= FSFE Newsletter September 2019 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-201909.ru.html ]
In this month's newsletter, we focus our attention on the impact of Free
Software on competition, in a piece written by our guest expert, Prof.
Dr. Simon Schlauri. We also take the chance to announce the awesome
progress we have made in the REUSE project towards making copyright and
licensing easier for developers. Further down, you can discover upcoming
events and information about the FSFE Annual Community meeting, as well
as see some photos and video recordings from events where our community
promoted Free Software across Europe. We also make some recommendations
for articles you may find useful.
== Free Software and its impact on competition ==
Our guest writer Prof. Dr. Simon Schlauri shared his expert knowledge on
what the impact of Free Software on competition is. Elaborating on the
legal and economic arguments on whether the release of software under a
Free Software license distorts the market, this article was originally
written for our "Public Money? Public Code" brochure. If you missed it,
please take a look and learn more about [1] the impact that Free
Software has on competition.
== REUSE makes copyright and licensing easier than ever ==
As you most likely already know, the FSFE is running a project called
REUSE [2]. Its main goal is to help developers display copyright and
licensing information of their projects according to the recommended
best practices. Just recently, the project released version 3.0 of their
specification. The new edition is accompanied by a helper tool that
makes adopting these best practices easier than ever. If you are curious
for more details on the topic, we welcome you to visit the dedicated
article [3].
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== Do not miss: upcoming events with the FSFE ==
As with every month, we are trying to spread the word and help
individuals and organisations understand what Free Software is and how
Free Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-
determination. If you are interested in seeing us in action and to join
our cause, keep in mind the following dates and locations in the coming
months:
- The Open Source Summit Europe [5] in Lyon, France is happening between
28-30 October and the FSFE's Programme Manager Max Mehl will talk
about the REUSE project and Free Software licensing compliance.
- Between 15-16 November the FSFE Community Meeting will unite forces
with the South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFScon) [6] in Bolzano,
Italy. The FSFE will have its own track and you are kindly invited to
join the expert and community talks, as well as the social activites.
You can read more about this on our wiki page [7].
== What have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE ==
Since the last newsletter, we have been very active in promoting the
Free Software cause, by helping individuals and organisations have a
better understanding of what Free Software is and encouraging them to
develop and implement it in their lives. We want to share with you the
events we have photos and videos for, below:
- The FSFE Policy Manager Alexander Sander went to the FrOSCon [8] and
gave a talk about the current state of the "Public Money? Public
Code!" initiative, the full recording of which is available online
[9]. Thanks to the FSFE's local group in Bonn, we were also present
with a booth. It turned out that many of the visitors were truly
interested in what happens at a local level, as well as how they can
help and support the cause with specific actions. It was a great
opportunity to have such substantial discussions and exchange of ideas
and best practices.
- The most frequently asked question our Viennese FSFE Group faced
during the local Veganmania Summer Festival in August was why a
Software organisation like the FSFE participates in a vegan festival.
Their answer? The same ethical considerations that lead people to
adopt a vegan life style can be applied analogously to information
technologies and the use of Free Software. For more interesting
insights, read their blog entry [10].
- At the Chaos Communication Camp in Mildenberg, Germany that happened
between 21-25 August, the FSFE hosted its own assembly in the
about:freedom [11] cluster. This cluster organised more than 50 talks,
workshops and panels about the Sustainability of Software,
Argumentation Trainings for Data Protection, Copyright, workshops on
Free Your Android and Crypto, and measuring Internet censorship. A
recording of Erik Albers' talk about the sustainability of software is
also available on our channel [12] (German). Also some great photos
from the Village settings are accessible online [13].
- During the NextCloud Conference in Berlin that took place on 14
September at the premises of the Technical University of Berlin, our
Policy Manager Alexander Sander was part of a panel discussion
dedicated on "Public Money? Public Code!". He debated on behalf of the
FSFE with people representing NextCloud, the Working Group of Youth
Organisations and Regional Youth Council in Germany, and the Open
Knowledge Foundation Germany. The full video of the debate and what
was said can be seen on our video channel [14].
- As a result of our participation at events and efforts promoting the
"Public Money? Public Code!" initiative during the summer, the Open
Letter received 6 new supportive signatures from organisations over
the last 2 months. The following organisations from around Europe and
the world endorsed these principles and joined the actions on local
ground:
1. OpenSaar [15] is an initiative based in the SaarLorLux region.
They have dedicated their efforts to promoting Free Software in
their region.
2. FOSS Bangladesh [16] is the most prominent Free Software
organisation in the South Asian nation of Bangladesh and has
worked with FSF [17] some time ago.
3. Peercoin Foundation [18] is an international NGO working towards
the development of a Free Software blockchain.
4. Computertruhe [19] is a German NGO that repairs old computers and
donates them to people in need.
5. Idealiste.cz [20] is a Czech NGO advocating for better quality
public services that are accessible to the general public,
especially when it comes to schools, hospitals, public transport
or housing.
6. Liquid Democracy [21] is a Berlin based "Think and Do Tank".
Their work revolves around the development of a Free Software and
digital participation tool called Adhocracy, providing users with
various civic participation tools.
- On 16 September, one of our independent sister organisations, the US-
based Free Software Foundation (FSF), announced the resignation of
Richard M. Stallman [22] as its president.
== From FSFE's planet ==
In the months since the last newsletter and during the summer break,
many things have happened. Some of them have been shared on the FSFE's
Planet [23] and are directly related to the organisation while others
are more into the general direction of our mission:
- In his article [24], Frank Karlitschek reminds us of the bigger
picture of Free Software and why the differences with proprietary
solutions are not only a matter of software licenses;
- On a more technical note, if you had problems installing the
WackoWiki, Evaggelos Balaskas has created a helpful walkthrough [25].
- "Blocking Untrusted USB devices" [26] is a good read by Nikos Roussos,
especially if you are concerned about digital security.
== Get Active ==
The Internet Freedom Fund is Open Tech Fund's primary way to support
projects and people working on open and accessible technology-centric
projects. These are supposed to promote human rights, internet freedom,
open societies, and help advance inclusive and safe access to global
communications networks for at-risk users including journalists, human
rights defenders, civil society activists, and every-day people living
within repressive environments who wish to speak freely online. You can
apply for this fund [27] until 01.11.2019.
== Contribute to our newsletter ==
If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to
us. As always, the address is newsletter(a)fsfe.org [28]. 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:
https://my.fsfe.org/support [29]
Thanks to our community, all the volunteers [30], supporters [31] and
donors [32] who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators
[33], who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.
Best Regards,
The FSFE
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1: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190806-01.ru.html
2: https://reuse.software/
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190807-01.ru.html
4: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-09
5: https://osseu19.sched.com/event/05a3272287d3def1bcb0a62ace00b730
6: https://www.sfscon.it/
7: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/FSFECommunityMeeting2019
8: https://programm.froscon.de/2019/events/2326.html
9: https://peertube.social/videos/watch/702cb495-7a04-472c-95af-ca249816f1d4
10: http://blogs.fsfe.org/franz.gratzer/2019/08/27/fsfe-booth-donauinsel/
11: https://events.ccc.de/camp/2019/wiki/Village:About:freedom
12: https://peertube.social/videos/watch/02f2666a-452a-47c9-a4b9-7c1d3a4b627b
13: https://pixelfed.social/c/73939228374994944
14: https://peertube.social/videos/watch/00577775-29d2-4064-968a-09960d48cba4
15: https://opensaar.de/en/
16: https://www.fossbd.org/
17: https://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2013/spring/foss-bangladesh
18: https://peercoin.net/
19: https://computertruhe.de/
20: https://www.idealiste.cz/
21: https://liqd.net/en/about/
22: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190917-01.ru.html
23: https://planet.fsfe.org/
24: https://karlitschek.de/2019/08/open-source-if-more-than-licenses/
25: https://balaskas.gr/blog/2019/08/24/walkthrough-installation-of-wackowiki-v…
26: https://www.roussos.cc/2019/08/19/usbguard/
27: https://www.opentech.fund/funds/internet-freedom-fund/
28: https://fsfe.org/mailto:newsletter@fsfe.org
29: https://my.fsfe.org/support
30: https://fsfe.org/contribute
31: https://my.fsfe.org/support
32: https://fsfe.org/donate/thankgnus
33: https://fsfe.org/contribute/translators
34: https://fsfe.org/join/nl2019-09