= Municipalities using Free Software +++ PMPC tour in Italy =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202206.ru.html ]
In this issue, read about nine administrations innovating and saving
money with Free Software, a Dutch coalition calling for fair digital
education, and how a sustainable telecom sector is attainable with Free
Software. Volunteers organise ‘Public Money? Public code!’ tour in
Italy.
== 9 administrations innovate and save money with Free Software ==
In 2020, the city of Bühl in Germany launched "Palim! Palim!" [1], a
video conferencing platform based on the Free Software "Jitsi Meet". The
city offered the platform to citizens who needed it, and the initiative
was well received. Two years later clubs, citizens, and the city itself
use "Palim! Palim!" daily.
Other municipalities have also shown interest in the solution. An
association of nine administrations that use 'Palim! Palim!' have
jointly modernised the administration, based on Free Software. Re@di –
regional.digital is an inter-communal cooperation of nine southern
German cities. Their common needs are met through synergy effects in
collaborative development. In an interview [2], Alexander Gabriel and
Eduard Itrich shared that the administrations could use their resources
cost-efficiently thanks to cooperation and sharing Free Software.
== Dutch coalition calls for fair digital education ==
Students should not have to use proprietary software to participate in
the educational process. The FSFE joins the Dutch coalition ‘Fair
Digital Education’ [3] supporting privacy-respecting solutions involving
Free Software in schools. The coalition signed a manifesto [4] calling
for more control and fairness in the digital solutions used for
education. Students should be taught skills instead of products. Free
Software increases code literacy and shows the value of cooperation [5].
== How to attain a sustainable telecom sector ==
The right to install any software on any device, Free Software
licensing, and Device neutrality serve digital sustainability as well as
consumer protection measures. When users can install any software on any
device this can make the difference in order to repair the device or
reuse it and this way prevent it from becoming e-waste. Users’ right to
install any software they want, manufacturers’ obligation to publish the
full source code, and Device Neutrality are all necessary to reclaim
devices. These principles should guide future policies on product design
in the EU. The FSFE made this point answering a public consultation [6]
about the impact of the telecommunications sector on the environment.
== Save the date! ==
- On 8 June Alexander Sander, Policy Consultant of the FSFE, will give
an online talk on AI and Free Software in the EU [7] as part of the
OW2 conference.
- On 9 June Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, will give an
author reading of the children’s book Ada & Zangemann [8] (DE) in
re:publica 22.
- On 9 June Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Project Manager, will give a talk
on “Practicing Sovereignty. Interventions for open digital futures” at
Weizenbaum Conference in Berlin.
- On 9 June Lucas Lasota will give an online talk on Device Newtrality
[9] as part of the OW2 conference.
- On 18 June Lucas Lasota will give a talk about Device Neutrality [10]
at OSCAL 2022, in Tirana, Albania.
- On 24 June Alexander Sander will give a talk on " What role did Free
Software play during the corona crisis? [11] " at esLibre conference
in Vigo, Spain.
- On 24 June Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project Manager, will give a talk on "
REUSE [12] " at esLibre conference in Vigo, Spain.
- On 25 June, Lina Ceballos and Alexander Sander will give a ‘ Public
Money? Public Code!’ [13] ’ workshop at esLibre conference in Vigo,
Spain.
- On 30 June, Lina Ceballos will give a talk on REUSE [14] at
OpenExpoEurope2022 conference in Madrid.
== Past and ongoing activities ==
- On 3 June Florian Snow, Technical Advisor of the FSFE, gave an
Upcycling Android workshop in Cologne [15].
- On 2 June, Matthias Kirschner offered an author reading of the
children’s book Ada & Zangemann [16] in Cologne.
- On 19 May our Policy Consultant Alexander Sander discussed the
challenges of ethical AI in the KIDD-Fachkonferenz [17] panel in
Berlin.
- On 14-15 May the FSFE had a booth at make-it.saarl [18] and in
Saarbrücken, Germany, and Alexander Sander gave a talk "Innovation
needs Free Software".
- As a member of European Digital Rights (EDRi), the FSFE participated
in the General Assembly on 13-14 May to exchange ideas with other
actors. The EDRi network is a collective of 45+ NGOs’ numerous experts
working to defend digital rights. Erik Albers gave a workshop on how
to utilise the European Ecodesign to ask for the universal right to
install any software on any device.
- On 4 May, Key stakeholders debated the future of Router Freedom in
Austria in an online session organised by the FSFE and the Alliance of
Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Manufacturers (VTKE). The video
[19] (DE) is available.
== FSFE groups ==
*Aarhus* | A group relaunches after seven years. The FSFE local group
Aarhus [20] restarts with the aim to raise awareness of Free Software in
Denmark. The first meeting will take place on 9 June.
*Berlin* | The FSFE local group Berlin [21] decided to have the regular
monthly meetings in person again from now on, and also met at Linux
Works LUG. The group also had the regular online monthly meeting
dedicated to Free Software in Education.
*Greece* | The FSFE country team Greece [22] translated the FSFE’s
answer to the consultation round of the Hellenic Telecommunications and
Post Commission about the position of the Network Termination Point.
Join the Greek-speaking FSFE Matrix room [23] to discuss impossible
translations of technical terms and other software freedom topics you
like.
*Hamburg* | The FSFE local group Hamburg [24] had its monthly meeting.
*The Netherlands* | The FSFE country team the Netherlands [25] organised
an FSFE booth in the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht, and had its regular
online meeting.
*Women* | The FSFE Women group [26] met for the first time in person in
Berlin. They discussed search engines, chats, and password managers [27]
that make lives easier.
*Zurich* | The FSFE local group Zurich [28] organised a hackathon [29]
to prepare an initiative supporting federated communication for public
authorities.
== Get active in Italy! ==
Volunteers will present the ‘Public Money? Public code!’ campaign in
Italy [30]. Meet the people behind the Italian translations of the FSFE
and learn how the digitalisation of the Italian public sector can be
improved. The events are in Trento on 7 June, in Bologna on 8 June, in
Caltanissetta on 18 June.
== Contribute to our Newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [31]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [32]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://konferenz.buehl.digital/
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220602-01.ru.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220520-01.ru.html
4: https://eerlijkdigitaalonderwijs.petities.nl/?locale=en
5: https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/education/argumentation.ru.html
6: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220510-01.ru.html
7: https://www.ow2con.org/view/2022/Abstract_Community_Day#08061155
8: https://re-publica.com/de/session/buchlesung-ada-zangemann-ein-maerchen-ueb…
9: https://www.ow2con.org/view/2022/Abstract_Community_Day#09060930
10: https://oscal.openlabs.cc/
11: https://propuestas.eslib.re/2022/charlas/free-software-during-corona
12: https://eslib.re/2022/horario/
13: https://propuestas.eslib.re/2022/talleres/public-money-public-code
14: https://openexpoeurope.com/es/oe2022/
15: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Android/UpcyclingWorkshops#A03._Juni_2022_…
16: https://fsfe.org/activities/childrensbook/index.ru.html
17: https://kidd-prozess.de/news/jetzt-anmelden-1-kidd-fachkonferenz-findet-am-…
18: https://make-it.saarland/
19: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220516-01.ru.html
20: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Aarhus
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Berlin
22: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Greece
23: https://matrix.to/#/#greece:fsfe.org
24: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Hamburg
25: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL
26: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
27: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women/Notes
28: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Zurich
29: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Zurich/2022-05-18
30: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220531-01.ru.html
31: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
32: https://community.fsfe.org/t/859
= 46 Sign OS Freedom Open Letter +++ Fair Market App +++ Your Digital Rights =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202205.ru.html ]
In this Issue: an alliance of 46 entities - and counting - supports the
universal right to install any software on any device. Free Software is
being considered for inclusion in the EU Declaration of Digital Rights.
FSFE's transparency in public procurement app gets to EU Datathon
finals. Italian FSFE volunteers prepare tour.
== 46 Entities Request the EU for the Right to Reuse Hardware ==
The EU is redefining their ecodesign criteria for environmentally
friendly electronics. The FSFE provided input by publishing an open
letter [1] demanding the right to install any software on any electronic
device. This right would allow to keep our devices longer, but it
requires manufacturers to follow certain rules. For example,
manufacturers must be required to unlock bootloaders on all devices,
including computers, tablets and phones; they must also publish full
specifications for every component on the device. This allows us and any
third party to better repair our devices, and even reuse parts of them.
The use of Open Standards is also necessary for devices to communicate
and operate with each other.
Initially 38 organisations [2] agreed on the necessity of these
conditions and signed the open letter before publication. It is still
possible to sign the letter and more than 45 organisations have now
signed. It speaks volumes that tech companies, right to repair
initiatives, and important environmental organisations support the right
to install any software on any device.
== FSFE's App Prototype Shortlisted to EU Datathon Finals ==
The FSFE System Hackers created an application prototype [3] aspiring to
connect publicly available tendering and company data and to allow
analysis of this data. The goal of the app is to allow citizens and
experts to monitor suspicious market activity of public interest. The
project idea has been a success and made it to the top six out of 26
entries in the ‘transparency in public procurement’ challenge of the EU
Datathon 2022. Our team has now been invited to further develop the app.
== Update: Digital Rights Declaration ==
The EU is in the process of discussing the Declaration of Digital Rights
and Principles. The European Parliament has now agreed on a common text
[4] recognising Free Software as a way to ensure transparency in
algorithms and artificial intelligence. The agreed text also stresses
the need for 'trustworthy standards and, wherever possible, open source
standards'. It encourages 'sustainable by design digital technologies
that are durable, repairable, and interoperable, both on hardware and
software level, and banning practices leading to premature
obsolescence'. The FSFE keeps monitoring the ongoing inter-institutional
dialogue trying to make sure that the Parliament proposal remains.
== Update: AI Resolution Passed ==
The European Parliament passed a resolution [5] on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with a huge majority. According to the resolution,
public procurement should require Free Software, where appropriate, with
the goal to encourage cross-border collaboration. The Parliament
acknowledges that Free Software can enhance investments and boost
innovation in AI technologies in the EU. The FSFE now urges the
Parliament to transfer its own position into the AI regulation.
== Save the Date! ==
- On 12 May the FSFE Berlin [6] group has its regular monthly meeting.
- On 14 May the FSFE will have a booth in make-it.saarland in
Saarbrücken, Germany and also our Policy Consultant Alexander Sander
will give a talk ‘Innovation needs Free Software’ on Saturday and
Sunday. On 19 May Alexander will discuss the challenges and
perspectives of ethical and diversity-sensitive AI in the European
context at the KIDD-Fachkonferenz panel in Berlin.
- On 20 May the FSFE Women [7] group has its regular monthly meeting. In
the last meeting [8], the group discussed the legal structure and the
blogging network of the organisation.
- On 2 June there is an author reading [9] of Ada & Zangemann [DE] in
Cologne.
- On 14 June the FSFE local group Hamburg [10] has its regular monthly
meeting.
- Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Project Manager, is conducting a seminar on
digital sovereignty [11] at the Humboldt University of Berlin for the
summer semester.
== Past and Ongoing Activities ==
- On 4 May we held an online session about the future of Router Freedom
in Austria [12]. The recording [DE] will soon be available in our
Peertube instance.
- Max Mehl, FSFE Programme Manager, wrote a blog post [13] about a
Python application he created for the FSFE infrastructure to automate
reverse proxies for Docker containers, Docker2Caddy.
- We published a short video: What is Free Software (Open Source)? EN
[14], DE [15]. Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, shared a
blog post [16] on how the video came to be made. To reach to possibly
new audiences, we also uploaded the video to proprietary platforms EN
[17], DE [18] where you can upvote it to help new people learn about
software freedom.
- „Nur ein Jahr länger…“ – Politik und Software rund um’s Smartphone
[19] [DE], the talk by FSFE Programme Manager and sustainability
expert Erik Albers at the Digital Social Summit 2022, is now available
on our Peertube instance.
== FSFE Local Groups ==
*Italy* | The Italian Translation team has worked on the PMPC brochure
[20] and it is now available in Italian. Friends of the team are kindly
proofreading the brochure.
The Italian volunteers are also preparing a summer tour around the
country to let people know that code paid for by the public should also
be publicly available. The first stop in the tour is Trento, on June
7th. Learn more about the plans in the mailing lists or chats of Milano
[21] and Sicily [22]. Meet the volunteers in the tour and get yourself a
copy of the freshly translated PMPC brochure!
*Zurich* | The local group in Zurich is working on persuading public
administrations to migrate to federated social networks. The group have
been discussing the idea since early April, and the project gained a
boost when many people and entities, including the European Union [23]
have been joining Mastodon. The group will meet [24] again on 18 May
2022.
*Netherlands* | Building on the Zurich group's idea, the Dutch team
brainstormed technical solutions [25] to automatically post Dutch
municipalities’ news to Mastodon. ‘What if we gather the RSS feeds of
345 Dutch municipalities and feed them to a Mastodon account?’ was a
question that caught attention. Fani Partsafyllidou, Project Manager at
FSFE, joined the last meeting. The next meeting [26] is on Wednesday 25
May 20:00 CEST.
== Get Active ==
In the FSFE we want to empower users to control technology. But Free
Software also helps to achieve ecological sustainability. That is why we
joined the organising committee of the Bits & Bäume 2022 ('Bits and
Trees') conference which will take place from 30 September to 2 October.
Passionate about sustainable Free Software solutions? Please let us and
everyone else know at the conference! Submit a talk, a workshop or a
fine piece of art to Bits & Bäume 2022. The Call for Participation for
is open until 7 June [27].
== Contribute to our Newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [28]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [29]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.ru.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220427-01.ru.html
3: https://ted.sehn.dev
4: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220503-01.ru.html
5: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220503-01.ru.html
6: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Berlin
7: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women/
8: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women/Notes
9: https://www.stadt-koeln.de/leben-in-koeln/freizeit-natur-sport/veranstaltun…
10: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Hamburg
11: https://box.hu-berlin.de/f/beb04d451cf04f6db673/
12: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220420-01.ru.html
13: https://mehl.mx/blog/2022/docker2caddy-an-automatic-reverse-proxy-for-docke…
14: https://media.fsfe.org/w/xs29yhLxSP1uKLYkSeoKKp
15: https://media.fsfe.org/w/ndxFckPP8yWhMfnPcsvEkM
16: https://k7r.eu/short-history-of-the-what-is-free-software-open-source-video/
17: https://youtu.be/EMi3PCW23yQ
18: https://youtu.be/WAWrgKFkCpA
19: https://media.fsfe.org/w/3C7v3X7Enfc7raZesFZKKv
20: https://fsfe.org/activities/publiccode/brochure
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Milano
22: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Sicilia
23: https://social.network.europa.eu/explore
24: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Zurich/2022-05-18
25: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2022-04-20
26: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2022-05-25
27: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220425-01.ru.html
28: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
29: https://community.fsfe.org/t/846
= AI in EU +++ Open letter to Bundestag +++ Plasma Mobile +++ Meshnet =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202204.ru.html ]
In our April Newsletter, we welcome the promising developments on AI in
the EU. We address the German Government to demand a clear budget for
Free Software. We interview Plasma Mobile developer Bhushan Shah, and
talk with Elektra Wagenrad in a podcast episode about Mesh Networking.
We congratulate KDE on the world's first eco-certified software.
== European Parliament recognises Free Software as key for fair AI ==
The Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA)
of the European Parliament voted on its resolution on Artificial
Intelligence in a Digital Age on March 22nd, and underlined the
importance of Free Software for AI with a broad majority. We now ask EU
co-legislators to take this position into account and to include
provisions and guidelines on Free Software in the upcoming legislation.
Public authorities using AI systems should make them publicly available.
Public research inventing AI systems should make them publicly
available. Transparency in AI technologies is necessary to test them,
evaluate their results, and improve them. The FSFE is following closely
the legislative process [1] and analysed how AI can remain verifiable
and trustworthy as well as lead to further innovation [2] with Free
Software.
== Germany has ambitious Free Software plans. Will it realise them? ==
The coalition agreement of the German government set digitisation as a
priority and Free Software as a secure and transparent solution. 100
days into the new German government in office, no action has been taken.
On the contrary, German administrations are alarmingly close to using
Microsoft products, giving up the chance to adopt a strategy based on
open interfaces. Alexander Sander, the FSFE's Policy Consultant,
explains: "Instead of finally providing a 'Free Software cloud' for
administrations, the new government will again rely on costly
proprietary applications." We call upon the government to follow its own
plans [3].
Specifically, together with other actors such as the Open Source
Business Alliance and the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, the FSFE
demands that the German government includes digital sovereignty in the
2022 federal budget [4] and implement already announced initiatives for
software freedom. In an open letter (DE) [5] the signatories address the
government groups in the Bundestag.
== Plasma Mobile: Running a privacy-respecting and secure GNU/Linux phone ==
What are my options if I want to run my phone with Free Software? We
interviewed Plasma Mobile developer Bhushan Shah to learn more about the
project. Plasma Mobile is a full Linux-based system which offers a
completely transparent development process. When it comes to privacy,
Plasma Mobile is one of the most secure operating systems for phones.
There is no tracking, spying, nor data mining to craft targeted ads.
Bhushan gives a clear overview of Plasma Mobile, including how it is
developed, and how to get it [6].
== Listen to our new podcast episode. Discover mesh networking. ==
In our new Software Freedom Podcast episode, Matthias Kirschner talks
with our guest, Elektra Wagenrad, about the origins of Freifunk, the
B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol, and the Mesh Potato project [7]. If you are new
to the world of mesh networking this episode is an easy entrance to it.
Elektra explains the theory behind the protocols and dives deeper into
its philosophical idea.
== The most energy-efficient PDF reader is Free Software. Congrats, Okular! ==
To be exact, Okular is a universal document viewer. This means you are
not only able to read PDFs, comics, and EPub books, but also you can
browse your image files, visualize Markdown documents, and much more. In
February 2022, Okular was awarded the Blue Angel ecolabel, the official
environmental label awarded by the German government. In 1978, the
German Environment Agency was the first to establish an environmental
label; this year the label's scope was extended to include software
products, making Okular the first ️ever eco-certified computer program.
In order to receive the Blue Angel ecolabel, a program needs to meet
many requirements, including transparency, backwards compatibility, and
the ability to run the application on hardware at least five years old.
Free Software usually excels in these conditions. The FSFE congratulates
Okular and all of the KDE community [8]!
== Save the date! ==
Thursday 14 April is the day of three FSFE local group meetings. At
18:00-21:00 Zurich will have its regular in-person monthly meeting [9].
Anyone interested in Free Software and wanting to stand up for the
ideals of Free Software can join. The group will discuss ways to reach
out to new people and the upcoming Open Education Day. Hamburg is having
its regular in-person monthly meeting [10] too. Please join the group's
mailing list for more information. Berlin [11] has its regular online
monthly meeting. Subscribe to the mailing list [12] or follow the
group's Mastodon page [13] to stay tuned.
On Wednesday 20 April, the FSFE country team Netherlands [14] will have
its regular online monthly meeting.
Date TBA. The FSFE local group Aarhus, Denmark, has delayed its first
meeting. If you are interested, now is a great time to contact Carsten
Agger (agger [at] fsfe [dot] org).
== What we have done ==
On 30 March, Erik Albers, FSFE Programme Manager and sustainability
expert, showcased in the Digital Social Summit that software design and
Free Software licencing impacts the sustainability of hardware and
infrastructure.
On 24 March, the FSFE local group Berlin brainstormed with Jessica
Wawrzyniak from Digital Courage how an allowlist of suitable Free
Software for Education could work [15], and how the German
administration could compile such a list.
On 20 March, the FSFE Women group met online to discuss past and future
events.
On 19 March, the participants of the Upcycling Android workshop flashed
phones in Berlin.
On 16 March, the FSFE Country team Netherlands had its monthly online
meeting [16]. The team discussed the new telecommunications law in
Belgium, and the potential actions to secure Router Freedom. The
volunteers have already contacted Neutrinet. The government's open
source strategy was also an important topic, as well as the increased
dependency on DigID, the Dutch digital identity app. On 19 March the
team met in person in the Netherlands Linux Users meeting.
On 15 March, Erik Albers participated in 'Sustainable software for
phones that last', a webinar organised by Fairphone. A panel of experts
[17] discussed why the longevity of phones continues to decline. Within
the panel, Erik took a stand on how the universal right to install Free
Software operating systems on any device will help us to live in a more
sustainable digital society.
On 12 March, Matthias Kirschner, author of Ada & Zangemann, read the
book during Chemnitzer Linux-Tage. A video from an author reading [18]
during Wintercongress is now available.
On 10 March, the FSFE local group Berlin had its monthly meeting [19].
The participants discussed matters of financing and security related to
Free Software. The group discussed the recent plans of Mozilla to create
privacy-friendly advertising.
On 10 March, the FSFE local group Zurich discussed ways to reach out to
new people, and explored possible actions such as workshops and
information events [20].
On 9 March, the FSFE local group Hamburg had its monthly meeting [21].
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [22]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220330-01.ru.html
2: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/AIandFS/fsfe_AIandFreesoftware.pdf
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220315-01.ru.html
4: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220328-01.ru.html
5: https://download.fsfe.org/policy/letters/20220328-German-Budget-and-Free-So…
6: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220323-01.ru.html
7: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-14.ru.html
8: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220316-01.ru.html
9: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Zurich/2022-04-14
10: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Hamburg
11: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Berlin
12: https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/berlin
13: https://libranet.de/profile/fsfeberlin
14: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL
15: https://libranet.de/display/0b6b25a8-2162-39a4-b089-4a2078010682
16: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2022-03-16
17: https://media.fsfe.org/w/4WvPgN79fuex3eaSR378yH
18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bHLxFqTnRo
19: https://libranet.de/display/0b6b25a8-1262-279c-0282-3d4767329405
20: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Zurich/2022-03-10
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Hamburg
22: https://community.fsfe.org/t/825
= The right to install Free Software +++ 60 books to libraries +++ Berlin workshop =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202203.ru.html ]
In our March Newsletter, we share some much needed good news: people
donated 60 children's books about software freedom to public libraries.
The FSFE calls for the right to install Free Software. The first
Upcycling Android workshop is happening in Berlin. The local group in
Aarhus, Denmark, meets after a long time.
== We call for the right to install and uninstall any operating system on any device ==
Installing and uninstalling software as we wish on any device is a right
that comes with an extra benefit: we can fix our devices and keep using
them longer, avoiding the environmental impact of a new device. So what
is keeping us from fixing existing devices by installing Free Software?
Unfortunately, legal and technical barriers are often intentionally
imposed on users so that they cannot change the operating system on
their devices. 2022 offers a unique opportunity to improve the situation
in Europe. The EU is about to redraft its ecodesign criteria of products
with the Sustainable Products Initiative, the Circular Electronics
Initiative, the Right to Repair, and other directives.
This is our chance to claim the right to install any operating system on
any device. The FSFE started to advise the European Commission as early
as possible on this. But a positive outcome is far from certain;
counter-lobbying is there. If the role of software freedom is not
considered as essential to the longevity and re-usability of our
devices, the throw-away culture will continue. We will advocate for the
necessary changes in the upcoming legislation [1]. Manufacturers must
not be allowed to create artificial restrictions preventing users from
installing Free Software operating systems.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Help us push for the universal right to install Free Software. Become a
supporter [2].
--------------------------------------------------------------------
== 60 books for software freedom donated to libraries ==
After the publication of Ada & Zangemann [3] we asked our German
speaking community to bring copies of the book to public libraries for
children who cannot afford it or have not heard of it. The response was
overwhelming [4]. The book entered the shelves of numerous libraries
across Germany and Austria including the cities of Cologne, Rosenheim,
Magdeburg, Manheim, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Lustenau. Thank you for
helping raise awareness of software freedom!
'Ada & Zangemann' received a very good rating by the organisation
reviewing new publications for public libraries in Germany and Austria.
According to the ekz information service "the story is attractively
illustrated by S. Brandstätter, [...] didactically well structured and
very suitable as a basis for discussion, e.g. in primary school." Learn
more about the book in a dedicated new podcast episode. Matthias
Kirschner, President of the FSFE, is the guest on the series Open source
couch [5] [DE]. Also, an author reading took place in the yearly Winter
Congress, an event organised by the Digital Society.
== What we have done ==
On 20 February, the FSFE Women group [6] had its monthly online meeting.
On 16 February the FSFE country team Netherlands [7] had its monthly
online meeting.
On 14 February, people around the world celebrated the “I Love Free
Software Day” by thanking all the people who contribute to software
freedom. Numerous Free Software organisations, and, among others, DINUM,
a part of the French public administration, spread the thank you
message. The gaming event in the afternoon was a ton of fun. Thanks for
joining!
On 5 February, we participated at the most prominent annual conference
for Free Software, FOSDEM. We raised awareness on wider issues that
impact our movement in the Legal and Policy Devroom, co-hosted by the
FSFE and the Software Freedom Conservancy. We summed up the experience
in an article. Enjoy the videos from the talks and stay in touch via
Matrix until the next FOSDEM [8].
== The road to technological sustainability - a word from the Planet: ==
"The ever-increasing demands of things like Web browsers means that
systems become obsolete and are replaced with newer, faster systems to
do exactly the same things in any qualitative sense. This wastefulness,
burdening individuals with needless expenditure and burdening the
environment with even more consumption, must stop." Paul Boddie wrote an
opinion article on FSFE Planet about the requirements to achieve
technological sustainability [9], including hardware that can easily be
supported by Free Software, a public infrastructure we collectively
control through our representatives, and better-paid Free Software
developers.
"We need a combination of genuinely open standards facilitating Free
Software and accessible public and private services, with users able to
adopt and retain open and long-lasting hardware", Paul concludes. You
can follow the thoughts of the FSFE community in the blog aggregator
Planet [10].
== Save the date ==
Date TBA. The FSFE local group Aarhus, Denmark is planning to meet in
March after a long time! Anyone who is interested in Free Software is
welcome to join. For more information you can contact Carsten Agger
(agger [at] fsfe [dot] org).
On Saturday, 12 March 17:00 CET, an author reading of Ada & Zangemann
will take place in German. Meet the author of the book and President of
the FSFE, Matthias Kirschner, and ask any questions you might have. The
event is part of the Chemnitzer Linux-Tage. You can join the event at no
cost. No registration is needed. The reading will take place online
[11].
On Tuesday 15 March 14:00 – 15:30 CET, Erik Albers, FSFE Programme
Manager and sustainability expert, will participate in 'Sustainable
software for phones that last', a webinar organised by Fairphone. A
panel of experts will discuss why the longevity of phones continues to
decline. Erik Albers explains why the universal right to install Free
Software operating systems on any device will help us to live in a more
sustainable digital society. The tickets are free of charge [12].
On Saturday 19 March, 11:00 - 17:00 CET, together with the FSFE Local
Group Berlin, we are organizing our first Upcycling Android workshop in
Berlin [13]. This workshop is primarily about bringing tech enthusiasts
and sustainability enthusiasts together and exchanging views on
technology and sustainability while flashing phones with Free Software
operating systems. In addition to the actual phone flashing, there will
also be a short keynote speech on longevity and sustainability on
Android and other devices. The venue is the Holodeck of Netzpolitik.org
at Schönhauser Allee 6/7. Are you coming?
On Wednesday 30 March 14:00 - 14:45 CET, Erik Albers will give a talk in
the Digital Social Summit on politics and software surrounding phones.
Using phones as an example, Erik will explain how software design
impacts the sustainability of hardware and infrastructure. The session
is in German, translated in real time in sign language. It will be
livestreamed [14].
Vincent Lequertier and Erik Da Silva, FSFE Deputy Coordinators of
France, are participating in a workshop on data protection and Free
Software. The French Data Protection Authority organises this workshop
in the context of the Open Government initiative.
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [15]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [16]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220225-01.ru.html
2: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202203.html
3: https://fsfe.org/activities/childrensbook/index.ru.html
4: https://k7r.eu/ada-and-zangemann-in-public-libraries/
5: https://anchor.fm/opensourcecouch/episodes/Jubilumsfolge-Interview-mit-FSFE…
6: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
7: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL#FSFE_Nederland_.2F_Niederlande_.2F_Pa…
8: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220224-01.ru.html
9: https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=2496
10: https://planet.fsfe.org/
11: https://chemnitzer.linux-tage.de/2022/de/programm/beitrag/confirm/126/32a9c…
12: https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/fairphone-webinar-sustainable-software-for-phon…
13: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Android/UpcyclingWorkshops/#A19._M.2BAOQ-r…
14: https://digital-social-summit.de/session/software-smartphone/
15: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
16: https://community.fsfe.org/t/813
= I love FS +++ 0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant +++ FOSDEM +++ FSFE20: Interns =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202202.ru.html ]
In our February Newsletter, we invite you to our Games Event to
celebrate the "I Love Free Software" Day on February 14th. Listen to our
podcast episode with Stanislas Dolcini from the game '0 A.D.: Empires
Ascendant'. FOSDEM was just concluded and the FSFE was there! We
complete our celebrations for 20 years FSFE in an interview with past
interns.
== "I Love Free Software" Day: games, memes and more ==
Every 14th of February, people around the world celebrate the "I Love
Free Software" Day by saying thank you to all the people contributing to
software freedom. This year, we are organising a whole event dedicated
to Free Software games [1] on Monday 14 February at 18:00-20:00 CET. You
can learn the ins and outs of the Free Software gaming world from our
guest speakers, or just play Veloren in real time afterwards with others
who are attending the event. Make sure you register [2]; we are looking
forward to hanging out with you on 'I Love Free Software' Day.
Before the event and during the day, create your own 'I love Free
Software' image card with the help of our brand new sharepic generator
[3], where you can upload your own picture along with a love dedication.
Share your card online as a special way to thank Free Software creators.
== Podcast: 0 A.D. with 0 proprietary software ==
The real-time strategy game of ancient warfare, 0 A.D.: Empires
Ascendant, is a Free Software game created by an international group of
volunteer game developers. Programmers, artists, and historians combined
their skills to create this imaginary ancient world. In a new episode,
the host of the Software Freedom Podcast, Bonnie Mehring, discusses the
growing popularity of the game with the game's project lead [4].
Stanislas Dolcini says that the decision to make the game Free Software
made it last for so many years, as many people could contribute - and
still can.
== The FSFE at FOSDEM 2022 ==
Thank you for joining our virtual booth [5] in this year's online
FOSDEM, it was fun to see the Free Software community come together once
again. Also, we co-hosted the Legal and Policy Issues Devroom. Masafumi
Ohta [6] talked about his experience on teaching Free Software licenses
and compliances at a university. Security expert Christopher Klooz [7]
addressed the role of international arbitration for security of Free
Software.
Vittorio Bertola [8] presented an update on the Digital Markets Act, the
new European rules for online competition. Lucas Lasota [9], FSFE
Project Manager, proposed Device Neutrality as the necessary principle
to make sure we are able to run Free Software on our devices, without
artificial barriers. Italo Vignoli [10] showed how proprietary software
gained ground during the pandemic. The Legal and Policy Issues Devroom
organisers made closing remarks in a panel [11]. The recordings will be
published soon; find them first by subscribing to our Peertube instance
[12].
== Interviewing past interns for 20 Years FSFE ==
In the final publication about 20 Years FSFE, we wanted to thank
everyone who worked for the organisation in an internship position. We
contacted eight former interns and asked them about their time at the
FSFE and their current involvement with Free Software [13]. Diego
Naranjo, George Brooke-Smith, Lucile Falgueyrac, Lyudmila Vaseva, Martin
Husovec, Matti Lammi, Polina Malaja, and Stian Rødven-Eide reflected on
what they learned during their internship. Since then, everyone has
supported Free Software in their own way: as users, developers,
researchers, advocates, FSFE donors, or FSFE volunteers.
== 'Public Money? Public Code' brochure, now in Spanish ==
In our Public Money? Public Code! initiative, we offer an exhaustive
brochure dedicated to public administrations [14]. Now it is also
available in Spanish [15]. Our volunteers recently translated the
brochure, allowing the Spanish-speaking world to read about the benefits
of modernising public infrastructure with Free Software in their own
language.
In an event sharing the good news, we invited experts to join. Luis
Falcón, founder of GNUHealth; Ricardo Muñoz from Lliurex; Alexis Puente
Montiel from Pica Pica HackLab; Francesc Busquets in representation of
Linkat; and Aleix Pol Gonzalez, president of KDE, discussed PMPC
developments in Spain. The videos are available in Spanish [16].
== Save the date! ==
- On Monday 14 February, join our "I Love Free Software" Day [17].
- On Friday 25 February, Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, will
read his book 'Ada & Zangemann' [18]. The reading will be in German
and will take place online. The event is part of the yearly Winter
Congress, organised by the Digital Society. To join the Winter
Congress please register for a ticket. The price of a non-member,
regular ticket is 30 CHF.
== What we have done ==
- During the first weekend of February, we co-hosted the Legal and
Policy Issues Devroom [19] and had a digital booth at FOSDEM.
- On 5 February, Lucas Lasota, the FSFE's Legal Deputy Director,
followed up on his talk from last year at FOSDEM and explained why
Device Neutrality is important for Free Software [20].
- On 26 January, the FSFE Country Team Netherlands had its monthly
meeting online. A petition about Public Broadcasting Union (NPO)
publishing some content only on YouTube, the Digital Ethics week in
The Hague, and court case updates were among the topics discussed.
- On 20 January, the FSFE Women group had its monthly online meeting.
- On 11 January, the FSFE Spanish Team had its monthly meeting.
- On 10 January, Lucas Lasota gave an online lecture on software law and
FLOSS licences at the Humboldt University of Berlin [21].
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [22]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [23]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220201-01.ru.html
2: https://registration.fsfe.org/ilovefs
3: https://sharepic.fsfe.org/
4: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-13.ru.html
5: https://fosdem.org/2022/schedule/track/free_software_foundation_europe_stan…
6: https://media.fsfe.org/w/jcEG9zpj2cG7gpHdUbEyBa
7: https://media.fsfe.org/w/ud3ERe9C9Zdz5Lbm2bcfsD
8: https://media.fsfe.org/w/2Nt8Auippqob2kSxErQ9p9
9: https://media.fsfe.org/w/vnCosTd5csWzYP5KYBA6mD
10: https://media.fsfe.org/w/sf3TPJfTNQ66gDwhSZfWN8
11: https://media.fsfe.org/w/kmWiEp5H7CKuU19yYEuGaU
12: https://media.fsfe.org/a/fsfe/video-channels
13: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220121-01.ru.html
14: https://fsfe.org/activities/publiccode/brochure.ru.html
15: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/ES/FSFE_Policy_Brochure_PMPC_ALL_e…
16: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220112-01.ru.html
17: https://registration.fsfe.org/ilovefs
18: https://winterkongress.ch/2022/talks/ada__zangemann__ein_marchen_uber_softw…
19: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220127-01.ru.html
20: https://fosdem.org/2022/schedule/event/deviceneutrality/
21: https://www.projekte.hu-berlin.de/de/gnuHU/projekte/floss-werkstatt/veranst…
22: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
23: https://community.fsfe.org/t/801
= Device Neutrality becomes a reality +++ Stockholm +++ FSFE infrastructure +++ AI =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202201.ru.html ]
In our January Newsletter, we recognise the importance of the Digital
Markets Act as a mostly positive development for software freedom. Read
how the lack of public code cost Stockholm €100 million. Our System
Hackers team unravel what lies behind the FSFE infrastructure. Vincent
Lequertier stresses that AI needs transparency. FOSDEM is coming up.
== Device Neutrality finally becomes a reality ==
The European Parliament adopted the Digital Markets Act, which
introduces the principle of Device Neutrality [1]. This is a major first
step. The right for end-users to use their own device and operating
system is an important factor to guarantee access of Free Software
operating systems to dominant platforms. As a daily reality for many
users, this option enlarges the audience for Free Software adoption.
The Digital Markets Act protects the users as it requires stricter
consent for pre-installed apps, it aims to prevent vendor lock-in, and
it requires real time data portability. However, we regret that the
voting has not contemplated setting Open Standards as the default to
define interoperability.
== Lack of public code cost the city of Stockholm €100 million ==
Parents in Stockholm receive information about their children's schools
or kindergartens directly to their devices with the help of
Skolplattformen ('School platform'), a digital platform offered by the
city of Stockholm. It cost an estimated €100 million and although it was
publicly funded, Skolplattformen's code was private. Parents spotted
irregularities and security issues in the platform and proceeded to fix
the flaws themselves. They created a functional and secure Free Software
alternative, Öppna skolplattformen ('Open school platform'). The city of
Stockholm took legal measures against the developers who wanted to help.
We interviewed Christian Landberg and Alexander Crawford, two major
contributors behind the initiative [2]. According to Alexander Crawford,
Öppna skolplattformen changes the conversation around civic tech and
digitalisation of the public sector.
== Infrastructure living the ideals of software freedom ==
Can organisations with limited resources be digitally sovereign and
still provide modern services? It is not trivial, but the FSFE proves it
is possible. We have maximized our control over services and servers by
using Free Software. We demonstrate internal and external transparency.
The complexity of our systems is bearable, while we provide a variety of
useful features.
The FSFE shares an overview of its digital infrastructure in an article
[3] that could help other NGOs become independent from proprietary
service providers. Let us take you on a journey through our
infrastructure and its principles, from shiny user interfaces of our
services, crossing the virtualisation methods and monitoring, down to
the bare metal servers they are running on. Our infrastructure is
managed by the System Hackers team.
== Interview with Vincent Lequertier on AI ==
Vincent Lequertier is a member of the System Hackers team and a
researcher of artificial intelligence for healthcare. For 20 years FSFE,
we interviewed Vincent about crucial aspects of artificial intelligence
[4]. Transparency in AI is necessary to evaluate and understand how data
is processed and how results are calculated. Free Software can play a
crucial role in making AI more transparent.
Vincent notes that in the health sector some aggregated statistics are
widely available. According to his estimate, openness and collaborative
aspects of research on AI will improve. The interview unravels cutting
edge topics such as the possibility of AI obtaining the legal right to
claim copyright.
== Save the date ==
- On Wednesday 19 January, the FSFE Netherlands country team will have
its monthly online get-together [5].
- On Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 February FOSDEM 2022 will take place
online, and the FSFE will co-organise the Legal and Policy Devroom
again. Last year we co-organised the Legal and Policy Devroom for the
first time; it included 11 talks on a rich variety of topics [6]. We
look forward to FOSDEM 2022. Join us to learn the latest developments
in software freedom. Stay tuned for the schedule.
== What we have done ==
- On 28 December, Alexander Sander, FSFE's Policy Consultant, gave a
talk about “Public Money? Public Code! during corona times" at the rC3
conference.
- On 16 December, Lina Ceballos, an FSFE Project Manager, participated
in an online session about some of the FSFE's main activities with a
focus on "Public Money? Public Code!" and its current status in Spain
and in Europe. The talk took place at Trantor Tech Talks; a video is
available in Spanish [7].
- In December, community members published three posts in Planet. A book
review of Cory Doctorow‘s novel “Walkaway” praises the story-telling
despite a personal distaste for fantasy around “mind scan” technology.
An instructional post demonstrates how to disable your internal
keyboard/touchpad when a cat arrives. A celebratory post announces the
release of PGPainless version 1.0.0. You can read the thoughts of the
FSFE community in Planet [8].
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [9]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [10]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211215-01.ru.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211216-01.ru.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211203-01.ru.html
4: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211209-01.ru.html
5: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2022-01-19
6: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210311-01.ru.html
7: https://media.fsfe.org/w/6AnT1Z2zeCzdskVL3tZw7Z
8: https://planet.fsfe.org/
9: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
10: https://community.fsfe.org/t/788
= Upcycling Android ++ Major step for Device Neutrality ++ Nico Rikken + Ada + Job =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202112.ru.html ]
In the December Newsletter we talk about Upcycling Android, an
initiative to overcome software obsolescence with Free Software. The EU
is voting on the Digital Markets Act, a major step for device
neutrality. Germany aims to adopt PMPC! We interview Nico Rikken for 20
Years FSFE. Meet Ada, a character in a children's book. Spot a job
opportunity.
== Upcycling Android: Keep using your phone with Free Software ==
In the European Week for Waste Reduction, the FSFE launched its new
initiative "Upcycling Android" [1]: Every time we keep using our phone
instead of buying a new one we support a more sustainable use of our
resources. Upcycling Android helps people to tackle software
obsolescence and to keep using their phones with Free Software.
On the initiative's website, you will find background information and
our multi-language video that explains in a nutshell the environmental
benefits derived from an extended hardware lifespan by using Free
Software. In addition you will find professional information material
[2] from infographics to expert talks to our study on the sustainability
of Free Software.
== Upcoming DMA vote might be a major victory for Device Neutrality ==
A potential first success for Device Neutrality is about to be
determined. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to regulate internet
companies that act as gatekeepers in digital markets. Such gatekeepers
may be internet platforms, service providers, manufacturers, and vendors
satisfying criteria defined by law. The Digital Markets Act is an
opportunity to create fairer and more competitive markets for online
platforms in the EU. Open Standards and interoperability will secure
interests of European consumers as well as facilitate Free Software use
and adoption in said markets.
As a major checkpoint, the four principles we called for [3] were
included into the DMA after the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee voted during its meeting on 22 November [4]. All eyes are now
turning to the plenary voting for the final position of the European
Parliament's first reading on 15 December 2021 [5]. Stay tuned!
== New German government introduces 'Public Money? Public Code!' ==
Promising news does not end here. The newly formed German government
agrees with the FSFE 'Public Money? Public Code!' demand and declares it
as one of the aims of the coalition [6]. It should be noted that this
development did not come out of the blue but only after persistent
advocating from the FSFE: giving workshops, working together with local
German groups, creating an activity package [7] (DE) for volunteers,
conducting 5 interviews [8] (DE) with representatives of German
political parties, forming a vision for the upcoming decades and
concrete demands for the next government [9] and analysing the election
programs of the parties [10].
The decision is an important development for the Free Software movement
in Germany. We would like to thank everyone who advocated with us in
recent years and helped us arrive at this point. The FSFE will now focus
on the implementation of the decision.
== Children's book character Ada learns the power of software ==
Ada unravels the mysteries of software in an adventure with her friends,
after an unfortunate meeting with the rich and famous inventor
Zangemann. A children's book for young and old readers, 'Ada &
Zangemann' is a fun and educational tale. Matthias Kirschner, author and
FSFE president, conveys to young readers the importance of software, and
even the basics of more complex topics around it. The book is published
under a Creative Commons license.
'Ada & Zangemann' is in German, and it was just released in Germany. It
is already sold out at the publisher, O'Reilly, but you can still get
copies from other booksellers. The FSFE is looking for a suitable
publisher for an English edition. If you would like to see Ada's story
in English and more languages, we welcome donations [11]. "After my son
read the book last night, he told me the whole story this morning... He
wants to make something out of old pallets after school today. And then
he wants to learn programming" said Ingo Wichmann, CEO of Linuxhotel
GmbH.
== An overview of the past year: software freedom in 2021 ==
Cancelling of large events, limitations in meetings, and travel
restrictions: none of this stopped the FSFE from advancing software
freedom in 2021. From Router Freedom to new podcast episodes to co-
organising the Legal and Policy devroom at FOSDEM, we keep empowering
people to control technology. 'Public Money? Public Code!' online
workshops were offered to volunteers, and an online Legal and Licensing
Workshop for legal experts was organised. The FSFE assisted software
projects to become REUSE compliant with our new initiative, REUSE
Booster.
Meanwhile, a two-year court case initiated by FSFE supporter Luca
Bonissi successfully came to an end, unequivocally recognising the right
to a Windows licence refund. Our yearly report [12] corresponds to our
work during November 2020 - October 2021. Overall, significant
accomplishments for software freedom marked 2021, the year FSFE is
celebrating its 20th anniversary.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to the trust of our supporters, the FSFE counts 20 years. Our
stable presence enables us to succeed in lengthy endeavours for software
freedom, and to be ready at all times to respond to related
developments. We are grateful for the trust of our supporters, and we
will keep on empowering people to control technology. To help us,
consider becoming a supporter [13] and boost our charitable work for
freedom in the information society for the next 20 years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
== 20 Years FSFE: Interview with Nico Rikken on country teams' activities ==
20 Years FSFE is meant to be a celebration of everyone who has
accompanied us in the past or still does. In our fifth birthday
publication we interviewed Nico Rikken, who has been helping the FSFE
with his technical skills while contributing greatly to community
building since 2014. With this interview [14], you do not only get to
know Nico Rikken, but also the FSFE Netherlands country team, as he is
one of their coordinators. How do people start joining a country team?
This was one of the questions we asked Nico, and we quote a glimpse of
his insight.
"People somehow gained in interest in Free Software and found the FSFE
as the designated party to uphold these values in Europe. Then they
found out about the NL country team, joined the mailing list and
attended a physical meeting. [...] It highlights the importance of
letting people know you exist as a local team, being open to newcomers,
and making it easy to join community meetings [...] As we are all
volunteers, it is important that our supporters do what they enjoy
doing. Most of us have our own topics and efforts we work on, and the
country team is a way to align and get support."
== Upcoming events ==
- On 15 December, the FSFE Netherlands country team [15] will have its
monthly online get-together.
== What we have done ==
- The General Assembly of the FSFE held elections for its Council during
its annual meeting on November 26th. Matthias Kirschner, Heiki Lõhmus,
and Patrick Ohnewein were re-elected [16] to the positions of
President, Vice-President, and Financial Officer respectively. The
Council is elected every two years.
- On 13 December, the FSFE held an online event discussing the
modernisation of the public digital infrastructure with public code in
Spain [17]. Experts such as Luis Falcón, founder of GNUHealth; Ricardo
Muñoz from Lliurex; Alexis Puente Montiel from Pica Pica HackLab; Ana
Albalat Martínez and Francesc Busquets representing Linkat; and Aleix
Pol Gonzalez, president of KDE, shared their insights.
- On 13 December, the local group of the FSFE Community Bonn [18] had
its regular monthly meeting.
- On 10 December, Lina Ceballos, an FSFE Project Manager, participated
at GnuHealthCon21. In her online talk, she showed the role that Free
Software played in combatting the pandemic and how it could help
overcoming other crises.
- On 7 December, the FSFE Women team [19] had its monthly online meeting
and among other topics they discussed the upcoming Remote Chaos
Experience [20] event.
- On 1 December, Matthias Kirschner gave an interview [21] [DE] about
the 'Ada & Zangemann' children's book to GNU/Linux podcast.
== Get active ==
Are you a student in a German university with a technical background?
Check out our new job posting [22]; it might be a great fit for you. We
are looking for a reliable, well-organised member of our technical teams
who is keen to learn about old and new technologies.
We are also looking for an office assistant [23] for 20-25 hours per
week in our Berlin office. Our ideal candidate has experience as an
office administrator, secretary, event organiser, or another relevant
administrative role.
Join our Upcycling Android movement and help us get the message out.
Discover our information material [24]. We are offering stickers and a
leaflet to you at no cost so that you can share them with friends, put
them in a community space, or spread them online. Happy holidays from
all of us!
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [25]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [26]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/index.ru.html
2: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/informationmaterial.ru.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211122-01.ru.html
4: https://emeeting.europarl.europa.eu/emeeting/committee/en/agenda/202111/IMCO
5: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sed/doc/news/flash/26441/SYN_POJ_December_ST…
6: https://mastodon.social/@fsfe/107332820789284114
7: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Bundestagswahl_DE
8: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210920-01.ru.html
9: https://digitalezivilgesellschaft.org/digitalvisionen/
10: https://digitalezivilgesellschaft.org/wahlpruefsteine/oeffentliches-gut/
11: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202112.html
12: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211110-01.ru.html
13: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202112.html
14: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211123-01.ru.html
15: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL
16: https://fsfe.org/about/legal/minutes/minutes-2021-11-27.en.pdf
17: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/ES/PMPC%20Evento%20Folleto.pdf
18: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Bonn
19: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
20: https://events.ccc.de/
21: https://gnulinux.ch/gln017-podcast
22: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211206-01.ru.html
23: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211210-01.ru.html
24: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/informationmaterial.ru.html
25: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
26: https://community.fsfe.org/t/777
= Upcycling of software +++ FSFE Translators +++ Router Freedom at risk in Latvia =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202111.ru.html ]
In our November Newsletter learn why device neutrality and upcycling of
software are essential to make (re-)using our hardware more resource-
efficient. Read about the key role translators play in the FSFE and
about the loss of Router Freedom in Latvia. Watch a new video on Free
Software core values, and follow our community events.
== Free Software helps extending hardware lifespans ==
In the European Union we currently see a strong desire to make
digitisation more sustainable, with the European Commission aiming at
making our product lifecycles more resource-efficient as well as making
circular economy methods applicable. Technological devices should be
designed in a way that they last for a longer period of time. The
Circular Electronics Initiative recognises that a common issue is that
manufacturers stop updating the software of a device and then the user
of the device has to buy a new one. A solution that gains ground in the
Circular Electronics Initiative is that manufacturers of smartphones and
tablets should provide security updates for five years and function
updates for three years free of charge.
In an in-depth study, the FSFE explains [1] that publishing the source
code after the end of support is a more effective way to extend the
lifespan of devices than relying exclusively on the manufacturers'
extended support. If manufacturers publish a device's underlying source
code under a Free Software licence at the end of support, the software
of the device can be modified. This way, the device can still be used
and its hardware gets a second life. Reusing software can help steer the
European digitisation from a market of linear hardware production
towards circular electronics devices. We are asking for truly opening up
the circular reuse of electronics by enabling an upcycling of software.
For a critical, long-lasting, and sustainable change in the extension of
our hardware usage lifetimes, however, products need to be designed with
device neutrality in mind from the beginning [2].
== The key role of translators ==
Translators empower people [3] to learn about Free Software in various
languages. Since the founding of the organisation in 2001, the
translators team has been an integral part of the FSFE. Today we have
over 280 members on the translators mailing list, helping us in their
spare time to translate for software freedom. We have 40 languages
represented on our web page, with almost 7,000 translations.
"I love translating items about Free Software mainly because I love Free
Software and I want that all Italian people could easily know the
benefits of Free Software in their own language. As a side effect, since
the translation process usually involves more than one person, I'm also
learning more about English and Italian too!" says Luca Bonissi, Deputy
Translators Coordinator.
== Regulation in Latvia takes away Router Freedom ==
Latvia has created a risky precedent against end-users' rights [4] by
allowing internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the use of
personal routers and modems based on "technological necessities". When
the Latvian Regulatory Agency (SPRK) asked for public feedback about the
regulation, the FSFE shared its concern and engaged with the regulator.
In May 2021, we submitted a consultation [5] explaining to the SPRK that
its approach limits Router Freedom and would not comply with European
laws. Unfortunately, the regulator decided to keep its position.
ISPs can now deny people the right to use a personal router or modem in
Latvia, claiming technological issues. If they do so, they would have to
justify on their respective websites why they are restricting Router
Freedom. Even so, SPRK still withheld the ability to assess these claims
by the ISPs, and they would have a final say on the claimed necessities.
Beyond hampering consumer rights, the Latvian situation creates
unnecessary friction for a functional and harmonised framework on the
terminal equipment market, negatively affecting European router
manufacturers and vendors.
No other EU country has identified such technological necessities so
far. We encourage, therefore, Latvian consumers to report ISPs'
practices in our survey [6], so we can get data and bring this to the
attention of BEREC and the European Commission, and so defend end-user
rights.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This year the FSFE celebrates its 20th anniversary. Support our work for
the 20 years to come [7]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
== New video about Free Software values ==
For our 20 years anniversary this year, we have now released our new
video about the values of software freedom. You can watch the three-
minute video on our new self-hosted peertube instance in English [8] and
German [9]. It is licensed under Creative Commons by Share-Alike, so
feel free to share it with others or include it in your websites in
order to explain Free Software to a wider audience..
You can also subscribe to our new peertube instance [10], so you don't
miss our upcoming videos.
== Public Money? Public Code! Now in Japanese ==
Code paid for by the people should be available to the people! This
demand is said in many languages, and now it is said in Japanese [11]
too. After growing increasingly popular, the FSFE's initiative PMPC has
had its website and video translated into Japanese as well. The video
[12] was done by the same team which created the aforementioned new
video about the core values of software freedom.
Now with the Japanese translations, the "Public Money? Public Code!"
video is available in 10 languages: Dutch, English, French, German,
Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Japanese.
== Upcoming events ==
- On Saturday 11 December, time TBC, Lina Ceballos, an FSFE Project
Manager, will participate at the GNUHealthCon2021 [13]. Lina will take
a look at the role that Free Software played in the last crisis and
how it could help overcoming future ones, by pointing to the principle
of “Public Money? Public Code!" and the role that governments, public
bodies, and administrations have in this. More information to be
shared on our website soon.
- On Monday, 13 December, at 7pm (CEST), the monthly meeting of the Bonn
FSFE Fellowship [14] will take place. The Bonn FSFE Community Meetings
are regular meetings which are taking place on every second Monday of
the month for supporters of the FSFE or in general people who are
interested in Free Software.
- On Monday 13 December at 18:00 CET, Lina Ceballos, an FSFE Project
Manager, will host the launching event of our recently translated into
Spanish - Public Money? Public Code! brochure. We will discuss the
current situation and future challenges for software freedom in Spain.
We anticipate the participation of Pica Pica HackLab, GNUHealth, and
KDE, and more. This event will be held in Spanish. More information to
be shared on our website soon.
== Past events ==
- On 20 October, the FSFE Netherlands had its online get-together [15].
Upon the formation of a new Dutch government, the FSFE Netherlands
team discussed ways to push the Public Money? Public Code! demand. A
discussion on other current topics followed, such as the news of
Belgium offering a digital wallet to its citizens.
- On 20 October, Lucas Lasota, FSFE's Deputy Legal Coordinator,
organised at the Humboldt University of Berlin a winter seminar on
software law [16], including elements of software licensing, copyright
and contract law.
- On 28 October, the Berlin Fellowship Group had its regular meeting
[17] (online).
- On 6 November, the FSFE organised the Legal Education Day [18]. It
offered a session on the basics of copyright law and an introduction
to the concept of copyleft. Useful topics for software developers
followed, such as licence compatibility, trademarks, and containers.
Our aim is to help Free Software developers to understand these legal
topics so that their software projects can reach their full potential.
- On 12 – 13 November, the FSFE participated in the SFSCon by organising
a sustainability track and providing three talks. Erik Albers,
Programme Manager, defined 4 principles for a sustainable digital
society [19]; Max Mehl, Programme Manager, presented REUSE as the gold
standard for Free Software licensing [20]; Lucas Lasota, Project
Manager, demonstrated our efforts Protecting Router Freedom within the
EU reform of telecom law [21]; and Alexander Sander, Policy
Consultant, presented Public Money? Public Code! During Corona [22].
Besides that, we had a phone flashing workshop. More about that in our
next publications.
== Get active ==
Help us translate the new video about the core values of Free Software
into more languages, just as we did with the Public Money? Public Code!
video. The cost of a professional translation is ~850 EUR, including
editing of the script, an external professional speaker, and potential
studio costs.
We want to offer our new video in many other languages to help people
understand why it is important for society that software grants the
freedoms to use, study, share, and improve it. This demand concerns us
all as technology users, regardless of the language we speak. You can
support our translation effort as well as our other work for Free
Software by becoming a supporter [23].
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [24]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [25]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211015-01.ru.html
2: https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/sustainability/sustainability.ru.html#id-devi…
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211011-01.ru.html
4: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211027-01.ru.html
5: https://download.fsfe.org/routers/fsfe%20latvia%20ntp%20consulation.pdf
6: https://survey.fsfe.org/index.php/628449?lang=en
7: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl
8: https://media.fsfe.org/w/eh5oAFR9VNwqPzUtBzm8sb
9: https://media.fsfe.org/w/ppsx3FMVyYyDtjxa6f4WX4
10: https://media.fsfe.org/
11: https://publiccode.eu/ja/
12: https://media.fsfe.org/w/oiUmbjjiQKudwpWouPXEy1
13: https://www.gnuhealthcon.org/2021/
14: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Bonn
15: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2021-10-20
16: https://box.hu-berlin.de/f/ebbcc214ceeb4b2e978c/
17: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Berlin/2021-10-28
18: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211008-01.ru.html
19: https://www.sfscon.it/talks/4-directives-for-a-sustainable-digital-society/
20: https://www.sfscon.it/talks/reuse/
21: https://www.sfscon.it/talks/protecting-router-freedom-within-the-eu-reform-…
22: https://www.sfscon.it/talks/public-money-public-code-during-corona/
23: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?
24: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
25: https://community.fsfe.org/t/757
= Till Jaeger +++ Youth Hacking 4 Freedom +++ SFScon 2021 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202110.ru.html ]
In our October Newsletter read about Till Jaeger, who knows first-hand
what it takes to enforce Free Software licenses. Find out about the
contest we just launched: Youth Hacking 4 Freedom. Learn about the
donations by a high school yearbook team. Follow our latest activities
and write down the dates of the upcoming SFScon.
== New podcast: How can we prevent violations against Free Software licenses? ==
Till Jaeger shared his insight on how can we enforce Free Software
licenses [1]. In a podcast hosted by Matthias Kirschner he recalled the
beginning of this effort in 2004. This was the first time when a
violation of the GNU General Public Licence (GNU GPL) led to a court
case and a settlement. The person behind this initiative was Harald
Welte who afterwards created a project to rectify GPL violations [2].
17 years after the first court case we now have many more tools to
prevent violations against Free Software licenses. Compliance
information is clearer, and workshops such as the ones offered by the
FSFE Legal Network are available. Still, Till suggests further
simplification of licences, interoperability, and licence compatibility.
Finally, Till thanks everyone doing GNU/Linux distributions for their
crucial work.
== Youth Hacking 4 Freedom: coding contest for teenagers ==
Software development is a powerful, and often self-taught, skill; people
who started programming in a young age deserve encouragement. To this
end, we are organising a coding competition for teenagers around Europe,
Youth Hacking 4 Freedom [3]. From 1 November 2021 to 31 March 2022, you
can code any type of software you want, as long as it is Free Software.
The winners will be awarded cash prizes (2 x 4096€, 2 x 2048€, 2 x
1024€) and a trip to Brussels. The evaluation [4] phase will be carried
out by Free Software experts.
Are you between 14-18 and have already started programming? Join us!
Just make sure you register [5] until *Sunday, 31 October* 2021. Our
FAQs [6] might help. We are dedicated to offering an inclusive
environment in the YH4F, and we encourage people of all genders to join!
We will make sure everyone will enjoy the process and will leave this
competition with a smile. Spread the word [7]!
== Hittfeld high school shows its support to Free Software projects and the FSFE ==
The 2021 yearbook [8] of a high school was successfully completed using
Free Software, and the editorial team donated all profits from the sale
to Free Software projects and the FSFE. This is the story of Hittfeld
high school in Seevetal, in the German state of Lower Saxony.
The editorial team mentions that it is beneficial for the school to
avoid paying expensive subscriptions to proprietary programs. We deeply
thank the pupils and everyone involved in the donation decision. This
kind gesture is a nice reminder that we should support those who provide
us great tools without restricting our freedom. We encourage everyone to
support Free Software projects, just as the Hittfeld high school did.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This year the FSFE celebrates its 20th anniversary. Support our work for
the next 20 years to come [9]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
== Sustainability track at South Tyrol Free Software Conference ==
The South Tyrol Free Software Conference, SFScon, is one of Europe’s
most established annual conferences on Free Software. Save the date!
SFScon 2021 [10] is coming up on Friday 12 November and Saturday 13
November 2021.
This year the FSFE will participate in the conference by organising a
Sustainability track with five 20-minute talks:
- ' *Software Heritage*: The Great Library of Source Code' by /Stefano
Zacchiroli/ from the Software Heritage project.
- ' *Blauer Engel Eco-Certification* ' by /Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss/
from KDE e.V.
- ' *Measuring the Sustainability of AI*: towards a Sustainability Index
for Artificial Intelligence' by /Anne Mollen/ from AlgorithmWatch.
- ' *The role of software for a universal Right to Repair*: can free
software help us fix software obsolescence?' by /Ugo Vallauri/ from
the Restart Project and the European Right to Repair Campaign.
- ' *4 directives for a sustainable digital society*: designing circular
digitisation with upcyling software and reusing hardware' by /Erik
Albers/ from the FSFE.
The FSFE will also support three additional talks. 'REUSE: Gold standard
for Free Software licensing' part of the Legal track, by Max Mehl;
'Protecting Router Freedom' part of the IoT & Cybersecurity track, by
Lucas Lasota; 'Public Money? Public Code! During Corona: What role did
Free Software play during the crisis' part of the Public Administration
& GIS track, by Alexander Sander. We are looking forward to see our
readers at the SFScon!
== What we have done ==
During the final week before the German federal election we reached out
to politicians asking their stance on Free Software, in line with our
electoral activities [11]. Alexander Sander, FSFE Policy Consultant, and
Karl Krüger from our associated organisation OSB Alliance conducted 5
interviews [12] (DE) with representatives of German political parties
from 20 to 24 September. From CDU we spoke with Nadine Schön, MdB, CDU
Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
We interviewed three members of the Digital Agenda Committee: Elvan
Korkmaz-Emre from SPD, Manuel Höferlin from FDP, and Anke Domscheit-Berg
from Die Linke. From the Greens, we spoke with Margit Stumpp, MdB,
member of the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs. The 5 videos are
available in German. Also we released our vision for the upcoming
decades and concrete demands for the next government [13] and analyzed
the election programs [14] of the parties.
- Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project Manager, gave an interview [15] to
Empodera.org presenting the mission of the FSFE, the PMPC demands, and
the need for Router Freedom. Lina stressed the need for a more ethical
but also a more sustainable digital environment.
- Matthias Kirschner, president of the FSFE, was invited to a podcast
episode [16] of Radio Citylab Berlin. It dealt with Free Software as a
foundation for a democratic technology policy. This enlightening and
fun discussion is available in German.
- The Bavarian Radio (Bayrischer Rundfunk) published a 26 minute radio
feature (in German) [17] about the 30 year anniversary of Linux.
Matthias Kirschner was also interviewed for that, and talked about how
Linux as a Free Software kernel contributed to the Free Software
movement and how this changed the world.
- On 12 September, the FSFE Netherlands met [18] online.
- On 13 September, the FSFE Community Bonn [19] had its local group
meeting and Johannes reported about GNURadio. The meetings are open to
all who are interested in Free Software.
- On 17 September, the campaign framework "Public Money? Public Code!: A
campaign framework to promote software freedom" was presented at the
Kieler Open Source and Linux Days by Bonnie Mehring.
- On 19 September, the FSFE Vienna provided an information booth at
Tierschutzlauf.
- On 19 September, Max Mehl introduced REUSE and its benefits for Free
Software developers and users, especially for package maintainers of
operating system distributions. The presentation is part of EuroBSDCon
[20].
- On 23 September, the local FSFE Berlin [21] group celebrated 20 Years
of FSFE together with the FSFE's president by eating cake around a
campfire.
- On 27 September, the FSFE Women group had its monthly meeting. Antje
analysed three papers about women in computer science and gender
aspects of learning to code [22], and Fani Partsafyllidou presented
the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom competition.
- On 5 October, Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, the FSFE's Legal Coordinator,
participated in a webinar on open source copyright and license
management [23] organized by the NLNet Foundation for the benefit of
various NGI projects [24]. The webinar helped software projects with
understanding various aspects the law as it relates to software, as
well as to introduce the FSFE's REUSE initiative to a wider audience.
- On 9 October, our associated organisation ANSOL (Associação Nacional
para o Software Livre) celebrated its 20th anniversary. FSFE's
president, Matthias Kirschner, gave a short talk about the FSFE's work
during the last 20 years and highlighted joint activities with ANSOL.
- On 10 October, the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom [25] hosted its opening
event to explain the rules of the competition and to answer questions
from people who had already registered.
== New bag ==
For our 20th anniversary, we now present a new bag! Blue and double-
faced, it comes with two slogans, the newest: 'FSFE since 2001', to
remember when it all started and our evergreen: 'There is no cloud, just
other people's computers'. A sustainable solution for a shopping bag.
Get it from the FSFE web shop [26].
== Share the YH4F opportunity with teenagers in your community ==
Would you like to help us spread the message, and help young hackers
spot the opportunity to join YH4F? Then please contact teenagers you
know, former schools, hacker spaces, youth facilities, or mailing lists.
Share with them our call for registration [27] through a post on your
website, a mention in your Newsletter, or a social media post. Also, you
can freely use the illustrations [28] in our media kit, as well as our
Press Release [29]. Both are available in English and translations.
Your contribution is valuable to make sure that young people will take
part — and hopefully connect more with the software freedom movement.
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [30]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
Discuss this [31]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-12.ru.html
2: https://gpl-violations.org/
3: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.ru.html
4: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/jury.ru.html
5: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.ru.html
6: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/faq.ru.html
7: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202110.ru.html#share-yh4f-opportunity-with-teen…
8: https://mastodon.social/@protabletcomputer/106895644060491971
9: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=nl
10: https://www.sfscon.it/
11: https://fsfe.org/activities/elections/index.ru.html
12: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210920-01.ru.html
13: https://digitalezivilgesellschaft.org/digitalvisionen/
14: https://digitalezivilgesellschaft.org/wahlpruefsteine/oeffentliches-gut/
15: https://empodera.org/impact/en/experiences/experience/empowering-citizens-t…
16: https://radiocitylab.podigee.io/5-open-source-als-baustein-europaischer-inn…
17: https://www.br.de/mediathek/podcast/iq-wissenschaft-und-forschung/30-jahre-…
18: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2021-09-15
19: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Bonn
20: https://2021.eurobsdcon.org/home/speakers/#simplify
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Berlin
22: https://ntj.github.io/posts/2021-09-15-gender/
23: https://nlnet.nl/events/20211005/workshop/index.html
24: https://www.ngi.eu/
25: http://yh4f.org/
26: https://fsfe.org/order/index.ru.html
27: https://fsfe.org/yh4f.org
28: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/media.ru.html
29: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210928-01.ru.html
30: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
31: https://community.fsfe.org/t/748
= Demand for transparent CovPass apps in EU +++ Dutch gain Router Freedom =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202109.ru.html ]
In our August-September Newsletter, we celebrate the right of using a
custom router in the Netherlands. We explain why every app that tackles
the spread of Covid-19 has to be Free Software. We share the news of our
vibrant community, following up what happened in the summertime and what
lies ahead of us.
== CovPass apps should be available to all; thus, they should be Free Software ==
Apps that are necessary for everyone should be available to everyone,
without having to install additional and proprietary software stores.
This was not the case with the German CovPass app, which provides the EU
digital COVID certificate for Corona vaccination on smartphones. It was
only available on Apple, Huawai and Google app stores due to proprietary
dependencies. Such a practice neglects those who consciously avoid
proprietary software and choose to use Free Software. For them, the app
was unavailable.
Experts saved the day, and therefore we would like to thank
@jugendhacker [1], @mythsunwind [2], @rugk [3], @tzugen [4], Felix C.
Stegerman, and Marcus Hoffmann. Together, they worked selflessly for
weeks and developed the CovPass app for F-droid. The experts also
removed proprietary Google libraries which were not necessary for the
app to function.
This additional work would have been necessary if the CovPass developers
- who are paid with public funds - had not included these unnecessary
proprietary libraries from the beginning. Furthermore, the company
developing CovPass was unsupportive towards external developers, which
increased the difficulty for the volunteers to contribute improvements.
Because of this, improvements which would have required little effort by
the original developers turned out to be a difficult task for third-
party experts. It is a typical problem that can be avoided by releasing
as Free Software any software whose development is publicly funded.
The same process happened last year with the German Covid-tracing app:
experts voluntarily took over [5] governments' and administrations'
tasks to make this app available to everyone. In the case of Covid-
related apps, public bodies have failed [6] in Germany. "We urge the
government to quickly adapt its practices and make sure everyone can use
such apps without any restrictions from the start" says Matthias
Kirschner, President of the FSFE. The silver lining in contrast is the
example of Switzerland, where the official Covid certificate app was
added to F-droid by the Federal Office of Information Technology,
Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT).
== Advocating pays off: Dutch Internet users gain Router Freedom ==
Router Freedom is now a reality in the Netherlands. All Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) must allow end-users [7] to choose and use their own
routers and modems within 6 months. Also, it was secured that consumers
who set up an alternative router should still enjoy technical support by
the ISPs. The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets' (ACM) decision
represents a victory for consumers in the Netherlands and a win for net
neutrality in Europe.
The new rules passed after a persistent effort of the FSFE to draw
attention to the importance of Router Freedom. The FSFE contacted BEREC
raising the Router Freedom demand for the first time three years ago, in
2018, resulting in establishing Router Freedom as a standard for
European countries. In 2019, the FSFE contacted the Dutch national
agency too, to enquire about the situation in the country. Since then,
the FSFE's Country Team Netherlands [8] pushed the issue through by
organising seminars, talking to stakeholders, going to events, raising
the issue on social media, and helping with the elaboration of technical
and legal documents.
Now, it is the time to celebrate. ACM's decision is a major win for all
end-users in the Netherlands!
Do you want to learn more about the status of Router Freedom in your
country? Check our monitoring map! [9] You can contribute with our work
by taking part in our end-user survey [10] to help monitoring Router
Freedom in your country.
== Upcoming events: ==
On Wednesday 15 September at 20:00 CEST, the Dutch FSFE team [11] will
have its monthly meeting. The Dutch team always welcomes new members. If
you would like to take part in the meeting, please contact the FSFE
Coordinator of the Netherlands, Nico Rikken.
In September's monthly meeting, the FSFE Women group [12] will discuss
gender aspects of learning programming. Research papers will be briefly
presented and discussed. We welcome new members who identify as females.
The date is still to be arranged, so if you are interested in Free
Software join our mailing list [13] and get to know us.
== What we have done: ==
On July 30th, Max Mehl, Programme Manager of the FSFE, gave an interview
[14] in thelocal.de about the disaster warning system of Germany. The
topic came to the spotlight after the floods in Germany, but the
weaknesses of the warning system were a known issue already. Max argues
in favour of warnings sent through cell broadcast instead of apps,
because they can reach everyone with a phone and target specific
locations. There is also a publicly accessible reprint [15] available.
On August 17th, the FSFE Women group [16] met and Loria presented how
maps are created in a 2D workadventu.re world.
On August 18th, the FSFE Dutch team met to discuss [17] the end of SMS
authentication for DigiD, the efforts to introduce Free Software in
schools, and other technological developments.
On August 22nd at FrOSCon [18], Alexander Sander, FSFE's Policy
Consultant, presented the latest developments in the digitization of
administrations and ventured an outlook for the time after the federal
elections in Germany.
- During the last weekend of August, the FSFE Austria participated in
the annual Veganmania summer festival. Next to live music, street
food, and DIY workshops, the Viennese FSFE volunteers team organised a
booth [19] to explain the basics of Free Software to visitors. The
Veganmania festival is visited by thousands of visitors with diverse
backgrounds. The supporters noticed an increase in how many people
were technically conscious compared to the previous years. Also,
newcomers in the field of Free Software were interested to read our
guides with technical tips to increase their computer security.
Instructions on basic utilities such as email encryption and password
managers gained a lot of attention. If you are interested to learn
more, you can read the report [20] from the FSFE supporters group in
Vienna.
== Get active for the Federal election in Germany ==
On 26 September, a new Bundestag will be elected in Germany. We are
engaged around the election and want to ensure with our activities that
"Public Money? Public Code!" plays an important role for the next
government. Therefore we want to make sure that our "Public Money?
Public Code!" demands will be included in the coalition agreement of
Germany's next government. To achieve this we need your help and
support. You can learn how you can help us in the dedicated activity
package [21] [DE].
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send
them to us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org. We're looking
forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our
work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly
contribution [22]. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers,
supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our
translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native
languages.
Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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 donating a part of your conference budget to Free
Software organisations, including the FSFE [23].
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Discuss this [24]
--
Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
FSFE News <https://fsfe.org/news/news.en.rss>
Upcoming FSFE Events <https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.rss>
Fellowship Blog Aggregation <https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml>
Free Software Discussions <https://fsfe.org/contact/community.en.html>
1: https://gitlab.com/jugendhacker
2: https://gitlab.com/mythsunwind
3: https://gitlab.com/rugk
4: https://gitlab.com/tzugen
5: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20201208-01.ru.html
6: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210830-01.ru.html
7: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20210805-01.ru.html
8: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL
9: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/router-freedom-tracker_581123#4/53.12/…
10: https://survey.fsfe.org/index.php/628449?lang=en
11: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/BNL
12: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
13: https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-women
14: https://www.thelocal.de/20210730/germany-knew-its-disaster-warning-system-w…
15: https://www.newsday24.com/norway/germany-knew-its-disaster-warning-system-w…
16: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
17: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2021-08-18
18: https://programm.froscon.de/2021/events/2652.html
19: https://www.veganmania.at/2021/insel.htm
20: https://blogs.fsfe.org/franz.gratzer/2021/08/31/fsfe-information-stall-on-v…
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/Bundestagswahl_DE
22: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
23: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
24: https://community.fsfe.org/t/733