outil efficace, alors qu'ils déplaçaient et remplaçaient des milliers de fichiers ainsi que leurs liens respectifs afin d'améliorer la structure d'un site cultivé dans le temps (plus de 19 ans, 23243 fichiers, environ 39k commits). Pour l'équipe web, git-sed est un gain de temps et un soulagement pour leurs nerfs lors de changements massifs de nos dépôts de code.</li>
            <li>Erik Albers accompagné de Anja Höfner du Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie et Johanna Pohl avec Friederike Rohde du groupe de recherche "Digitalization and Sustainability" ont publié un <a href="https://www.heise.de/hintergrund/Missing-Link-Nachhaltige-Hard-und-Software-fuer-eine-bessere-IT-Welt-4851588.html?seite=all">article sur la durabilité du logiciel et du matériel</a> dans heise, un tech-zine bien en vue en Allemagne. Parmi d'autres sujets, ils demandent aux politiques d'appliquer "Argent Public ? Code Public !", ainsi que d'introduire un recyclage obligatoire du logiciel et un droit général à la réparation.</li>
        </ul><h2>Participez à notre lettre d'information</h2><p>Si vous souhaitez partager vos opinions, photos ou actualités, merci de nous les envoyer. Comme toujours, notre adresse est newsletter@fsfe.org. Nous sommes impatients de vous lire !</p><p>Si de plus vous souhaitez nous soutenir ainsi que notre travail, rejoignez notre communauté et aidez-nous avec <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202008">un don ou une contribution mensuelle</a>.</p><p>Merci à notre communauté, tous les <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volontaires</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> et <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donatrices et donateurs</a> qui rendent notre travail possible. Et merci à <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">nos traductrices et traducteurs</a>, qui vous permettent de lire cette lettre d'information dans votre langue maternelle.</p><p>Votre éditeur,</p><p>Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202008">Soutenez notre travail par un don</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200904-01
title: The FSFE is looking for an office assistant
uri: The-FSFE-is-looking-for-an-office-assistant
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200904-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>The FSFE is looking for an office assistant</h1><p>We are looking for an office assistant to support our work to empower
people to control technology. The person will work 25-35 hours per week
with our team in the Berlin office and will support the FSFE's Berlin
office operations.</p><h2>About the FSFE</h2><p>Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives and it is important that technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.</p><p>The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourages people to use and develop Free Software, and
provides resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.</p><p>We are involved in legal, economic, political, and technical projects
around Free Software (see our work areas and our campaigns).</p><p>Our work is made possible by a community of volunteers, supporters,
donors, and staff. The office assistant's job will be to be the
administrative backbone of our operations. </p><h2>Main responsibilities</h2><ul>
		<li>Reviewing financial documents, preparing them for accounting, and
		general filing.</li>
		<li>Compiling a monthly salary report for salary service.</li>
		<li>Paying invoices and salaries as well as travel expense claims.</li>
		<li>Issue outgoing invoices and monitor incoming payments.</li>
		<li>Communication with health insurance, bank, insurances, and other
		authorities.</li>
		<li>Office management.</li>
		<li>Issuing of donation receipts.</li>
	</ul><h2>Qualifications</h2><ul>
		<li>You have completed a relevant education and already have work
		experience.</li>
		<li>Fluency in written and spoken German, intermediate command of written
		and spoken English; other European languages are considered an asset.   </li>
		<li>Very reliable, well-organised, and supportive of colleagues.</li>
		<li>Basic knowledge of accounting and tax law.</li>
		<li>Knowledge and experience in understanding the financial side of the
		charitable non-profit sector are an advantage.</li>
		<li>Knowledge of how to handle the administrative side of EU-funded
		projects are desired.</li>
		<li>Knowledge of the Free Software field and affinity with the FSFE's
		values and mission are desired.</li>
		<li>Knowledge of how to use a GNU/Linux laptop is a plus.</li>
	</ul><h2>Attitude</h2><p>We are looking for a reliable, well-organised, and punctual team player
who will ensure the reliable handling of office procedures and thus
support us in making the world better for future generations.</p>
  <img src="media/3cfc91bc.e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg"/>
<h2>How to apply</h2><p>To apply, please send a maximum one-page cover letter -- including the
desired hours per week and your desired wage for this -- and a maximum
two-page CV (only PDFs are accepted) by email to jobs@fsfe.org, with the
subject “office assistant”. Please do not include pictures of yourself
in the application.</p><p>Your personal data will be deleted 3 months after we have made our
decision. The closing date for applications is <em>Sunday 4 October 2020</em>.
</p><p>Free Software is meant to serve everyone regardless of their age,
ability or disability, gender identity, sex, race, religion, or sexual
orientation. Hence, we encourage applications from all backgrounds and
promise to judge all applications on merit, without reference to any of
the characteristics listed. To promote diversity and equality in the
Free Software community, we shall give preference to applicants who
identify as part of a traditionally marginalised demographic in
technology for applications of equal strength.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200907-01
title: Call to apply for FSFE support for your local project
uri: Call-to-apply-for-FSFE-support-for-your-local-project
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200907-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Call to apply for FSFE support for your local project</h1><p>It is no secret that the FSFE's activities are only possible with the priceless help of our contributors and supporters around Europe. In return we support local engagement with our expertise, information material, networks or even financially. To help formalize this process, we run our first call for FSFE community projects.</p><p>From international campaigns to local information booths, our successful spreading of software freedom is based on many shoulders from active members within our community. This is why ever since the FSFE e.V. has been keen on supporting initiatives and activities from local FSFE groups to single supporters. We happily support you with our expertise, our information material, our networks or even financially. To better formalize the latter, we will from now on run bi-monthly calls for FSFE community projects and this is our first.</p>
			<img src="media/d4d1fb64.1dcdf901936a5b357597c7fa91a20ca8.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/1dcdf901936a5b357597c7fa91a20ca8.jpg"/>
		<p>To participate in the call you simply fill in your contact data and your project facts (who is doing what, when and how much it potentially will cost) and you will soon receive feedback, approval or a call back on your proposal. </p>
  <a href="https://fsfe.org/community/projects-call/projects-call.html">Participate</a>
<p><strong>Deadline for the first call will be 4 October 2020.</strong></p><p>Please spread the word within your local groups or other FSFE channels you participate, to ensure everyone knows about it. If you already have a project in mind you like to apply with, check the corresponding detailed information and fill out the form afterwards. </p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20200910-01
title: Collaborative Free Software Platform for Administrations - Group presents concept
uri: Collaborative-Free-Software-Platform-for-Administrations-Group-prese
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200910-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Collaborative Free Software Platform for Administrations - Group presents concept</h1><p>The increased use of Free Software is a central component for more digital sovereignty. Together with a strong 
		alliance of administrations, politics, business and civil society, we call for the development of a code repository 
		with Free Software for the public sector.</p><p>The increased use of Free Software by public institutions is a central building block for more digital sovereignty. 
		Free Software, also known as Open Source Software, can be reviewed by everyone and can thus be independently checked for 
		security aspects. Applications can be operated by the user and adapted to their needs. In this way, a high degree of independence 
		from single vendors can be achieved. In addition, administrations have the opportunity to cooperate with each other more easily 
		across organisational boundaries.</p><p>Together with the Open Source Business Alliance, the federal working group of municipal IT service providers Vitako and other experts, 
		FSFE has developed a first concept for a code repository for the public sector and has found numerous supporters from administrations, politics, 
		economy and civil society. Under the slogan "A place for public code", the interest group now wants to pave the way for a portal through 
		which the public administration in Germany can exchange and jointly develop Free Software, also known as Open Source Software, 
		in an adequate and legally compliant manner. </p><p>As a first result, a working paper was produced that puts the idea of a code repository into context and describes the challenges. 
		It also clarifies the potential of Free Software for use in public institutions and how such a repository can contribute to the 
		further development of the digitalisation of administrations. </p>"The use of Free Software imposes itself on public institutions: Free Software gives everyone the right to use, understand, share and improve 
		programs for any purpose. Public institutions are financed by taxes. They must ensure that they spend the money as efficiently as possible. By using 
		Free Software, public bodies can collaborate in developing code and use existing solutions without having to reinvent the wheel over and over again. 
		If it is public money, the code should be public too! In addition, Free Software helps to minimise dependencies on individual providers and thus 
		creates the basis for digital sovereignty. FSFE has therefore developed the "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign to show administrations the advantages 
		of using Free Software. However, a common place to exchange this software within public institutions is still missing in Germany." 
		explains Alexander Sander, EU Policy Manager of FSFE. <p>Accordingly, "A Place for Public Code" pursues the following approach: Free Software for the administration must be findable in a structured 
		way and it must be possible to develop and document collaboratively while being legally compliant. In addition, it is important that the environment 
		promotes the exchange between the stakeholders, such as programmers, users and administrators, and supports the creation of networks so that 
		communities can be created around individual projects.</p><p>In order to fulfil these requirements, a catalogue of Free Software solutions, a federated user administration, a code and an information platform 
		are needed. Free Software solutions already exist for this purpose, which can be rolled out in a first step. The next step is now to find a supporting 
		organisation and ensure stable financing to meet the needs of the stakeholders who will use this platform in the future.</p><p>The initiative "A Place for Public Code" invites administrations, politics and the Free Software community to participate in the discussion and to 
		further develop the project, which can significantly accelerate the digitisation of administration, in line with the Free Software idea. </p><p>The background paper on this initiative can be found <a href="media/b6f18e15.20200910-Ein-Ort-fuer-oeffentlichen-Code.v1.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/papers/20200910-Ein-Ort-fuer-oeffentlichen-Code.v1.pdf">here (.pdf)</a>.</p>
			<img src="media/4a3611f2.2882a7897a476a702d8cbbcb950411d3.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/2882a7897a476a702d8cbbcb950411d3.jpg"/>
			A Place for Public Code
		<p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to establish Free Software as a standard for publicly funded software. Public administrations 
		that follow this principle can benefit from numerous advantages: Cooperation with other government bodies, independence from individual vendors, potential 
		tax savings, promotion of innovation and a more solid basis for IT security.</p><p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative of the Free Software Foundation Europe is supported by over 180 organisations and administrations, including 
		the City of Barcelona. To find out more, please visit: <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">publiccode.eu/</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202009
title: "A place for public code" +++ FSFE support +++ Job vacancy
uri: A-place-for-public-code-FSFE-support-Job-vacancy
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202009.fr.html
content:
<h1>"A place for public code" +++ FSFE support +++ Job vacancy</h1><p>Read in our September newsletter about a new strong alliance formed by administrations, business and civil society organisations asking for "A place for public code". Also read about our call to apply for FSFE support for your local project, our job vacancy, and about our other diverse community activities.</p><h2>"A place for public code"</h2><p>A special interest group composed of the FSFE and many other civil society organisations as well as major German municipalities like Munich and Frankfurt has published a <a href="media/b6f18e15.20200910-Ein-Ort-fuer-oeffentlichen-Code.v1.pdf" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/papers/20200910-Ein-Ort-fuer-oeffentlichen-Code.v1.pdf">working paper (DE)</a> as a first concept for a common code repository for the public sector. Under the slogan <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200910-01.html">"A place for public code"</a>, the interest group now wants to pave the way for one portal through which the public administration in Germany can exchange and jointly develop Free Software in an adequate and legally compliant manner. </p>
			<img src="media/4a3611f2.2882a7897a476a702d8cbbcb950411d3.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/2882a7897a476a702d8cbbcb950411d3.jpg"/>
		<p>With the slogan "Public Money? Public Code!", the FSFE has been campaigning since 2017 that publicly financed code developments should be published under a Free Software license. Facilitating the exchange of this software is just as important as its publication. And while other countries in Europe lead the way with other approaches but similar initiatives - for example the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2018/news-20180601-01.html">Technology Transfer Centre</a> in Spain or <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200609-01.html">Etalab</a> in France - in the biggest economy in Europe, "a common place to exchange this software within public institutions is still missing in Germany", explains Alexander Sander, EU Policy Manager of FSFE.</p><p>The initiative invites administrations, politicians and the Free Software community and other interested  stakeholders to participate in the discussion and to further develop the concept.</p><h2>Call to apply for FSFE support for your local project</h2><p>From international campaigns to local information booths, our successful spreading of software freedom is based on many shoulders from active members within our community. The FSFE has always been keen on supporting initiatives and activities from local FSFE groups to single supporters. We happily support you with our expertise, our information material, our networks, or even financially.</p><p>To help formalize our support we will from now on <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200907-01.html">run a call for FSFE community projects</a> every two months. Participating in the first edition is as simple as filling out <a href="https://fsfe.org/community/projects-call/projects-call.html">a short online form</a> until 4 October 2020.</p>
			<img src="media/d4d1fb64.1dcdf901936a5b357597c7fa91a20ca8.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/1dcdf901936a5b357597c7fa91a20ca8.jpg"/>
		<p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences, including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, please consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl">donating a part of your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE</a>.</p><h2>Job Vacancy</h2><p>The FSFE is looking for an office assistant to support our work to empower people to control technology. The person will work 15-35 hours per week with our team in the Berlin office and will support the FSFE's Berlin office operations. Deadline to apply is Sunday 4 October 2020. Please share this with others you know who might be interested.</p>
			  <img src="media/3cfc91bc.e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg"/>
			<h2>What have we done? Inside and outside the FSFE</h2><ul>
				<li>On Saturday 12 September we ran our first online web-a-thon. Nine participants joined us full- or part-time for one day to update and improve our webpage with translations, content and technical issues. Among the visible things we updated were our <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/about.html">about</a> page and our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contact/contact.html">contact</a> page. This is in line with major improvements we already did throughout the year on our <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/activities.html">activities</a> page, our <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/team.html">team</a> page and our <a href="https://fsfe.org/index.html">front page</a>. If you would like to help us with our web-development, <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/web/web.en.html">join our web team</a>.</li>
				<li>On 18 September, the FSFE's Policy Manager Alexander Sander gave a <a href="https://eslib.re/2020/programa/">talk at the esLibre conference</a> about the advantages of using Free Software in the public sector.</li>
				<li>On 10 September, Alexander Sander gave a lightning talk at the State of the Source Summit about "Public Money? Public Code! – Global problems need global solutions!"</li>
				<li>A local TV station located at the biggest lake of central Europe, the lake of Constance, created a special <a href="https://bodenseetv.ch/2020/09/">episode</a> about the background of Free Software and its use in the educational sector and during apprenticeships. Among the interviewees is Peter Bittner who also managed to promote the FSFE with prominent use of our promotion material.</li>
			</ul><h2>Get Active</h2><p>If you are a supporter of the FSFE and you have a project you have wanted to do for a long time, <a href="https://fsfe.org/community/projects-call/projects-call.html">apply for funding</a> by the FSFE and make it happen. If you are a supporter but you have no project in hand, look for a <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups">local group</a> in your vicinity or create one. And if you are not a supporter yet - time to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter">join the FSFE now</a>. </p><h2>Contribute to our newsletter</h2><p>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're looking forward hearing from you!</p><p>If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly contribution: <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202009">https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202009</a></p><p>Thanks to our community and all the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volunteers</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a>, and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donors</a> who make our work possible. And thanks to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">our translators</a>, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.</p><p>Your editor,
		Erik Albers</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl">Support us with your donation</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: episode-7
title: SFP#7 L'intelligence artificiel en tant que logiciel libre avec Vincent Lequertier
uri: SFP-7-L-intelligence-artificiel-en-tant-que-logiciel-libre-avec-Vincen
url: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-7.fr.html
content:
<h1>SFP#7 L'intelligence artificiel en tant que logiciel libre avec Vincent Lequertier</h1><p>
Pour le septième épisode de notre podcast sur la liberté des logiciels, nous discutons avec
Vincent Lequertier à propos de la transparence, équité et accessibilité de
l'intelligence artificielle (IA) et pourquoi il est important pour notre société
de distribuer l'IA sous une licence libre.
</p><p>
Notre invité pour le septième épisode du podcast sur la liberté des
logiciels est Vincent Lequertier. Vincent est membre de la Free Software
Foundation Europe et effectue des recherches sur l'IA dans le secteur de la
santé. Ensemble, nous discutons de l'utilisation et du développement de
l'intelligence artificielle dans le contexte du logiciel libre. Vincent explique
ce qu'est réellement l'IA et pourquoi il est important pour notre société de
diffuser l'IA sous une licence libre. Nous discutons des raisons pour lesquelles
les critères de transparence, d'équité et d'accessibilité sont importants
lorsqu'on travaille avec l'intelligence artificielle et comment ils sont liés
aux Logiciels Libres. Enfin, nous découvrons également les défis que l'IA devra
relever et si nous devons avoir peur de l'utilisation croissante de cette
technologie dans notre vie quotidienne.
</p><p>En savoir plus :</p><ul>
  <li><a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/interviews/lequertier.html">Interview de Vincent Lequertier</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/6864a89b-dfe2-463e-bb70-3349f2946310">"Putting artificial intelligence back into people's hands"</a>, la présentation de Vincent's au FOSDEM</li>
  <li><a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/d6fa2ebe-7e2f-4fea-9e9a-bc08a189c27c">"Upcoming Challenges in artificial intelligence Research and Development"</a>, une présentation à la OW2online20 par Vincent</li>
  <li><a href="https://www.tensorflow.org/">TensorFlow</a>, une librairie libre pour l'apprentissage automatique (machine learning) de bout en bout</li>
  <li><a href="https://keras.io/">Keras</a>, une API facilitant l'utilisation de TensorFlow</li>
  <li><a href="https://pytorch.org/">Pytorch</a>, un framework open source pour l'apprentissage automatique (machine learning)</li>
  <li><a href="https://xkcd.com/1450/">AI-Box Experiment (xkcd)</a></li>
  <li><a href="media/3a7a2437.commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-feb2020_en.pdf" data-original-source="https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-feb2020_en.pdf">Libre blanc : Intelligence Artificielle - Une approche européenne d'excellence et de confiance (Commission Européenne)</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/10/24/racial-bias-medical-algorithm-favors-white-patients-over-sicker-black-patients/">Article sur le biais racial dans une algorithme utilisé en santé</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6h92v832">Article scientifique sur le biais racial dans une algorithme utilisé en santé</a></li>
</ul><p>Si vous avez apprécié cet épisode et voulez soutenir notre travail continu pour la liberté du logiciel, aidez-nous avec une <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=sfp7">donation</a> s'il vous plaît.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20201005-01
title: FSFE is hiring a working student as an assistant system administrator
uri: FSFE-is-hiring-a-working-student-as-an-assistant-system-administrator
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201005-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>FSFE is hiring a working student as an assistant system administrator</h1><p>
  We are looking for a working student to support our work to empower
  people to control technology. The person will work 10 hours per week
  in the Berlin office (home office possible at a later stage) and will
  support the FSFE's technical infrastructure by working closely
  together with our system administrators.
</p><h2>About the FSFE</h2><p>
  Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
  control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
  lives and it is important that technology empowers rather than
  restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
  understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
  fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
</p><p>
  The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
  Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and
  self-determination. It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers
  to Free Software adoption, encourages people to use and develop Free
  Software, and provides resources to enable everyone to further
  promote Free Software in Europe.
</p><p>
  We are involved in <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/">many activities</a> in the
  legal, economic, political and technical areas around Free Software.
  Our work is made possible by a community of volunteers, supporters,
  donors, and staff. The assistant system administrator's job will
  strengthen the technical backbone of our operations.
</p>
  <img src="media/c360b5d5.ac1c1ec5ee1d288a9c832a3fb3c8a0f1.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/ac1c1ec5ee1d288a9c832a3fb3c8a0f1.jpg"/>
<h2>Main responsibilities</h2><ul>
  <li>Working closely together with technical staff and volunteers.</li>
  <li>Regularly maintaining some of <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/TechDocs/Services">our systems</a>, e.g.
  upgrades, health and security checks, or Docker image updates.</li>
  <li>Running and assisting with defined projects for the improvement
  and modernisation of our systems.</li>
  <li>Helping staff and volunteers in case of technical problems,
  especially for the systems you regularly take care of.</li>
</ul><h2>Qualifications</h2><ul>
  <li>Fluency in written and spoken English. Other European languages
  are considered an asset.</li>
  <li>Proven experience with system administration of GNU/Linux
  servers.</li>
  <li>Practical understanding of Git, Docker, and Python.</li>
  <li>Experience with one or more of the following technologies: mail
  servers (e.g. Postfix), LDAP (e.g. OpenLDAP), DNS (e.g. Bind), XMPP
  (e.g. Prosody), mailing lists (e.g. Mailman), webservers (e.g. Apache
  and Nginx), Ansible, Proxmox.</li>
  <li>Enthusiasm for the principles of Free Software, its community and
  tools.</li>
</ul><h2>Attitude</h2><p>
  We are looking for a reliable, well-organised member of our technical
  teams who is keen to learn about old and new technologies. You
  support the whole organisation in its mission. Long-term thinking,
  efficiency and effectiveness are more important to you than the
  newest cool technology on the block.
</p><h2>Working time and compensation</h2><p>
  The desired working time would be 10 hours per week but can be
  discussed. You will start working in our Berlin office to get a
  feeling for the organisation and the faces behind it, but at a later
  stage, home office is possible. The salary is based on the currently
  applicable minimum wage in Germany but can be higher depending on
  your experience. A mandatory requirement is that you are enrolled as
  a student at a university in Germany.
</p><h2>How to apply</h2><p>
  To apply, please send a maximum one-page cover letter -- including
  the desired hours per week -- and a maximum two-page CV (only PDFs
  are accepted) by email to jobs@fsfe.org, with the subject "sysadmin
  student". Please do not include pictures of yourself in the
  application.
</p><p>
  Your personal data will be deleted 3 months after we have made our
  decision. The closing date for applications is <em>Sunday 15 November
  2020</em>.
</p><p>
  Free Software is meant to serve everyone regardless of their age,
  ability or disability, gender identity, sex, race, religion or
  sexual orientation. Hence, we encourage applications from all
  backgrounds and promise to judge all applications on merit, without
  reference to any of the characteristics listed. To promote diversity
  and equality in the Free Software community, we shall give preference
  to applicants who identify as part of a traditionally marginalised
  demographic in technology for applications of equal strength.
</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20201009-01
title: Congratulations to the FSF on its thirty-fifth anniversary
uri: Congratulations-to-the-FSF-on-its-thirty-fifth-anniversary
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201009-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Congratulations to the FSF on its thirty-fifth anniversary</h1><p>
  The FSFE's sister organisation, the FSF, celebrates its thirty-fifth
  anniversary this week. Thirty-five years of working for software
  freedom and inspiring many people and organisations to take a stand
  for user freedoms deserve big congratulations. Watch and read the
  congratulatory speech by FSFE President Matthias Kirschner.
</p>
  
  

  <p>
    35 years ago the Free Software Foundation was founded to work for
    users' software freedom to use, study, share, and improve software.
    In hindsight this seems to be an obvious step; in the 1980ies it was
    visionary.
  </p>

  <p>
    Over the years more and more people, organisations, companies, and public
    administrations learnt why Free Software is
    important for a free society.
  </p>

  <p>
    Meanwhile there are many different people and organisations out
    there contributing to software freedom every day.
  </p>

  <p>
    Together we can ensure that all humans can understand how software
    works, use the software for any purpose without discrimination, share
    it with others, and adapt it to their own specific needs. Together
    we can ensure the continued growth and success of the Free Software
    movement, which the FSF started.
  </p>

  <p>
    Thank you to the FSF, for preparing the ground for the Free Software
    movement, and for inspiring many organisations and people out there,
    including the FSFE and myself, to work for users' software freedom in
    the next decades to come.
  </p>

  <p>
    Thank you and happy anniversary!
  </p>
<p>
  There will be an <a href="https://www.fsf.org/events/fsf35">online
  celebration</a> via live stream and IRC on 9 October, also featuring
  guest speakers from the FSFE.
</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20201019-01
title: FSFE at SFSCon 2020
uri: FSFE-at-SFSCon-2020
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201019-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>FSFE at SFSCon 2020</h1><p>
  The South Tyrol Free Software Conference, SFSCon, is one of Europe’s most established annual conferences on Free Software. 
  In recent years we have been represented with talks, workshops and our information booth. Last year we also organised our 
  Community Event in the context of SFSCon, so that we could meet not only our community but also many interested people and 
  report about our work. 
</p><p>Due to the current situation, the SFSCon 2020 can unfortunately only take place in blended mode: both online and at NOI Techpark, for a 
limited number of people. But of course, the FSFE is again contributing to the programme.</p><p>The FSFE has organised several talks in which legal issues are clarified and current political developments are analysed. Concrete practical 
questions concerning compliance, for example for SMEs, will be addressed as well as questions about machine learning and which problems 
arise in the development of a free smartphone.</p><p>Besides other <a href="https://www.sfscon.it/programs/2020/">interesting talks</a>, the talks below are from the FSFE track, for which we encouraged 
speakers to submit a talk to the SFScon:</p><ul>

<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/character-is-what-we-are-in-the-dark/">Andrew Wilson: Character is what we are in the dark - The FLOSS community's response to global crises</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/public-money-public-code/">Alexander Sander: Public Money? Public Code! Global problems need global solutions!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/the-economics-of-vendor-neutrality-and-vendor-domination/">Myrle Krantz - The economics of vendor neutrality and vendor domination</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/free-software-adoption-in-industry-a-personal-perspective/">Oliver Fendt - Free Software Adoption in Industry</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/outsourcing-to-open-source/">Reto Schneider - Outsourcing to Open Source</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/foss-management-and-license-compliance-must-come-first/">Davide Ricci: FOSS management and license compliance must come first</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/foss-third-party-software-compliance-for-small-businesses/">Kate Downing: FOSS and Third Party Software Compliance for Small Businesses - Planting early seeds for blooming compliance</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/machine-learning-challenges-for-foss/">Rowan Wilson: Machine Learning: Challenges for FOSS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sfscon.it/talks/creating-a-free-smartphone/">Nicole Faerber: Creating a ‘free’ smartphone</a></li>

</ul>
<img src="media/c7b08a53.b2d8a5df6475583214080a13f689c8e7.jpeg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/b2d8a5df6475583214080a13f689c8e7.jpeg"/>
     Free Pizza (not as in freedom) lunch at the 2019 FSFE Community Meeting at SFScon. Photo by Patrick Masson
<p>If you want to get some impressions from last year's Community Meeting at SFSCOn, please <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html">read the 2019 report</a>.</p><p>We would be pleased if you would participate in this year's SFSCon with us and support software freedom with us.</p><p>The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences, including our own events. 
To keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">please consider to donate a part of your conference budget 
to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE.</a></p><p>See you at SFSCon 2020.</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20201023-01
title: EU Open Source Policy: good analysis, missing concrete next steps
uri: EU-Open-Source-Policy-good-analysis-missing-concrete-next-steps
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201023-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>EU Open Source Policy: good analysis, missing concrete next steps</h1><p>On Wednesday the EU Commission published its new Open Source Strategy. We are pleased that the Commission recognises the benefits of Free Software 
		and the four freedoms to use, study, share and improve, but the commission lacks concrete targets and indicators to implement the strategy. 
		Without these, we worry that the strategy will end up accomplishing too little!</p><p>After the Commission's previous Open Source Strategy expired in 2017, we have waited three years for a new one. Instead of the hoped-for major step, which would reflect 
		current developments around the debates on digital sovereignty and state of the art administration, the Commission has 
		<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/informatics/open-source-software-strategy_en#opensourcesoftwarestrategy">presented</a> only a fig leaf. 
		The benefits of Free Software are fully emphasised and the Commission is ambitious in its future use of Free Software. But concrete goals are rare, and a clear 
		commitment to the use of Free Software is lacking. A failure of the strategy is foreseeable at this stage as the objectives are ambitious but the measures 
		merely establish the status quo. Therefore, we call upon the Commission to present and implement concrete measures and activities in the coming weeks and months.</p>
			<img src="media/7d5a0590.7db740e55d4adfa69d1198a20589ec54.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/7db740e55d4adfa69d1198a20589ec54.png"/>
			European Commission presented only a fig leaf
		<p>Apart from the establishment of a "small (sic!) Open Source Programme Office” and the definition and promotion of the "inner source" approach, which is not even 
		connected to a publication under a Free Software license, there are no real changes to the Commission's working methods. Of course, the Strategy indeed states: "The title of this strategy, 
		‘Think Open’, points to a change in mindset whereby the development of software solutions takes account of openness, sharing and reuse, security, privacy, legal 
		considerations and accessibility." But it is doubtful whether anything will happen simply by clarifying the change in thinking without having verifiable goals and 
		by working on "inner-source" software. We believe that changes have to be implemented and lived, not just put on paper.</p><p>The strategy mainly repeats previous commitments and activities; whereas sustainable and verifiable approaches are sought in vain. It says: "The use of open source software 
		is already common practice in the Commission and a kind of open source culture already exists in large parts of the organisation. We simply have to do more and become 
		better". Concrete terms of the plans for how to do this more and better are however not clear. The activities of the FOSSA2 project are also mentioned, but it is not clear why 
		this project is not being continued or why new concrete projects are not being launched. There are also 
		<a href="https://www.investigate-europe.eu/en/2017/europes-dire-dependency-on-microsoft/">still strong dependencies on Microsoft</a>, for its desktop operating system, 
		office applications and mail programs. These vendor lock-ins are still a big issue, but it appears that there is no plan currently on how to end these dependencies. 
		(There is also a documentary on YouTube in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duaYLW7LQvg">English</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/_ZaDuinGf2o">German</a> on that) </p><p>It is also striking that concrete indicators to measure the success of the activities are absent. The Strategy therefore seems to pay mere lip service, which is explicitly 
		limited by vague formulations and loopholes. For example, the Commission intends to continue "to choose non-open technologies where there are good reasons to do so" 
		and wants to publish software under a Free Software licence only "wherever it makes sense to do so”. What these reasons are and when something makes sense remains undefined and unclear.</p><p>In many places the Commission leaves it at problematic descriptions such as: "The principles and actions of the new open source strategy will make it easier to obtain permission to share code with 
		the outside world.". At the same time, it is clear to the Commission that "[c]urrently, the paperwork involved in this process takes time to complete and this holds back many 
		of our in-house projects. This situation needs to change." - without proposing concrete solutions, such as a proposal for reforms.</p><p>This also raises the question of how the Commission wants to “contribute to the knowledge society” in tangible terms. For example, instead of calling for Free Software 
		to be made the default in the Horizon Europe research programme and following programmes and research activities funded by the EU,  the Commission argues 
		that "[t]his strategy therefore aims to enable the Commission to share software using a process comparable to that for its documents.” - again without a 
		concrete proposal on how to achieve this.</p><p>Although the Commission's wording about interoperability, security, reusability and cooperation possibilities repeatedly aims at the use of Free Software and 
		repeatedly emphasises the advantages of Free Software, we feel that the Strategy lacks concrete plans to achieve these aims. How the development of a “world-class public service" can succeed this way 
		remains questionable. Free Software is still not part of the EU budget, so it is not surprising that Commission online-meetings are still held with the proprietary 
		software Zoom although there are viable Free Software solutions for this. With this approach, we fear that this situation will not improve.</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>What the European Commission presented is simply too little for a strategy. There is a lack of clear task descriptions and processes, concrete guidelines for the implementation 
		of wholehearted statements and indicators to monitor success. Additionally, existing problems and how to address them concretely, like dependencies on single vendors, are missing. So it is 
		not surprising that even the Commission itself, in the document, expresses doubts as to whether their strategy will be a success and identifies difficulties in its implementation: 
		"Properly implemented (sic!), the strategy, its governing principles and its action plan will help us build and deliver better ICT solutions and services, to leverage the innovative 
		and collaborative power of open source." </p><p>It is therefore all the more important that we continue to critically monitor the work of the Commission and promote our "Public money? Public Code!" campaign. 
		The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to establish Free Software as a standard for publicly funded software. Public administrations that follow this 
		principle can benefit from numerous advantages: cooperation with other government bodies, independence from individual vendors, potential tax savings, promotion 
		of innovation and a more solid basis for IT security.</p><p>The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative of the Free Software Foundation Europe is supported by over 180 organisations and administrations from several countries, 
		including Sweden, Spain and Germany. To find out more, please visit: <a href="http://publiccode.eu">publiccode.eu/</a></p>
			<img src="media/12ea29a1.ffb20744b1807fe1f661502e42eceb5e.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/ffb20744b1807fe1f661502e42eceb5e.png"/>
			Public Money? Public Code!
		<p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: nl-202010
title: 35 ans de la FSF +++ Participation à la SFSCon +++ Emploi technique vacant
uri: 35-ans-de-la-FSF-Participation-à-la-SFSCon-Emploi-technique-v
url: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202010.fr.html
content:
<h1>35 ans de la FSF +++ Participation à la SFSCon +++ Emploi technique vacant</h1><p>Dans notre lettre d'information d'octobre, vous trouverez des informations sur le trente-cinquième anniversaire de la FSF, notre participation à venir à la SFSCon, une vacance pour un emploi technique et sur les autres diverses activités de notre communauté.</p><h2>Félicitations à la FSF pour son trente-cinquième anniversaire</h2><p><a href="https://www.fsf.org/events/fsf35">Il y a 35 ans</a>, notre organisation sœur, la <a href="https://fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</a>, a été fondée afin de s'engager pour la liberté des utilisatrices et utilisateurs d'utiliser, d'étudier, de partager et d'améliorer les logiciels. Avec en ligne d'introduction <strong>"Notre travail ne sera terminé que lorsque toutes les utilisatrices et tous les utilisateurs d'ordinateurs seront capables de réaliser leurs tâches digitales en complète liberté"</strong>. Ceci est une promesse qui tient toujours, même après trente-cinq années de travail pour la liberté du logiciel, ayant inspiré d'innombrables personnes et de nombreuses organisations à faire front pour la liberté des utilisatrices et utilisateurs. <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201009-01.html">Le président de la FSFE Matthias Kirschner a enregistré un discours de félicitations</a> dans lequel il médite sur l'importance que la FSF et notre mouvement ont eu et continuent d'avoir au cours des années.</p>
    
    
  <h2>Participation à la SFSCon</h2><p>La conférence Sud-Tyrolienne pour le Logiciel Libre, SFScon, est une des conférences sur le Logiciel Libre annuelle établies en Europe. Ces dernières années, nous y avons été représentés lors d'exposés, de sessions de travail et par notre stand d'information. L'année dernière, nous avons organisé notre Évènement Communautaire dans le contexte de la SFScon, afin de pouvoir y rencontrer notre communauté ainsi que de nombreux intéressés, puis nous avons finalement fait le <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html">bilan de notre travail</a>.</p><p>En raison de la situation actuelle, l'édition 2020 de cet évènement ne pourra se faire qu'en mode mixte : en ligne, et au NOI Techpark pour un nombre limité de personnes. Mais bien entendu, la FSFE contribuera encore au programme.</p>
  	<img src="media/22723958.2a016b7f2770328ac7d26c7eab404ed9.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/2a016b7f2770328ac7d26c7eab404ed9.jpg"/>
  <p>Nous avons organisé sept exposés lors desquels les questions légales ont pu être éclaircies et les développements politiques courants on pu être analysés. Les questions pratiques concrètes concernant la conformité, par exemple pour les SMEs, y seront adressées, ainsi que les questions sur le machine learning et quels problèmes surviennent lors du développement d'un smartphone "libre". <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201019-01.html">Vous trouverez plus d'informations sur notre piste et sur la SFScon2020</a></p><p>L'impact financier le plus important auquel la FSFE doit faire face en ces temps de distanciation physique est l'annulation de conférences sur le Logiciel Libre, incluant nos propres évènements. Pour conserver un mouvement pour la liberté du logiciel solide et vivant, merci d'envisager <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl">de faire don d'une partie ou de l'intégralité de votre budget conférences aux organisations pour le Logiciel Libre, y compris la FSFE</a>.</p><h2>Emploi technique vacant</h2><p><a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201005-01.html">La FSFE recherche un.e étudiant.e salarié.e</a> pour soutenir notre travail : habiliter tout le monde à maitriser la technologie. Cette personne travaillera 10 heures par semaine dans le bureau de Berlin (télétravail ultérieurement possible) et soutiendra l'infrastructure technique de la FSFE en travaillant en étroite collaboration avec nos administrateurs de système. Le délai de candidature se termine dimanche 15 novembre 2020. Merci de partager cette information avec celles et ceux de votre entourage qui pourraient être intéressés.</p>
    <img src="media/3cfc91bc.e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/e88678b1f41368ab7106657ce298706e.jpg"/>
  <h2>Évènements à venir</h2><ul>

      <li>Au <a href="https://osseu2020.sched.com/event/eCVu">OSSEU2020, Alexander Sander exposera </a>comment le Logiciel Libre fournit des solutions mondiales à des problèmes mondiaux.</li>

      <li>Lors de la <a href="https://cfp.privacyweek.at/pw20/talk/BU7HK9/">Privacy
      Week, Alexander Sander exposera</a> notre campagne "Argent Public ? Code Public !" et parlera de comment le Logiciel Libre contribue à faire face à une crise mondiale.</li>

    </ul><h2>Qu'avons-nous fait ? En interne et en dehors de la FSFE</h2><ul>

        <li>Pour le <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-7.html">septième épisode de notre Podcast sur la Liberté du Logiciel</a> nous avons discuté avec Vincent Lequertier sur la transparence, l'équité et l'accessibilité comme critères cruciaux pour l'intelligence artificielle (IA) et pourquoi il est important pour notre société de mettre à disposition du logiciel IA sous licence de Logiciel Libre.</li>

        <li>Dans son <a href="https://sfk.flossk.org/">discours au Software Freedom Kosova 2020 </a> Alexander Sander, directeur des politiques publiques Européennes de la FSFE, a fournie un bref aperçu des activités passées et actuelles de la FSFE pour favoriser la liberté logicielle en Europe, aux niveaux de la politique, du travail légal en entreprise et de conscience publique générale. Le discours a été suivi deux semaines plus tard par une session de travail.</li>

        <li>À la "openSUSE + LibreOffice Virtual Conference" (oSLO), Alexander Sander <a href="https://events.opensuse.org/conferences/oSLO/program/proposals/3247">a donné une conférence</a> sur les avantages d'utiliser le Logiciel Libre dans le secteur public, sur les leçons apprises de la crise du corona et pourquoi il est encore plus important aujourd'hui que jamais auparavant d'employer du Logiciel Libre.</li>

        <li>Nous sommes reconnaissants envers Lioh Möller qui a coordonné l'équipe nationale de la FSFE en Suisse et accueillons le nouveau coordinateur Gian-Maria Daffré accompagné de Ralf Hersel en tant que vice-coordinateur. Le groupe Suisse est bien connu pour son portail éducatif sur le Logiciel Libre <a href="https://lernenwiedieprofis.ch/">Lernen wie die Profis (apprendre comme les pros)</a> et le magazine d'actus et podcast <a href="https://gnulinux.ch/">gnulinux.ch</a>.</li>

        <li> Le coordinateur de Berlin Erik Grun accompagné de Katja Jäger <a href="https://campus.re-publica.com/en/session/freie-software-digitale-gesellschaft">a donné une conférence</a> sur le Logiciel Libre pour la société numérique dans l'éducation au campus re:publica à Berlin.</li>

			</ul><h2>Participez à notre lettre d'information</h2><p>Si vous souhaitez partager vos opinions, photos ou actualités, merci de nous les envoyer. Comme toujours, notre adresse est newsletter@fsfe.org. Nous sommes impatient.e.s de vous lire !</p><p>Si de plus vous souhaitez nous soutenir ainsi que notre travail, rejoignez notre communauté et aidez-nous avec <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl-202010">un don ou une contribution mensuelle</a>.</p><p>Merci à notre communauté, tous les <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">volontaires</a>, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">supporters</a> et <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus">donatrices et donateurs</a> qui rendent notre travail possible. Et merci à <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators">nos traductrices et traducteurs</a>, qui vous permettent de lire cette lettre d'information dans votre langue maternelle.</p><p>Vos éditeurs,
	Erik Albers et Alexander Sander</p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl">Soutenez notre travail par un don</a></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


feed_id: news-20201110-01
title: Software Freedom in Europe 2020
uri: Software-Freedom-in-Europe-2020
url: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201110-01.fr.html
content:
<h1>Software Freedom in Europe 2020</h1><p><em>"Software Freedom in Europe"</em> is the yearly report of the Free Software Foundation Europe e.V. (FSFE). In one document, it gives you a breakdown of important things the FSFE has done and achieved during the last 12 months.</p><p>No report about the status of software freedom and the FSFE in 2020 can possibly be written without mentioning the impact the global spread of COVID-19 had on our organisation and the global process of digitisation. <em>Software Freedom in Europe</em> gives you a quick overview of the challenges our community had to overcome and the successes we have achieved. The report will further concentrate on the FSFE's different areas of activities, our long-term goals, and our achievements in the last twelve months.</p><p>To help you navigating through the report, we have grouped its content along <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/ourwork.html">the three pillars</a> of our activities: <strong>Policy Advocacy, Legal Support, and Public Awareness</strong>. We finish the report with insights into our activities, numbers from our merchandise and information materials, an introduction to our team members and our community, and an outlook into the next 12 months.</p><p>Enjoy the read and if you are not a supporter yet, <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">consider supporting software freedom in Europe</a>.</p>
          <p>Table of contents</p>
          <ul>
          <li><a href="#trust">Enabling trust in a digital society</a></li>
          <li><a href="#distancing">Software freedom in times of physical distancing</a></li>
          <li><a href="#advocacy"> Policy Advocacy</a></li>
                          <ul>
                  <li><a href="#europeanpolicies">About the state of Free Software in European Public Policies</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#publiccode">European public code</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#routerfreedom"> User's freedom starts from your router</a></li>
              </ul>
          <li><a href="#legal">Legal Support</a></li>
                          <ul>
                  <li><a href="#reuse">REUSE being used</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#ngi0">NGI0: Passing on what we learned about licensing</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#consultations">From Antitrust to Free Software in public legal consultations</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#licensingquestions">Our department for licensing questions</a></li>
              </ul>
          <li><a href="#publicawareness">Public Awareness</a></li>
                          <ul>
                  <li><a href="#communityprojects">Local community projects</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#events">Events we organised and participated in</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#podcast">Software Freedom Podcast</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#webpresence">New look and feel of our webpresence</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#spreadtheword">Spreading the word of software freedom</a></li>
              </ul>
          <li><a href="#who">Who we are</a></li>
                          <ul>
                  <li><a href="#ourmovement">Our movement</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#team">Staffers, team and the FSFE's formal members</a></li>
                  <li><a href="#transparency">Our transparency commitment</a></li>
              </ul>
          <li><a href="#outlook">Looking forward</a></li>
          <li><a href="#about">About the Free Software Foundation Europe</a></li>
      </ul>
  <h2>Enabling trust in a digital society</h2>
                                <img src="media/f325e092.6c8d43ffc1013f647affa17d8f0929d5.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/6c8d43ffc1013f647affa17d8f0929d5.jpg"/>
                        <p>In recent months there have been a lot of changes and challenges for us. As you will read in this report, many organisations made quick decisions and introduced proprietary software for their remote communication, there were almost no physical events happening to promote software freedom, and there were almost no opportunities during the year to spend social time together. I miss those times with you, receiving direct personal feedback for our work, building or enlarging the FSFE's network as well as nourishing personal friendships. It is much harder to work together remotely for our joint mission without those energising moments in which we see each other in person. </p><p>One other aspect that became apparent to me during the pandemic was how many people have lost or are losing confidence in democratic institutions and processes. One component of this lack of confidence in democracy is a lack of confidence in technology. And this lack of confidence is something where our work for Free Software can make a positive change. </p><p>Technology is becoming more and more complex and it is more and more difficult to understand how it works. At the same time, technology is becoming increasingly important in more and more areas of our life. As many decisions, rules, and processes in our society are becoming more opaque for a large part of the population, there is a loss of confidence in them.</p><p>As technology creators, the Free Software community has a duty to our society. We must actively counter the loss of confidence caused by complex technology. We ourselves must actively break the <em>power of technical creators</em> and help people understand the meaning, purpose and function of technology and thus enable them to determine their own uses for technology.</p><p>People must not resign themselves and think "The computers do what they want, anyway". We must give people confidence that no one is excluded from shaping technology. </p><p>We have to talk about what rules are implemented through technology and whether these rules reflect the laws and social norms of our society -- and how we change technology if it violates our laws and social norms; in order to protect them.</p><p>Everybody interested in helping citizens to trust the state must support such discussions and must not, on the contrary, punish people for analysing technology and discussing possible weaknesses and their potential negative impact on our society. If we do not make this possible, we nourish distrust in technology, distrust in society, distrust of state institutions, and distrust of our democracy. </p><p>For better confidence in software, as one important component of technology, four aspects are necessary:</p><ul>
                                <li>Confidence that digital tools are there for everyone, no matter what they were made for -- there must be no discrimination in the use of software.</li>
                                <li>Confidence that everyone will be allowed to learn how the software works, which also requires the distribution of the source code. Access to the knowledge must not be artificially limited to a selected few.</li>
                                <li>Confidence that other people may help me with the software and I am not on my own. </li>
                                <li>Confidence that people will adapt the software to the needs of their family and friends, to those of an organisation, a company, an authority, or that of our society. Technology should be adapted to the people's needs, rather than people having to adapt to technology.</li>
                        </ul><p>Software to be trusted must therefore allow using for any purpose, enabling studying and understanding, sharing with others, and improving accordingly. This is what Free Software always ensures and why Free Software is a crucial component to build confidence in the technologies that form our modern societies as well as the technologies that will form the societies of the future.</p><p>Success will depend on all of us. In order to regain confidence in a society with ubiquity of software, we have to demand the use of Free Software and support others in doing so. Developers and companies should publish their software as Free Software so it can be trusted. Public services, infrastructure, and education must be built on the use and development of Free Software to strengthen democracy. </p><p>Please read on to learn what the Free Software Foundation Europe contributed to our society during the last 12 months. I am proud to see what positive changes our contributors and staffers achieved despite the challenges we all faced. </p><p>In the name of the FSFE I wish you all the best,</p>
									<img src="media/9c78805c.8b0a362f8309b7a47b29a6b8e9b4321f.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/small/8b0a362f8309b7a47b29a6b8e9b4321f.jpg"/>
								<p>Matthias KirschnerPresident Free Software Foundation Europe</p><h2>Software freedom in times of physical distancing</h2><p>The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus brought a lot of changes for most people and organisations around the globe and so for us. With physical distancing came the cancellation of Free Software conferences, our own events, and FSFE community meetings. <strong>Booths and talks have always been one of the major channels over which we informed people about <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/index.html">Free Software</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/ourwork.html">the FSFE’s work</a></strong>. Losing these opportunities limits the visibility of our organisation and makes it harder to bring attention to the topics around software freedom in general.</p><p>But physical distancing had much more impact. Many institutions, companies and administrations had to quickly build up digital infrastructure this year, to adjust to the global situation and enable remote working for their employees. While our community tried to help them with an overview about <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/FreeSoftware4RemoteWorking">good Free Software solutions for remote working</a>, many organisations made <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html">bad decisions in a rush</a> about their future digital infrastructure by choosing proprietary and unsustainable short-term solutions. </p><h4>Global problems need global solutions</h4><p>On the other hand, we also saw a lot of positive developments: Rather than being cancelled outright, <strong>more and more Free Software events are now moving online, and this helps to keep our communities strong</strong>. To some extent it even lowers the threshold of participation and gives new opportunities for people who might not have been able to participate in a physical event. Also, the urgent need to create new software - be it for COVID contact tracing abilities or for other urgent needs - opened windows of opportunity for us, that <strong>we successfully used to highlight the benefits of building public digital infrastructure in Free Software</strong>. </p>
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							Free Software creates global solutions.
						<p>The European Union and the World Health Organisation followed our arguments that <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">global problems need global solutions</a> and why only Free Software can help us with this. Many member states complied and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html">published their Corona tracing apps as Free Software,</a> and we managed to <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200408-01.html">convince public hackathons</a> to publish results under a Free Software license. Even on the hardware side, the FSFE was able to <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200514-01.html">convince a Dutch emergency ventilator project</a> to use a free license.</p><p>Still, the story is ongoing. The virus will keep having an impact on our societies next year and potentially even longer. It will thus be important to keep explaining why short-term solutions are not good for our societies and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200330-01.html">how to ensure investing in freedom-respecting technologies</a>. </p><h2>Policy Advocacy</h2><p>Political decisions and directions have big impact on Free Software, its ecosystems and its communities. The FSFE has long-time experience in working with policy-makers and public bodies in Europe, from local administrations to high-level decision makers. We are always aiming at enhancing the rights of Free Software users and developers and abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption. <em>(read more about our general work on <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/ourwork.html#policy">policy advocacy</a>)</em></p><h2>About the state of Free Software in European Public Policies</h2><p>2020 has been a good part of our path to freedom. As indicated in the chapter about <a href="#distancing">Corona and software freedom</a> this is not entirely, but only partly, true for the manifold discussions around developing and releasing COVID-19 contact tracing apps. In this special moment our societies have experienced an unprecedented demand for rapid introduction of a new tracing technology that should potentially be used by every single member of our societies. During all these discussions, we have never tired of pointing out that <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html">any valid, healthy and sustainable solution for such a technology can only be Free Software</a>. In subsequent weeks, many national and European agencies and administrations followed our arguments and publicly declared that <strong>any tracing app has to be published as Free Software</strong>. EU member states, supported by the European Commission, released a "Common EU Toolbox for member states" in which they asked to <strong>"openly publish the technical specifications and the source code for the apps, as a way to maximise re-use, interoperability, auditability and security"</strong>. </p><p>Besides the pure fact that European member states used public money to publish Free Software to help tackle the crisis, <strong>the positive effect of the corresponding discussions, publications and decisions is priceless</strong>. Major international and national news agencies have reported about health care apps becoming Free Software and the benefits involved. In several countries we have seen a coalition of scientists, data protection agencies, ministries and politicians who argued in favor of software freedom. Every time they do, more people are understanding why software freedom matters for our society. And every time more people are understanding the importance of software freedom, it is likely that some of them join our cause. </p>
						
						Our new Open Science Coordinator Christian Busse about the state of Free Software in European scientific communities at the 36th Chaos Communication Congress.
					<p>These good signals go hand in hand with <strong>a year in that many administrations and political bodies have announced that they plan to follow our road to freedom</strong>. Starting at the end of last year with the biggest conservative party in Europe, the German CDU, who <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191125-01.html">resolved to join FSFE in demanding that software developed with public money should be publicly available as Free Software</a>, many more followed. <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200630-01.html">Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"</a>, the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200424-01.html">Netherlands commits to Free Software by default</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200610-01.html">Hamburg wants to focus more on Free Software</a>, and the Spanish Municipality of <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202007.html#-dinero-p-blico-c-digo-p-blico-">Benigànim signs the Open Letter of our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign</a>.</p><p>These are just some of the highlights on our road to freedom in 2020. And while we still have a lot to do, it is important and encouraging for us and our mission to see what we can and what we did achieve. Continue to read below about our other policy achievements in the last 12 months, sorted by topics.</p><h2>European public code</h2><p>"Public Money? Public Code!" is the ongoing campaign of the FSFE that has achieved multiple milestones in its now three years of existence. More than 190 organisations and over 29.000 individuals signed <a href="https://publiccode.eu/openletter/">our open letter</a> demanding that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free Software licence. Parts of the campaign are a <a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/0bfce6d3-814f-43f6-aba9-071261ad70b3">professional video</a> and an expert policy brochure, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200310-01.html">translated into multiple languages</a>. </p><h4>Biggest conservative party in Europe demand public code</h4><p><strong>The "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign has had a big influence on political bodies in Europe</strong>. Consequentially, in the last 12 months we saw many articles and references about public code and more and more organisations supporting our demand or directly signing our open letter. One of the highlights - as already mentioned in the article about the <a href="#europeanpolicies">State of Free Software in European Public Policies</a> - is the impact on the biggest conservative party in Europe, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). The CDU <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191125-01.html">updated their party convention</a> so that it now includes the demand that software developed with public money should be publicly available as Free Software. Another highlight was to see Munich rethinking and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.html">committing themselves back towards software freedom</a> by supporting our demand for public code. To help them keep their promise, we keep watching their political activities and after 100 days we <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200810-01.html">published a first evaluation</a> on Munich's developments. </p>
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#multilanguage-free-software-logocolours"/>
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#multilanguage-free-software-logocolours">Get our new multilingual Free Software sticker.</a>
                        <h4>Knowledge exchange and common code repository</h4><p>Driven by so much positive feedback, <strong>we continue to encourage discussions between public administrations and institutions and the exchange of best practices</strong> - technical, organisational and juridical - related to the publication of code. To this effect, in May this year we had been planning to organise the <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">first of its kind conference</a> tackling the various aspects surrounding public code and digital sovereignty. Unfortunately, as for so many other events this year, the conference had to be cancelled. But the high demand for our tickets and the high-level expertise among the participants who registered for the event demonstrate once more the huge interest in publicly funded code and its importance for our society.</p><p><strong>The continuing interest in our <em>#publiccode</em> campaign beyond party lines and sectors just recently culminated in a new alliance of administrations, business and civil society organisations</strong>, who <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200910-01.html">call for a collabroate code repository</a> for Free Software developed by the public sector. Under the slogan <em>"A place for public code"</em>, this interest group now wants to pave the way for a portal through which any public administration in Germany can exchange and jointly develop Free Software in an adequate and legally compliant manner. </p>
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                        <h3>User freedom starts from your router</h3><p><strong>Since 2013, the FSFE has been advocating for <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/routers/index.html">Router Freedom in Europe</a></strong> with outstanding results in Germany and with positive influence across Europe. In 2020 our long-term commitment has been extremely helpful, because a new set of rules came into play regarding Router Freedom, the new <em>Guidelines on the Location of the Network Termination Point</em>. Drafted by the Board of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), these new regulatory rules threaten the fundamental rights of end-users to choose their own routers and modems. We immediately took a stand to protect users' freedom and started to balance the discussion with our <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191120-01.html">input on the guidelines for Router Freedom in Europe</a>. </p>
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                        <p>Meanwhile, BEREC has <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200601-01.html">published their result of the public consultation</a>. Within this publication, BEREC fortunately sided with <strong>the FSFE's demand that any router and modem be under the full control of the user, who can freely decide which device to use</strong> - not in control of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Most important, BEREC modified the official text in order to explicitly adopt our position that Router Freedom should be the rule when determining the <em>Network Termination Point</em>. BEREC also explicitly recognised a lot of other arguments we brought into the discussion in favour of real Router Freedom - from net neutrality, to end-users' digital sovereignty, as well as improved innovation and competition.</p><h4>European guidelines facing national regulations</h4><p>Unfortunately, the new guidelines from BEREC still grant the different National Regulatory Agencies the discretionary power to restrict Router Freedom if they decide that there is an <em>"objective technological necessity"</em> for routers to be part of the ISP's network. That is why the FSFE complemented BEREC's finding with a report on <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200601-01.html">the challenges Router Freedom might expect with the new regulatory patchwork in Europe</a>. Vague terms of the BEREC Guidelines, the lack of commitment by National Regulatory Agencies and the abusive behaviour of ISPs will impose several obstacles for users to have their rights assured in Europe. Hence, <strong>the FSFE will closely monitor national activities and compliance</strong>. Despite all the successes we have had, real Router Freedom is still not in place in many member states. <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Support us with a donation</a> to help us monitoring the activities of the National Regulatory Agencies and increasing awareness across Europe in favour of users' freedom. </p>
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                                Our legal expert Lucas Lasota explaining the importance of router freedom during the FSFE's community meeting 2019.
                        <p>On a side note: we also published <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200302-01.html">direct experience</a> of FSFE staffers facing various hard and soft barriers that Internet Service Provider might impose to consumers, their routers, and modems - contradicting Router Freedom. In the same report, though, you read about strategies you can take against such violations, including reporting these issues to national regulators and consumer protection authorities.</p><h2>Legal Support</h2><p>Free licenses and their proper application can be complex but are indispensable for Free Software. At the Free Software Foundation Europe, <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/legal/legal.html">we educate people on these legal issues</a> and help developers, companies, and political entities to develop, use, and reuse Free Software in a manner that is compliant with existing legal frameworks. <em>(read more about our general work on <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/ourwork.html#legal">legal support</a>)</em></p><h3>REUSE being used</h3><p>For many developers, licensing and copyright is an annoying but necessary burden. <strong>It is important that developers communicate the conditions and the authorship for their code clearly so that re-users are aware of them.</strong> And the other way round, it is just fair to respect other developers' licensing choices. But doing all of that without any guidelines is hard and often creates more uncertainty. That is why with our <a href="https://reuse.software">REUSE</a> initiative, we aim to facilitate the whole process and provide simple best practices and accompanying tools for machine-readable licensing.</p>
                                <a href="media/1c6a1826.reuse-tool.gif" data-original-source="https://download.fsfe.org/videos/reuse/screencasts/reuse-tool.gif"/>
                        <h4>Early adopters and large migrations alike</h4><p>After the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190807-01.html">release of the most recent version 3.0</a> of these guidelines, we have been focusing on supporting Free Software projects in adopting the underlying best practices – with success! More than 150 projects that we are reviewing in the scope of <a href="#ngi0">our NGI0 involvement</a> are in process of adopting our REUSE specifications and many of them are are already REUSE compliant. But our REUSE practices are not interesting only for new projects. <strong>One of the biggest and oldest Free Software projects, the well-known KDE community, recently <a href="https://community.kde.org/Policies/Licensing_Policy#License_Statements">included REUSE in their licensing policy</a></strong> and they already <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/reuse/2020q3/000095.html">migrated all their frameworks</a> to the recommended standard.</p><p>And this is just the start. Continuously spreading the word about easy compliance and having more software projects following the REUSE best practices is among our top priorities. To ease that process and further attract compliance, <strong>we are constantly enhancing the provided tooling with more features and additional automation</strong>. In addition we are working on updating the specifications to allow for more flexibility and compatibility. If you are interested now in supporting these goals, you are very welcome to contribute to the <a href="https://git.fsfe.org/reuse/">tools and documents we provide</a> and join the <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/reuse">dedicated mailing list</a> to participate in the project discussions.</p>
                                <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate"/>
                        <h3>NGI0: Passing on what we learned about licensing</h3><p>The FSFE is part of a consortium of organisations <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html#ngi0">collectively known as Next Generation Internet Zero (NGI0)</a>, which in turn is part of an initiative of the European Commission to support fundamental rights enhancing technologies in the Internet. </p><p>In our role as a consortium member, <strong>the FSFE's legal team assists all participating software projects with any Free Software copyright and licensing issues that they may run into</strong>. Also, we are steadily working through reviewing the repositories of over 200 Free Software projects for license compliance, and we are encouraging and assisting the projects with becoming <a href="#reuse-being-used">REUSE compliant</a>. So far, we have managed to review almost 100 projects, and working with many of these projects to help them become REUSE compliant has been a very positive experience. Just recently, the NGI0 Consortium's periodic report for the first year of our activities was reviewed by the European Commission, and was very well received. </p>
                                
                                Our legal coordinator Gabriel Ku Wei Bin explains the NGI0 Initiative during OW2Con online conference 2020.
                        <p>In addition, together with our NGI0 partner organization <a href="https://www.ifross.org/">ifrOSS</a> (the Institute for Legal Issues Regarding Free and Open Source Software), we have put together a series of <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/NGI0/V2/">FAQ documents for NGI0</a> on basic Free Software legal and licensing issues. These documents are provided to <strong>help projects understand underlying legal issues and how to contribute towards building a better Free Software licensing ecosystem</strong> in the long run. However, these FAQs are not available only for software projects participating in NGI0, but for general knowledge sharing and the general public as well. A shorter version of the FAQ can be accessed directly from the <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/legal/faq.html">FSFE's legal website</a>.</p><h3>From Antitrust to Free Software in our public legal consultations</h3><p>The FSFE participated in multiple consultations run by the European Commission covering legal and economic aspects of Free Software. In <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12325-Evaluation-of-the-Commission-Notice-on-market-definition-in-EU-competition-law/F519118">our feedback on "EU competition law – market definition notice"</a>, the FSFE advised to increase <em>"the Commission's active role in leveraging the experience of smaller stakeholders who can provide in-depth expertise in specific fields of the software industry or which have critical views on the impact that digital technologies have over competition"</em>. In this regard, we have <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200519-01.html">highlighted</a> the necessity to better obtain feedback from smaller organisations and civil society in topics of competition law. Furthermore, <strong>the FSFE has collaborated with the Commission in top antitrust cases</strong>, providing a substantial contribution in the defence of landmark decisions that have shaped competition case law, both in court and in the public outreach fora.</p>
				  
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								  <em>"I'm very impressed with what the FSFE has achieved on the EU and national level. Back when I was working in the public sector I was able to glimpse the vast amounts of money that are thrown at lobbying for proprietary software and so called industry standards in Germany and the EU. It's astonishing how the FSFE has still managed to get itself heard. That is one of the reasons why I'm supporting the FSFE. "</em>
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						  <p><a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials.html#guenther">Guido Günther</a> (Freelancer and Debian Developer)
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		  <p>We published <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200820-01.html">our feedback on the Commission's "Intellectual Property Strategic Plan"</a>, stressing the danger of the expansion of copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. The FSFE explained that <strong>expanding the scope of protection of such monopolies does not lead to innovation, competition, and progress</strong>. Instead, the effect of increasing patentable or copyrightable matter could be increasing unfairness, with innovation prevented by limited access to improvements of know-how and economic stagnation. Besides that, the FSFE urged the Commission to question the outdated notion of <em>"intellectual property"</em>, which is an ideologically charged term and dangerously oblivious to the significant differences that exist between the many areas of law that it tries to subsume.</p>
				  
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								  <em>"When I read the term "Intellectual Property" I always suspected it to be a "contradictio in adiecto", because only something physical can be possessed, intellectual ideas can not. To get the best benefit out of ideas for all, they should be spread as wide as possible and with as few restrictions as possible. The GNU General Public License seems to be a good example for such little restriction, especially the inheritance principle prevents possible misuse of the idea about Free Software. Following these ideas in an ethical way, for me the FSFE seems to be the very best NGO to be found. And so I support them. And I only found kind people here. "</em>
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						  <p><a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials.html#hubertz">Johannes Hubertz</a>
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		  <h3>Our department for licensing questions</h3><p>Besides official campaigns and consultations, the FSFE runs a department for <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/licence-questions/licence-questions.html">Licensing Questions</a>, composed of several volunteer legal experts from around Europe that continuously help projects and individuals with topics concerning Free Software licensing. In 2020 the group has dealt with inquiries related to potential licensing violations and hardware licenses, as well as compliance questions regarding the Corona tracing app in Germany. </p><p>Additionally, the FSFE, together with support from members of the Licensing Questions team, has put together some basic FAQs that on Free Software legal and licensing issues to spread understanding of these topics. If you have a question or would like to learn more about basic Free Software legal and licensing topics, <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/legal/faq.html">fell free to reach out</a>.</p><h3>Our Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop</h3><p>Every year, <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ln/llw.html">the Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop</a> that we organize for the FSFE's <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ln/ln.html">Legal Network</a> members is an important aspect of the FSFE's work. Due to the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, we have unfortunately <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200415-01.html">had to cancel</a> this year's Workshop to ensure the health and safety of our participants and staff. </p><p>Nevertheless, the FSFE is committed to continue providing spaces for legal professionals involved in Free Software licensing to continue to share knowledge of best practices and discussing complex edge cases, in order to foster better license compliance in the sector. To this end, we have begun organizing a series of online meetings for the Legal Network, in order for such discussions to continue to happen within the community. Interesting discussions that we have managed to organize so far include a presentation on the <a href="https://opencovidpledge.org/">Open COVID Pledge</a>, and a discussion on the patent lawsuit between the GNOME Foundation and Rothschild Patent Imaging, which was settled earlier in the year. It is the FSFE's hope that, as online meetings and conferences become the new normal, this virtual space approximates as much as possible a similar forum as the Workshop.</p><h2>Public Awareness</h2><p>Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. It is important that people and organisations know about software freedom and its benefits for our society so they can join our cause. The more people who understand Free Software, the stronger our voice becomes and the more we will accomplish for software freedom. That is why a main focus of the FSFE's work revolves around informing the public. <em>(read more about our general work on <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/ourwork.html#awareness">public awareness</a>)</em></p>
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                        <h4>Local community projects</h4><p>Any list of local FSFE community projects can only provide examples, since <strong>the FSFE builds its success on the shoulders of a diverse community spread over Europe</strong>. Together we support each other in our work with formal and informal meetings and networks, with sharing information and knowledge, and with spreading the word and setting up information booths. </p>
			  
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							  <em>"I was a solitary voice for years, explaining the principles behind Free Software and its importance for people in my country in numerous articles and blog posts. I wanted to belong to an organization with the goal of building the digital society on 100% Free Software, and supporting the FSFE and gaining access to its blogging and fellowship infrastructure seemed like a logical first step. "</em>
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					  <p><a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials.html#agger">Carsten Agger</a>
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			<p>Some of us meet in local groups and use the chance for example to organise local events like cryptoparties or public debates. Others create public awareness, for example by printing <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/action/show/LocalGroups/RheinMain?action=show&amp;redirect=LocalGroups%2FFrankfurt#Freie_Software_Hand-Outs">their own leaflets</a> or by creating a particular web presence in support of software freedom. We summarize these activities as local community projects and <strong>we understand these activities as a core concept of our volunteer-driven organisation</strong>. </p><p>To further facilitate local projects and to give everyone quick and easy support in their ideas, we recently introduced a <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200907-01.html">regular call to apply for FSFE support for your local project</a>. <strong> Applying is easy and we happily support you with our expertise, our information material, or our networks, or even financially</strong>. Watch out for the next call and so long find some inspiration about our community projects hereafter - exemplary for all the other local activities in the last months.</p><h4>Example projects</h4><ul>
                        <li>In April, many FSFE Supporters used our wiki to collect <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200403-01.html">good Free Software solutions that help you with remote working</a> while letting you stay in control of technology. </li>
                        <li>The local FSFE group in Zurich created a website called <a href="https://lernenwiedieprofis.ch/">"Learning like a pro"</a> (original German: <em>"Lernen wie die Profis"</em>) which they use to explain why Free Software matters in education. It proceeds describing individual Free Software solutions and how these solutions in particular can be used to make school learning efficient and easy.</li>
                        <li>Our French team organised a conference-debate (<a href="https://peertube.social/videos/watch/98b914c8-7185-435b-93ed-9e67f99b795f">video recording</a>) at Sciences Po Paris with some of the local candidates for the mayoral elections in Paris, who are also digital specialists. </li>
                        <li><a href="https://github.com/freedomvote/freedomvote">Freedomvote</a> has already been used on many occasions to help voters who care about freedom-related topics in their voting orientation. Most recently it was used for the <a href="https://ch19.freedomvote.ch/">Swiss Federal Council election (Gesamterneuerungswahlen) </a> and in the past it has seen reuse in the Netherlands.</li>
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                                  <em>"The most fun part about engaging for FSFE is meeting real people and exchanging substantial information about relevant issues. These can be anything from rooting your cell phone, to learning Git, to understanding Free Software based business, to speaking up for the use of open standards in public organisations. "</em>
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                          <p><a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials.html#ockers">André Ockers</a>
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          <h3>Events we organised and participated in</h3><p>Between the time we wrote the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191022-01.html">last yearly report</a> back in October 2019 and this one, the spread of COVID-19 forced the cancellation of all physical events we have been preparing to participate in or to run ourselves. So we split this chapter between the time we still participated at physical events and the time thereafter.</p><h4>Last physical meetings</h4><p>From November 15 to 16 in 2019 we were running the yearly <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/FSFECommunityMeeting2019">FSFE Community Meeting</a> as part of the <a href="https://www.sfscon.it/">SFSCon</a>. It was composed of social meetups, breakout sessions, future-planning sessions, and an official track organised by the FSFE. German deputy coordinator Florian Snow <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191205-01.html">wrote a report</a> afterwards to reflect the feeling and the good vibe we had, including links to the slides and videos of most of the presentations.</p>
                                <img src="media/c7b08a53.b2d8a5df6475583214080a13f689c8e7.jpeg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/b2d8a5df6475583214080a13f689c8e7.jpeg"/>
                                "Free Pizza (not as in freedom) lunch at the 2019 FSFE Community Meeting at SFScon. Photo by Patrick Masson"
                        <p>At the end of 2019 the FSFE participated in the Cluster <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2019/wiki/index.php/Assembly:About:freedom">about:freedom</a>, an on-site gathering at the 36th Chaos Communication Congress, composed of 12 civil society organisations and groups. In this position, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200121-01.html">we organised 19 self-organised sessions during the 4 days</a> on various stages with additional concerts in the night and public Free Software Song sing-along sessions - among other activities.</p> 
                        <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhfLazPO7C4"/>
                        Komm:on interviews Bonnie Mehring and Erik Albers at the booth at 36C3
                <p>We started the year 2020 with our pre-FOSDEM event in Brussels. The event was kicked off by a presentation from Marcel Kolaja, Vice President of the European Parliament, which was then followed by insights and presentations from diverse Free Software organisations from all over Europe - from Albania to Greece to Portugal. Among the participants were the leaders and representatives of several Free Software organisations and initiatives around Europe and many volunteers from our community. </p><p><a href="https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202002.html#fsfe-pre-and-post-fosdem">This pre-event was followed by a strong all-around presence at FOSDEM itself</a> with many talks from our community about the latest issues regarding FSFE and software freedom. Our infobooth was in great demand and our highly motivated team put smiles on many faces. We finally completed our presence with social evenings for our community on Saturday and Sunday night</p> 
                        <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html"/>
                        Volunteer who wants his face to be hidden, Christian Kalkhoff, and Francesca Indorato at the FSFE booth at Fosdem
                <h4>Meetings go online</h4><p>Our last physical meeting before the shutdown in basically all European member states was <a href="https://mehl.mx/blog/2020/system-hackers-meeting-lyon-edition/">the FSFE's system hackers meeting in Lyon</a>. The System Hackers are the team who are responsible for the maintenance and development of a large number of FSFE's infrastructure and services. <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/ln/llw.html">The FSFE's Legal and Licensing Workshop,</a> on the contrary, was the first event that <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200415-01.html">had to be cancelled</a> due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the meantime we have started reorganizing the conference into a continuing series of online presentations and discussions that take place on average of once a month.</p><p>More and more FSFE events had to be cancelled throughout the year. From the ones we organise ourselves we had to cancel our <a href="https://registration.fsfe.org/Digitale-Verwaltung-2020">Conference on Digital Sovereignty</a> and our yearly community meeting. And of course, countless events that we were planning to participate in, give talks at, and host information booths at have been cancelled. These cancellations impose a penalty on the FSFE because booths and talks have been some of the main channels over which we inform people about software freedom and the FSFE’s work. Losing these due to cancellation of events also means a heavily limited visibility for our topics and our organisation. </p> 
                        <img src="media/e2417fde.6043f490b45a79aa69aa8977659860c7.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/6043f490b45a79aa69aa8977659860c7.jpg"/>
                        Screenshot including Bonnie Mehring and Gian-Maria Daffré during an online session about local group organisations by the FSF during their 35 years celebration
                <p><strong>Meanwhile many events are running online and <a href="https://fsfe.org/events/events.html">we are participating</a> in many of them again to help spread the word about software freedom</strong>. Still, an online event does not have the impact of a booth where humans speak face to face with each other and interested people can get to know the people behind the FSFE in real life. So, to keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, please <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200411-01.html">consider donating a part of your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE</a>.</p><h3>Software Freedom Podcast</h3><p>With the end of last year the FSFE started the <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">Software Freedom Podcast</a>. Katharina Nocun, Matthias Kirschner and Bonnie Mehring from <strong>the FSFE talk to experts from the Free Software community to discuss their work for Free Software or a related topic of their expertise</strong>. Offering these interviews as a podcast gives easy access for many people and enables spreading our message into new audiences at the same time. With every episode we focus on one special topic to help sharing insights on that particular topic with our listeners.</p><p>So far we had <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-1.html">Cory Doctorow about DRM</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-2.html">Lydia Pintscher about KDE</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-3.html"> Harald Welte about mobile freedom</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-4.html">Carmen Bianca Bakker about REUSE</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-5.html">Lawrence Lessig about regulation</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-special-1.html">Falcón and Braun about GNU Health</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-6.html">Miriam Ballhausen about copyright enforcement</a>. Last but not least, we recently published our seventh episode with <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-7.html">Vincent Lequertier about artificial intelligence</a>. You can listen to the podcasts <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">directly on our website</a>, receive them through podcatchers from within your favourite Free Software podcast program, or <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/audio/podcast/">download them directly</a>. To make sure to not miss the newest episode, you can also subscribe to our <a href="feed://fsfe.org/news/podcast-opus.fr.rss">Opus feed</a> or <a href="feed://fsfe.org/news/podcast.fr.rss">MP3 feed</a> - of course 100% DRM-free!</p><p>For you as a teaser,and an example our episode with Lawrence Lessig:</p>Your browser dows not support the audio element.
				<a href="feed://fsfe.org/news/podcast-opus.en.rss">OPUS Feed</a><a href="feed://fsfe.org/news/podcast.en.rss">MP3 Feed</a><em>Download</em>: <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/audio/podcast/SFP005.opus?ref=download">
						  OPUS
						</a> | <a href="https://download.fsfe.org/audio/podcast/SFP005.mp3?ref=download">
						  MP3
						</a>
				
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/podcast.html">
                                        See all the podcasts
                                </a>
                         
                        <img src="media/ee377702.fccbf565c4b9ccd93b7e4857a59ec963.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/fccbf565c4b9ccd93b7e4857a59ec963.jpg"/>
                        Katharina Nocun, Lawrence Lessig and Matthias Kirschner while recording the Software Freedom Podcast.
                <h3>New look and feel of our web presence</h3><p>We have been using the time of <a href="#events">cancelled events</a> to overhaul our web presence into a new feel and look and, most important, an <strong>improved presentation of information and a better user experience</strong>. In this process we also have been running our first online web-a-thon. Most obvious for anyone is the complete new look on our <a href="https://fsfe.org/">front page</a>, where all the up-to-date information we publish every week now also has the most prominent and visible spots. For visitors starting their adventure from the front page, it is also much easier now to navigate to any other information on our pages that they are looking for. </p><p>We further took the chance to reapply existing content or to merge different spots of information into one. Some of the most interesting and important to many readers will probably be our page on <a href="https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/freesoftware.html">general concepts about Free Software</a> as well as the page of our <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/activities.html">activities</a>. While the former now is visually improved with the help of graphics from our <a href="https://fsfe.org/activities/publiccode/brochure.html">Public Money? Public Code! brochure</a>, the latter finally puts all our different activities onto one page, offering visitors an overview sorted by topic and relevance. </p> 
                                <img src="media/09dafe3c.eaee3827611a619b0cb934857acce14c.JPG" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/eaee3827611a619b0cb934857acce14c.JPG"/>
                                The system hackers at their meeting in March 2020.
                        <p><strong>Many non-visible things have happened as well to further improve your online experience.</strong> One of these often hidden activities is the work of our <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/System-Hackers/">System Hackers</a>. This small team runs all the FSFE's digital infrastructure from our physical servers to virtual machines and individual services and it includes also the maintenance of it all. Since complexity grows with each new service and feature, the system hackers' recent months were dominated by enhancing automation, harmonisation and resilience of our systems. For instance, they introduced a new monitoring system currently spanning 21 systems with 242 service checks, and they are currently in the process of setting up two new server clusters.</p><h3>Spreading the word of software freedom</h3><h4> Promotional Material</h4><p>Besides its web presence, <strong>the FSFE empowers users to promote digital freedom in the real world by offering a large set of promotion material</strong>. You can <a href="https://fsfe.org/order">Order your own material</a> now and help us to spread the word! You find inspiration about the <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#100-freedoms-black-sticker">100 freedoms of Free Software</a> and why <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#nocloud-sticker">There is no Cloud, just other people's computers</a>, or leaflets to help you explain <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#freedom">Free Software</a>, <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#gnupg-leaflet">Email encryption</a>, the dangers of <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#drm-leaflet">DRM</a> and how to <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#f-droid-leaflet">Free Your Android</a>. You can also find postcards, posters and stickers of our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html#pmpc">Public Money? Public Code!</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html#ilovefs">I love Free Software</a> campaigns. </p>
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html"/>
                        <p>New in our stock in 2020 are our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#multilanguage-free-software-logocolours">Free Software stickers in multiple languages and colours</a> and our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword#hacking-100-freedom-sticker-blue">Hacking 0100 Freedom stickers with binary language in multiple colors</a></p> 
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.html"/>
                        <p>In the last 12 months, we sent out 631 information material orders around the world. This means <strong>literally thousands of stickers, leaflets, and posters have been given out to people who are interested, or who 
may be hearing about Free Software for the first time</strong>. If you would like to support us in this direct action, consider <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">supporting us financially or consider a donation</a> along with <a href="https://fsfe.org/order">your personal order of information material</a>. The right leaflet at the right time to the right person can be the start of long-lasting change.</p><h4>Merchandise</h4><p><strong>In addition to our promotion material, we also offer you the chance to show your love for Free Software by using and wearing some of our <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html">merchandise items</a></strong>. Free Software clothing is a great way of raising awareness within your local community, and each sale helps to fund critical FSFE projects. This is especially true now, since we have a serious downturn of revenue <a href="#events">by not being able to go to conferences</a> and sell merchandise.</p> 
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html"/>
                                Our merchandise is a nice surprise for your loved ones for Christmas - and during the year.
                        <p>So we made a virtue out of necessity and decided to do an extra sale with our old material. The interest and success were overwhelming and we sold 316 shirts and 38 hoodies in seven days. In contrast, we sold only 290 t-shirts and 71 hoodies in the 12 months before the extra sale. Most popular is the <a href="https://fsfe.org/order#tshirt-nocloud-black">There is NO CLOUD</a> shirt, followed by our <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/#tshirt-100freedoms-black">100 Freedoms of Free Software</a>.</p><p>But the hitlist of items can be challenged since we have introduced a new multilingual t-shirt with which you can <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/#tshirt-multilingual-black">show your love for Free Software in 24 languages</a>! Support our work and <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html">get your personal shirt today!</a></p> 
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html"/>
                        <h2>Who we are</h2><p>It is no secret that even in the daily operations of the FSFE we rely on all the beloved people who help us continuously on different levels with their respective skills. <strong>It is only through working together with our community that the FSFE is able to form a movement across Europe to build a society based on users' and software freedom</strong>, a society in which users are empowered to control their technology. </p><h3>Our movement</h3><p>In the last few years, we exceeded ten thousand people from Europe and beyond who are supporting our cause by <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword">spreading our word</a>, signing our open letters, subscribing to our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contact/email-updates.html">community mails</a> and <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/newsletter.html">newsletter</a>, or joining our <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion">public discussions</a>. If you ever wondered who all these people are and what a FSFE supporter looks like, we have created a dedicated <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials">testimonials page</a> for you, where many of our supporters have left a quote, sometimes an interview and sometimes even a video. </p>
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                
                                <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/people/testimonials">
                                        See more testimonials
                                </a>
                        <h4>How you can become a part of our movement</h4><p><strong>The FSFE would be nothing without our contributors. And it would be so much more with you!</strong> If you feel inspired after reading our report, there are many ways to engage in our movement. We have a dedicated <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">contribution page</a> to help you find a way that best fits your interests and skills. </p><p>One of the easiest entrance levels is to spread the word about Free Software in public or among your friends with our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword">promotion material</a> or directly show your love for Free Software by wearing <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/index.html">some of our inspiring merchandise items</a>. Follow and share our <a href="https://fsfe.org/events/events.html">event announcements</a>, find an event that fits your interests, and then go there to meet like-minded people. Don't be shy; most of us have been in your position once. Or see if you can even join <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups">regular FSFE meetings in different cities of Europe</a>. </p> 
                                        <a href="https://fsfe.org/order/order.html"/>
                                        Volunteer hosting a pop-up booth in the streets of Esino Lario during Wikimania.
                                <p>If you find no event near you, you can also join us online. If you want to contribute with your <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/web/web.html">IT skills</a> or your <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators/translators.html">language skills</a>, you are more than welcome to join our respective online teams. Not yet sure where to start? Then look into <a href="https://community.fsfe.org/">our discourse-instance</a> and start to get to know our community and get inspired about what you can do.</p><p>Finally, advocating for freedom also costs money and we depend on people like you to <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">support us financially</a>. All support is used to improve European software freedom a little more each day, step by step, bit by bit.</p><h3>Staffers, team and the FSFE's formal members</h3><p><strong>Our staffers make sure to keep the FSFE's administration and daily operations running</strong>, from sending promotion material to donation receipts, from selling merchandise to organising our larger community events. But they also represent the FSFE officially in talks and presentations or in different kind of meetings. </p><p>At the FSFE we currently employ <strong>five full-time staffers and three part-time employees</strong>. These are, as full-time employees, the President, Matthias Kirschner; the policy advisor, Alexander Sander; and Gabriel Ku Wei Bin with Lucas Lasota, as part-time employee, running our legal department. Together with our part-time employee Bonnie Mehring, Max Mehl and Erik Albers work full-time to support our community and technical teams. Of course nothing would work without Francesca Indorato running our daily office operations. This permanent team has appreciated the help this year of our now former interns Bonnie Mehring and Erik Grun. As an attentive reader, you might have recognized that Bonnie Mehring indeed joined our permanent staff after finishing her internship this year. At the time of writing we are eager to enlarge our team again and we are looking for an additional office assistant. Also, we are always interested in <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/internship.html">internship applications</a>.</p>
							<img src="media/40e0efa6.843a04b75486fb3db95cd3aa6f85bb0e.jpg" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/843a04b75486fb3db95cd3aa6f85bb0e.jpg"/>
							Your friendly FSFE staffers team, from left to right and top to down: Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, Matthias Kirschner, Bonnie Mehring, Max Mehl, Francesca Indorato, Lucas Lasota, Alexander Sander, Erik Albers
                        <p>All staffers are officially contracted with the FSFE as an association with charity status, registered in Germany. <strong>The charity is governed by its formal members</strong>, the (<a href="https://fsfe.org/about/team.html#general-assembly">"General Assembly")</a>, who are responsible for planning, budgeting, and setting the agenda, as well as electing the Executive Council. In the 2019 General Assembly, the FSFE's President Matthias Kirschner, Vice-President Heiki Löhmus, and Financial Officer Patrick Ohnewein <a href="https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20191014-01.html">have been reelected to run the FSFE for another 2-year term</a>.</p><h3>Our transparency commitment</h3><p>The FSFE supports the german initiative of a <a href="https://www.transparency.de/Initiative-Transparente-Zivilg.1612.0.html">“transparent civil society”</a> with <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/transparency-commitment.html">our transparency commitment</a>. Besides our constitution and minutes from our general assemblies, you will find information in our general reports, name and functions of decision makers and staff, our connections with other organisations, <a href="https://fsfe.org/about/funds/funds.html">how we use our money</a>, and <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus.html">who our donors are</a>.</p><h2>Looking forward</h2><p>The ongoing Corona crisis will bring more dramatic changes to our societies. We will see more steps taken in a rush towards digitizing essential infrastructures and services that future generations will consequently have to build on. This is why it is incumbent upon us today to help ensure that our societies and any individual can stay in control of technology. </p><p>The community and the movement around the Free Software Foundation Europe had outstanding success this year with channelling our demands to create global solutions under free licenses. We also had success in convincing publicly-funded hackathons to publish their results as Free Software. But the journey continues and there is a lot more to do. <strong>We will keep raising our voice for true user freedom and help our societies to overcome the crisis more free than they entered it.</strong></p>
                                        <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate"/>
                                <p>At the highest level, EU President von der Leyen does not tire in promoting a path for European digitisation that is both innovative and carbon-neutral. On the way to reach this goal, we will probably see a lot of investments in science, software, and technologies that help tackle climate change. Most of the money invested will be public money, and so we have to ensure that any such publicly spent money leads to public code as in Free Software as well. This should of course be the rule for any investments on national and local levels as well. </p><p>Given the circumstances, the FSFE will use the chance to offer more virtual community meetings. Be it for content-related teams and campaigns or for social gathering, soon we will start a series of knowledge sharing and networking events in our own Big Blue Button instance. Of course, we will continue with our public awareness campaigns and our political advocacy, with providing our expertise, and with providing resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe. If you want to stay up to date with our milestones, sign up for our <a href="https://fsfe.org/contact/email-updates.html">email updates</a>. </p><p>Finally, we cannot be grateful enough and make this point often enough: <strong>All our work and successes during the last 12 months would not have been possible without our contributors and our financial supporters! Our big thank you to all of you!</strong></p> 
                                <img src="media/1021c0d4.76742f84bebe22afb94e02179df622ec.png" data-original-source="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/76742f84bebe22afb94e02179df622ec.png"/>
                                Participants of the online GA 2020
                        <p>And for those who want to support us but are still not doing it: To achieve our goals for the upcoming months we really need you: <strong>Please <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute">contribute as a volunteer</a> or <a href="https://fsfe.org/donate">support us financially</a></strong> to ensure that our message is heard in as many diverse parts of our society as possible.</p><p>Future generations will be thankful. As we are already today!</p><p><strong>Your Free Software Foundation Europe</strong></p><h2>About the Free Software Foundation Europe</h2><p>The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a <strong>charity that empowers people to control technology</strong>. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.</p><p>Our mission is:</p><ul>
                                <li>to help individuals and organisations to understand how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.</li>
                                <li>to enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption.</li>
                                <li>to encourage people to use and develop Free Software.</li>
                                <li>to provide resources and enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.</li>
                        </ul><p>To help people understand our message, we use public campaigns and political lobbying, we provide expertise in talks and personal meetings, we set up informational booths and organise events, we produce promotion material and explanatory videos. To achieve our goals, we base our work and form our movement with the help of our community and friends, who ensure that our message gets out and is heard in as many diverse parts of our society as possible. We work in a transparent and cooperative way.</p><p><strong>If you want to join our cause, <a href="https://fsfe.org/contribute/contribute">contribute</a> or <a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">support us financially</a>.</strong></p><p><a href="https://my.fsfe.org/support">Support FSFE</a></p>


