News
#ilovefs Day report 2019
On Wednesday 14th of February, we acknowledge and celebrate the annual "I love Free Software Day". It is the day to express your love for Free Software and gratitude for your favourite pieces of Free Software. The Free Software Foundation Europe would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated and helped making this day a special one for everyone involved.
Copyright Directive – EU safeguards Free Software at the last minute [Updated]
The European Parliament adopted the controversial Copyright Directive by 348 votes in favour, 274 votes against and 36 abstentions. Today's vote marks the end of years of debate in the European Union. Heated discussions about the introduction of upload filters ended up in protests of hundreds of thousands of people in the streets all across Europe. In a last minute action back in September 2018, the European Parliament adopted an amendment and pushed it through the trilogue to at least protect Free Software developing platforms.
International Women's Day: No freedom without diversity and gender equality
Today, the FSFE celebrates International Women's Day, a global day calling for women's rights and gender parity. As in many other communities, women in Free Software communities face gender discrimination on a daily basis. To help improve their environment and raise awareness, the FSFE wants to use today's occasion to share our ongoing efforts to improve gender balance and ensure gender equality.
Join the I Love Free Software Day 2019
Today, as with every year on February 14th, people around the globe are celebrating "I love Free Software" Day by expressing their love and thanks to all the people working behind each Free Software project. Follow the love with the hashtag #IloveFS today and add your own love dedication to the stream!
Huawei case demonstrates importance of Free Software for security
The discussion of the Huawei security concerns showcases a general trust issue when it comes to critical infrastructure. A first step to solve this problem is to publish the code under a Free and Open Source Software licence and take measures to facilitate its independently-verifiable distribution.
FSFE publishes expert brochure about “Public Money? Public Code!"
Why should governments develop Free Software? Where is Free Software already generating benefits in the public sector? What are Free Software business models? Answers to these questions and practical guidelines are given in the new expert policy brochure published today by the Free Software Foundation Europe. Produced with decision-takers in mind, the brochure will be a helpful source of information for candidates and parties running for the European Parliament election. Downloads and prints are available under a Creative Commons license.
FSFE is hiring: Fundraising Manager
We are looking for a Fundraising Manager to support our work to empower people to control technology. The person will work 35 hours per week with our team in the Berlin office, being in charge of the FSFE's individual and corporate fundraising.
The FSFE needs you to continue spreading software freedom in Europe!
Since 2001 the Free Software Foundation Europe empowers software users to exert control over the technology that is so deeply involved in every aspect of our lives today. As a non-profit organisation, our work is backed by the continuous and generous contributions of our supporters. From public campaigns to policy monitoring, from removing legal barriers to helping organisations in understanding how Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination, our supporters have helped to finance our work.
Annual report of the Free Software Foundation Europe 2018
"Software freedom in Europe" is the yearly report of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). In one document, it gives you a breakdown of important things the FSFE has done and achieved during the last 12 months. In the 2018 report, you will read about our electoral campaigns, our input on the European Union's copyright reform, and about our successful outreach in demanding publicly financed software be made publicly available under a Free Software licence. You will also get insights about the events we (co-)organised and about our community and groups that helped us with these achievements. Finally, we will display some numbers showing what resources we counted on, and giving an outlook for the next year.
Call for sessions at the FSFE assembly during 35C3
In the context of the 35th Chaos Communication Congress happening from December 27th to 30th in Leipzig, the FSFE is happy to host an assembly again, acting as an information booth and a meeting point for our friends and all friends of Free Software. As in previous editions, we offer attention and a stage for self-organised sessions by and for our community, and this is our call for participation.
Free Software changing Microsoft's patent strategy
In October Microsoft took a big step concerning its software patents by joining the LOT Network (LOT stands for "License on Transfer") and the Open Invention Network (OIN). This is a clear sign of progress on the long road to handing control of technology to the people, and the FSFE encourages Microsoft to take additional steps in this direction.
Digital-O-Mat: Wat vinden de partijen in Hessen van Vrije Software?
De Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) heeft voorafgaand aan de komende verkiezing voor de Landdag in Hessen met behulp van een "Digital-O-Mat" de posities van de partijen ten aanzien van Vrije Software onder de loep genomen. Opvallend zijn met name de zwaarwegende verschillen tussen de huidige coalitiepartners. Terwijl de CDU zich voor de status quo uitspreekt presenteert Bündnis 90/Die Grünen zich als ondersteuner van Vrije Software en spreekt zich expliciet uit voor het door de FSFE gepropageerde grondbeginsel "Publiek Geld, Publieke Code!" van de gelijknamige campagne uit.
"Go open today, there's no excuse not to" - interview with Timo Aarnio, GIS expert at National Land Survey Finland.
Oskari is a Free Software platform for browsing, sharing and analysing geographic information from distributed data sources. Its development is coordinated by the National Land Survey of Finland and is organised through the Oskari network with over 38 organisations from both the public and private sector. Oskari was awarded second prize in the cross-border category of the European Commission's Sharing and Reuse Awards Contest 2017 and is currently going through incubation phase to become an official Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) Project. To shed light on best practices regarding Free Software developed by public funds, we have conducted an interview with Timo Aarnio, GIS Expert at the National Land Survey of Finland’s SDI Services department.
Bundesfreiwilligendienst bei der Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
Wir suchen eine engagierte Person, die Interesse hat ihren Bundesfreiwilligendienst bei dem FSFE e.V. zu leisten. Die Bundesfreiwillige wird Vollzeit (35 Stunden wöchentlich) gemeinsam mit unserem Team in unserem Berliner Büro arbeiten.
New FSFE staff member Alexander Sander: EU public policy programme manager
The Free Software Foundation Europe is happy to welcome our newest staffer Alexander Sander. Alexander is hired as our new EU public policy programme manager and works full-time in the FSFE's Berlin office. In this position, Alexander mainly works with us on policy topics covering Free Software and Open Standards issues at the EU and member state level and helps us identify and monitor EU policy developments to alert the FSFE's network on relevant issues.
"Call to Action: Save Free Software this September"
Free Software is at risk! On the 12th of September the EU is getting ready to vote on a "Copyright Reform" package, which undermines the foundations upon which Free Software is built. The proposed Article 13 of the EU Copyright Directive targets every online service that allows its users to upload and share content with each other, including code hosting platforms.
"Public Money? Public Code!": more languages, more supporters, more awareness
The "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign has received an updated set of translations, including the website, open letter and video. The Free Software Foundation Europe has also conducted interviews to ask public administrations about the benefits of public code, which are now available on our website.
FSFE is hiring: interns and trainees for legal, policy and technical areas
We are looking for interns and trainees experienced in legal, policy or technical fields. The persons will work 35 hours per week with our team in the FSFE's Berlin office. There will be coordination with remote staff and volunteers, and depending on the work area opportunity to participate in events and meetings throughout Europe.
FSFE is hiring: project manager
We are looking for a project manager to support our work to empower people to control technology. The person will work 35 hours per week with our team in the FSFE's Berlin office supporting FSFE projects and managing larger FSFE events. There will be coordination with remote staff and volunteers, as well as travels to other countries.
Using Free Software to build a more democratic, inclusive and sustainable digital society - interview with Francesca Bria, CTO of Barcelona.
Barcelona, the second most populous municipality of Spain, is actively working on a "smart city" agenda that is reshaping modern city's infrastucture and technologies to put citizen's needs first. Key to Barcelona's agenda is the use and promotion of Free Software and open technologies as a social good, to enable collaboration between administrations and to escape vendor lock-ins. Barcelona is also the first City Council who signed the open letter for “Public Money? Public Code!”. To shed light on Barcelona's best practice, we have conducted an interview with Francesca Bria, Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer at the Barcelona City Council, to ask her about ongoing innovations and developments in Barcelona.
Technical Note: Mail Issues on June 8
On Friday morning, one of our servers had a fatal hardware crash. This affected parts of our mail infrastructure and mailing lists. Meanwhile, all services are back to normal. We would like to inform you about what happened and which problems it caused. In a nutshell: Please make sure your emails arrived and check your SMTP settings.
How Spanish administrations reuse software - an interview with Elena Muñoz Salinero about best practices.
The Technology Transfer Centre (CTT) is an initiative run by the Spanish government whose goal is to facilitate sharing and reuse of software and services among public administrations. To shed light on this best practice, we have conducted an interview with Elena Muñoz Salinero, head of CTT, to ask her about the legal, political and technological background of the CTT.
LLW2018: The FSFE brings together top legal experts to debate about cross-cutting legal and licensing issues around Free Software
Following more than a decade long tradition, the FSFE once again led its annual Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop (LLW) in 2018: a meeting point for world-leading legal experts to debate issues and best practices surrounding Free Software licences. This year we decided to bring the event back to its roots and emphasise the "Workshop" part in its original title: around 120 legal experts gathered for a 3-day conference in Barcelona, Spain with an unprecedented amount of parallel tracks and interactive sessions designed to dive into the most contentious topics in the legal world of Free Software.
FSFE is hiring: EU public policy programme manager
We are looking for a programme manager for our policy work. The person will work 35 hours per week with our team in the FSFE's Berlin office. There will be coordination with remote staff and volunteers, as well as regular travels to Brussels and other countries.
FSFE simplifies membership procedures for contributors
During last year's General Assembly the FSFE's Council was asked to prepare a constitution change to remove the so-called "Fellowship seats". This motion was adopted with 20:3 votes and zero abstentions. Today the FSFE's General Assembly approved in an extraordinary meeting the removal of the Fellowship seats. In future, access to membership of the FSFE shall be facilitated through the normal membership procedures for active FSFE contributors.
Call for Participation: FSFE Community Meeting and FSFE track at the Libre Software Meeting in Strasbourg, France
The Libre Software Meeting (LSM) is maybe the biggest community-driven Free Software meeting in France and in 2018 also serves as host of the FSFE community meeting. It takes place in Strasbourg and the FSFE will organise its own track on the first days of LSM, from 7 to 9 of July. This is your chance to be part in the FSFE's community meeting and to give a talk at the LSM 2018 at the same time. Deadline to apply for a talk is April 30 - and before you forget it, apply now!
Call for Participation: FSFE Track About "Digital Education" During the Libre Software Meeting in Strasbourg, France
From 7 to 12 July there will be the Libre Software Meeting in Strasbourg, France. The conference also known as RMLL is annualy rotating and currently the biggest Free Software event in France. This year, the main topic is "Digital Education: building captivity or new empowerment?". With the FSFE track we are looking for inspiring insights about golden cages and liberation not only in educational institutions but in our everyday lives.
#ilovefs Report 2018
On Wednesday 14th of February, our community celebrated the annual "I love Free Software Day". A day to declare love to the communities most important to you as well as saying "Thank You" to the Free Software projects surrounding us every single day. The Free Software Foundation Europe also wants to thank everyone who cheered and contributed to make this day as special as it could be.
Ask Your Candidates: Italian parties offer progress towards the use of Free Software in public entities
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) publishes the results of the Ask Your Candidates campaign that FSFE Italy did run for the Italian election. Multiple questions have been sent to the major political parties that run for office in the national elections on March 4. We received positive statements by "Movimento 5 Stelle", "Liberi e Uguali", "Partito Democratico" and "Potere al Popolo". Unfortunately, there have been no answers by "+Europa", "Forza Italia", "Fratelli d'Italia" and "Lega Nord".
FSFE Italy asks political parties about their positions on Free Software
In light of the upcoming elections in Italy on March 4th, the FSFE country team Italy sent out multiple questions to the participating parties to challenge them on their position about Free Software in public administration and education. We will publish and analyse their answers once we receive them.
European Free Software Policy Meeting 2018: more joint activities important for Free Software in Europe
Following the well-established tradition of gathering active Free Software groups before FOSDEM kicks off, the FSFE once again partnered up with OpenForum Europe for the third edition of European Free Software Policy Meeting in Brussels, the heart of European decision-making.
Join the I Love Free Software Day 2018
The Free Software Foundation Europe calls on everyone to say "thank you" to all contributors to Free Software on 14 February. Last year the annual I Love Free Software Day has been committed with offline activism to tell people outside of our filter bubble about the importance of Free Software. This Wednesday, we will go back to our roots and focus on why this day has been invented in the first place: to celebrate the Free Software community.
Organisationen und Juristen fordern: Das besondere elektronische Anwaltspostfach muss Freie Software werden
Das Vertrauen in das besondere elektronische Anwaltspostfach (beA) hat nach bekannt gewordenen Sicherheitslücken und erheblichen technischen Mängeln das Vertrauen von Juristen und Mandanten verloren. Die Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) übermittelt heute ihren Offenen Brief mit Empfehlungen und Forderungen an die auftraggebende Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer (BRAK) zusammen mit drei weiteren bekannten zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen und 21 Juristen.
Wie das besondere elektronische Anwaltspostfach (beA) noch zu retten ist
Das besondere elektronische Anwaltspostfach sollte eigentlich seit Anfang 2018 verschlüsselte Kommunikation mit und unter Rechtsanwälten ermöglichen. Allerdings sorgen zahlreiche Sicherheitslücken dafür, dass der Dienst vorerst offline bleiben muss. Die Free Software Foundation Europe empfiehlt der auftraggebenden Bundesrechtsanwaltkammer (BRAK), durch die Veröffentlichung des Programmcodes unter einer Freie-Software- und Open-Source-Lizenz verloren gegangenes Vertrauen wiederherzustellen.