= Free Software in France +++ Hackerspace in Albania +++ Job =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/nl/nl-202210.sv.html ]
In this issue, we discuss the rising awareness for Free Software in
France. We share our plans for monitoring the implementation of Device
Neutrality principles. A hackerspace in Albania shares the ‘Public
Money! Public Code’ demand. We are looking for a working student to be
our next system administrator assistant.
== Free Software in France gains attention ==
What is the status of Free Software in France? According to Hugo Roy,
there is rising awareness in the last decade, but France still needs a
bold political stance supporting Free Software. Public procurement
should require the right to produce unlimited amounts of a copy of the
software. This requirement does not favour any company or business
model, and can be a part of a public procurement. Hugo Roy is a lawyer
and a Free Software supporter. Hugo appreciates the welcoming
environment of the FSFE for volunteers and likes CalyxOS because it
offers a ready-to-use environment on a phone and it is reliable. Listen
to his interview in our new Software Freedom Podcast episode [1].
On a sidenote we think it is worth noting that we received more
signatures in our open letter for the right to install any software on
any device [2] from organisations throughout France than from any other
country. This might support Hugo’s observation of increased awareness
towards software freedom in France.
== FSFE monitors the implementation of Device Neutrality ==
Imagine unboxing your new tablet and finding out you can install new
apps only via the manufacturer’s own apps store. On top of that, your
device boots only a specific operating system, fully or partly
proprietary. In other words, you cannot install a different OS to
overcome such limitations. Your tablet deserves better.
Device Neutrality is a policy concept to enable end-users to bypass
gatekeepers in order to run Free Software and use services independently
of the control exercised by hardware manufacturers, vendors, and
platforms. To help understand this policy concept, we published an
article clarifying the requirements [3] of Device Neutrality. So far we
engaged in the field of device neutrality during the adoption of the
Digital Markets Act (DMA) [4], the European Union’s largest initiative
to regulate gatekeepers in digital markets. We saw a major win in 2022,
as several components of Device Neutrality were included in the DMA.
Our efforts are not over: now we have to make sure that the regulation
is enforced in practice. Monitoring the implementation and enforcement
of the DMA, conducting device-related activities, and promoting software
freedom require a lot of resources. Please consider donating to the FSFE
so we can continue to work for device neutrality [5].
== Hackerspace in Albania explains why privacy matters ==
Massive leaks of personal data in Albania revealed personal information
of citizens last year. Hackerspace OpenLabs, an associated organisation
of the FSFE, raises awareness on privacy in workshops and offers
trainings on the safe use of technology. As members of OpenLabs point
out in an interview with Le Courrier de Balkans, OpenLabs supports the
use of Free Software in public administrations and spread the message of
the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ campaign in Albania [6]. Tirana City
Hall was the first capital city in the Western Balkans to switch to
larger remote Free Software solutions. Still, the country has to close
the digital gap among citizens.
== Job opening: Assistant system administrator ==
We are looking for a working student to support our work to empower
people to control technology. The work is 10 hours per week from our
Berlin office, but home office work will be possible later. The person
will support the FSFE’s technical infrastructure by working with our
system administrators. Apply until 16 October [7].
== Children’s book available to pre-order in English ==
/Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice
Cream/ has been translated into English. We made it! The book will now
be published and an e-book is already available [8]. Of course, the
e-book format contains no Digital Restrictions Management [9]. If you
are from the US you can pre-order the hardcover from No Starch Press
[10], get 25% off with the coupon code “Hacking4Freedom”, receive the
ebook now, and get the book sent from the US starting in December. If
you live outside the US you should be able to pre-order the book from
your local bookshop by the end of the year.
== Save the date! ==
On 11-12 November the FSFE will organise the Legal Education Day at the
SFSCon in Bolzano, Italy. You can participate in the events from
anywhere. The conference is livestreamed and you can ask questions in
the chat. We will present introductory topics of licensing of Free
Software. Tune in to learn about copyleft and non-reciprocal licenses,
license compatibility and incompatibility, and use of logos in software
projects. You will learn how to license Free Software projects easily
with REUSE. Join the Legal Education Day at the SFSCon [11] online! And
if you join in-person, come over to our booth to chitchat!
On 26 November Vincent Lequertier, AI specialist, gives a talk 'For an
inclusive and ethical artificial intelligence'. The presentation is part
of the event Campus du Libre (Free Software campus) [12], and the FSFE
will be there with a booth.
== Past events ==
- From 30 September to 2 October the FSFE and 11 civil society
organisations co-organised the Bits & Bäume [13] (“Bits and Trees”)
conference. We provided talks, and an Upcycling Android workshop. The
FSFE local group Berlin had an information booth.
- On 30 September Lina Ceballos, REUSE Project Manager, presented the
principles of REUSE and showed how to make licensing clear and simple
at the Akademy-es [14] conference in Barcelona, Spain. On 1 October
Lina presented REUSE tools and documentation at Akademy [15] in
Barcelona.
- On 29 September Katrina Holovets, artist, gave an author reading of
the children's book Ada & Zangemann in Ukrainian. Matthias Kirschner,
author and President of the FSFE, answered questions from the
audience. The event took place at the Landesvertretung Baden-
Württemberg and Rudi Hoogvliet, State Secretary of Baden-Württemberg,
introduced the book. On 24 September there was a German and Ukrainian
reading at Bezirkszentralbibliothek [16] Pablo Neruda in Berlin.
- On 15 September the Podcast Ubuntu Portugal published the interview
with Lucas Lasota, FSFE’s Senior Legal Project Manager, about Router
Freedom and Device Neutrality in Europe. The podcast was recorded in
Portuguese [17].
== FSFE groups ==
*Belarus*: Minsk GNU/Linux and Free Software enthusiasts have not
enjoyed in-person meetings for a long time. On 29 October they will
revive the tradition to meet in person and the FSFE local group Minsk
[18] will be there! Contact vics(a)fsfe.org if you are interested in
joining!
*Germany*: The FSFE local group Berlin [19] celebrated Software Freedom
Day on 17 September at BeLUG. The group gave four talks: ‘A critical
introduction to Free Software’ by Erik Grun, ‘FLOSS video production
with a focus on video tutorials’ by hoergen, ‘Dokuwiki - a lightweight
and extremely versatile wiki software’ by c47, and ‘A sustainable
approach to software as a resource’ by Tobias. The FSFE local group
Hamburg [20] has its next meeting on 10 October.
*Italy*: The FSFE local group Sicily [21] gave a talk on modernising
public administration with Free Software on 9 September in
Caltanissetta, Italy. The topic received a lot of attention as many
people attended the event. Many participants did not know about Free
Software before, and people wanted to know how they can contribute.
*Netherlands*: The FSFE country team Netherlands hosted an FSFE booth at
the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht on 17 September. Nico Rikken showed the
possibilities of installing a custom ROM with Free Software on a phone.
Participants shared their experiences on flashing phones and discussed
the available Free Software options for phones. A few days after, the
Netherlands team met online [22].
*Switzerland*: Volunteers decided to start a new local group in Basel
[23]. The first meeting was on 3 October. The group plans to be meeting
on the first Monday of every month.
*Women*: The FSFE Women [24] group planned next year’s activities during
their online meeting at 29 September.
== In memory of Damiano ==
The FSFE honours the memory of Damiano Conte, an important member of the
Free Software movement in Italy, and shares condolences to his family.
Damiano was a teacher of thousands of students in Bassano del Grappa
(VI) Italy during the last 20 years, and encouraged the use of GNU/Linux
and Free Software and hardware. In 2008 Damiano co-founded the Bassano
del Grappa Linux User Group (GrappaLUG). Since 2006 he had been
organising the Linux Day and giving talks [25]. GrappaLUG sent a
symbolic donation to the FSFE in memory of Damiano. We thank Damiano for
his long-term contribution to software freedom.
== 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 [26]. 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 [27]
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1: https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-16.sv.html
2: https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.sv.html
3: https://fsfe.org/activities/deviceneutrality/index#device-neutrality-free-s…
4: https://fsfe.org/activities/dma/dma.sv.html
5: https://my.fsfe.org/donate
6: https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Albanie-OpenLabs-un-hackerspace-pour-prot…
7: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220915-01.sv.html
8: https://k7r.eu/ada-zangemann-ready-to-pre-order-in-english/
9: https://fsfe.org/activities/drm/drm.sv.html
10: https://nostarch.com/ada-zangemann
11: https://www.sfscon.it/
12: https://www.campus-du-libre.org/index.php
13: https://bits-und-baeume.org/en/
14: https://www.kde-espana.org/akademy-es-2022/programa
15: https://conf.kde.org/event/4/contributions/101/
16: https://www.berlin.de/stadtbibliothek-friedrichshain-kreuzberg/bibliotheken…
17: https://podcastubuntuportugal.org/e213/
18: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Minsk
19: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Berlin
20: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Hamburg
21: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Sicilia
22: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Events/Netherlands/2022-09-21
23: https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Basel
24: https://wiki.fsfe.org/Teams/Women
25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PcPAbs1Y5Y
26: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=newsletter
27: https://community.fsfe.org/t/910