= I love Free Software Day 2016 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2016/news-20160208-01.en.html ]
It's time to say "thank you" on 14th of February, the " I love Free
Software[1] " Day 2016. The Free Software Foundation Europe asks all
Free Software users to use the traditional day of love to think of the
hardworking people contributing to the Free Software we all depend on.
As every year[2] there are many ways for people to participate in this
online campaign which has first been celebrated five years ago.
In the Free Software society we exchange a lot of criticism. We write
bug reports, tell others how they can improve the software, ask them for
new features, and generally are not shy about criticising others. There
is nothing wrong about that. It helps us to constantly improve. But
sometimes we forget to show the hardworking people behind the software
our appreciation. We should not underestimate the power of a simple
"thank you" to motivate Free Software contributors in their important
work for society. The 14th of February (a Sunday this year) is the ideal
day to do that.
== Show your love for Free Software ==
Free Software drives a huge number of devices in our everyday life. It
ensures our freedom, our security, civil rights, and privacy. It enables
everyone to participate in a fair society. But as with people, everybody
has different reasons to love Free Software. Let's show this variety to
the world!
As the traditional day to show one's appreciation to people, Valentine's
Day is the perfect opportunity to say *thank you* to the contributors of
the various Free Software you love: developers, translators, designers,
testers, or documentation writers, of huge softwares or smaller
projects. All of them work on the Free Software ecosystem which we can
enjoy every day.
== Be part of #ilovefs ==
It doesn't matter who and where you are and what you do – everyone can
participate at the "I love Free Software" day in many different ways:
- *Pictures*: Send some cool videos or pictures of yourself or your
friends, a meme image, or something completely different – the main
thing is creativity! And with each video and image you automatically
participate in our *#ilovefs competition* (visit our website for more
information). See the pictures of last years[3] for some inspiration.
- *Postcards*: Thank your favourite contributors for their work in an
individual way. For example by sending one of our postcards[4].
- *Spread the word*: Show your appreciation publicly using social
networks or your blog to demonstrate the world how many people love
Free Software – and thereby motivate others to do the same. Just use
the hashtag *#ilovefs* on GnuSocial[5], Twitter[6], or other
platforms.
- *Do it yourself*: You didn't find what you were looking for? No
problem, just do something else! Create small chocolate bars, design
new promotion material... Find out how to make #ilovefs more unique
with your contribution[7].
If everybody contributes a small part we can enjoy a beautiful "I love
Free Software" day together. Let's share videos and pictures, send
postcards, tweets and blog posts, and show our love individually. Happy
I love Free Software day everyone!
--
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. http://ilovefs.org
2. https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150303-01.en.html
3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/whylovefs/gallery.en.html
4. https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.en.html#ilovefs-postcard
5. http://gnu.io/
6. https://twitter.com/hashtag/ilovefs
7. https://wiki.fsfe.org/ILoveFS-2016
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE signs association joint letter for terminal device freedom =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151028-01.en.html ]
Together with 9 other civil and economic organisations the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) sent a letter to numerous members of the German
Bundestag concerning the compulsory routers issue at the present
Wednesday. The letter is supposed to highlight the importance of passing
the bill for freedom of terminal devices in telecommunication.
On the 4th of November the four parliament committees Economy and
Energy, Law and Consumer Protection, Traffic and Digital Infrastructure,
and Digital Agenda will consult about the bill „for selection and
connection of telecommunication terminal devices“. The 132
representatives who sit in the committees will bear a special
responsibility since it is in their power to save the rights of
consumers and protect small and medium-sized businesses.
„We welcome the Federal Government drafting a bill which can
effectively eradicate compulsory routers“, says Matthias Kirschner,
FSFE's President. „The current status of compulsory routers is
harmful for both citizens and economy. This fact has to be known to
all representatives cross-party. Now we need a quick and unmodified
implementation of the drafted law.“
The bill is the outcome of a long discussion about so-called compulsory
routers. These forbid internet users to use a terminal device of their
choice and force them to always have the provider's device in the own
home network. This widespread practise is a threat to security, privacy,
and independence of all internet users and has negative effects on free
and fair competition of manufacturers.
Despite the unanimous opinion of experts, consumer protectors, and
politicians some members of the Federal Council aligned with the few
current bill's opponents. In doing so they adapted technically
inconsistent and long-disproved arguments of internet providers and
network carriers. Up to now the Federal Government rejected the
Council's criticism as not reasonable.
„Today's letter shall prevent a repetition of the Council's
disappointing reaction. With a broad alliance of many-faceted
supporters of terminal device freedom we ask the committees' members
to put those basic user rights as soon as possible and without any
rotten compromises into law“, says Max Mehl, FSFE's Germany
Coordinator. „As of today no representative can plead lack of
knowledge of the importance of terminal device freedom for the
independent usage and security of the internet.“
You can view the depersonalised version of the sent association joint
letter here[1]. Additionally we listed all important events in the
course of the compulsory routers debate seperately on our website[2].
--
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/routers/files/20151027_Verbaendeschreiben.pdf
2. https://fsfe.org/activities/routers/timeline.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE convinces 1125 public administrations to remove proprietary software advertisements =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151013-01.en.html ]
After six years of activity, the PDFreaders campaign[1] is coming to a
close this month as one of our most successful campaigns.
The campaign began in 2009 with the intent of removing advertisements
for proprietary PDF reader software from public institutions' websites.
To start it all off, volunteers submitted 2104 "bugs", or instances of
proprietary PDF software being directly promoted by public authorities,
and the FSFE listed[2] them online. Since then, hundreds of Free
Software activists took action by writing to the relevant public
institutions and calling for changes to their websites. We received a
lot of positive feedback from the institutions thanking us for our
letters, and to date, 1125 out of the 2104 websites (53%) edited their
websites by removing links to proprietary PDF readers, or adding links
to Free Software PDF readers.
In addition to writing letters, FSFE also collected signatures for a
petition calling for an end to advertisement for proprietary software
products on government websites[3]. 90 organizations, 63 businesses, and
2731 individuals signed this petition.
Furthermore, we were able to push for change at both national and
international levels.
- In Germany, national parties[4] gave statements in favor of free PDF
readers and the German Government itself has recommended the usage of
our text snippet in their migration guide[5]. FSFE's coordinator for
Germany, Max Mehl, covers it[6] in more detail on his blog.
- In the EU: the European Parliament directly asked[7] the European
Commission what were the reasons for advertising a specific software
and which steps were taken to solve this problem.
- In 2011 one of our pdfreaders.org coordinators, Hannes Hauswedell, was
in contact with Google[8], asking them to release the PDF reader
included in their Chrome browser as Free Software. Finally, in May
2014, the pdfium sources were published openly[9], and while FSFE's
enquiry might not have been the only reason they were released, it
marks an important change for the widespread adoption of Free Software
PDF readers.
"This success would not have been possible without the help and hard
work from our volunteers and the support from our donors. *Thank
you!* While many public and private web-sites still promote
proprietary readers, the level of awareness has changed
significantly during our campaign and now it should be much easier
for you to approach the remaining web-site administrators. Also most
internet users today already use Free Software when they open a PDF
file in their browser -- a huge difference from 2009!" says Hannes
Hauswedell who started the campaign. "Of course work still remains
and we invite you to keep on reminding (public) administrators to
use Open Standards and not recommend proprietary software. And with
your support, we too, will continue to fight for a web that respects
its users' privacy and freedom!"
To get involved[10] you can use our sample letter[11] to send to the
relevant public administration, or you can write one of your own. Just
make sure to include where to find a list of Free Software PDF
readers[12] that could replace the link from their website.
A special thanks again to the activists, volunteers, and donors who
helped make this campaign a success!
1. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/pdfreaders.en.html
2. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/buglist.en.html
3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/petition.en.html
4. http://gruen-digital.de/2012/03/document-freedom-day-kleine-anfrage-zur-wer…
5. http://www.cio.bund.de/Web/DE/Architekturen-und-Standards/Migrationsleitfad…
6. http://blog.mehl.mx/2015/german-government-wants-authorities-to-advertise-p…
7. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/parliamentary-questions-eu.en.html
8. http://blogs.fsfe.org/polina/2015/09/10/free-pdf-reader-for-the-web-browser/
9. https://twitter.com/nasko/status/469595752734269440
10. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/follow-up.en.html
11. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/pdfreaders/letter.en.html
12. http://pdfreaders.org
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org/
= FSFE elects new President and Vice President =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150922-01.en.html ]
Matthias Kirschner and Alessandro Rubini are FSFE's new President and
Vice President. They were elected last week in Bucharest during FSFE's
General Assembly, while Reinhard Müller was re-elected as Financial
Officer. They will serve FSFE in those positions for the upcoming two
years.
Matthias Kirschner is an FSFE employee since 2009. He started using
GNU/Linux in 1999 and realised that software is deeply involved in all
aspects of our lives. Matthias is convinced that this technology has to
empower society rather than restrict it. While studying Political and
Administrative Science he convinced the FSFE to accept him as the FSFE's
first intern in 2004. Since then he has been helping other
organisations, companies and governments to understand how they can
benefit from Free Software -- which gives everybody the rights to use,
study, share and improve software -- and how those rights help to
support freedom of speech, freedom of press, or privacy.
Matthias loves spending time with his baby son, and in his spare time
assists in wilderness first aid seminars, enjoys comics like XKCD and
Transmetropolitan, Monty Python, and Die Ärzte.
Alessandro Rubini is an electronic engineer and holds a Ph.D. in
computer science. He installed Linux 0.99.14, is an active Free Software
user and developer, and author of the book "Linux Device Drivers". After
his Ph.D. he left the university as he did not want to just write
articles. He now works as an independent consultant in the area of
industrial use of GNU/Linux, mainly on device drivers and embedded
system as well as on microcontrollers and PCB design. Recently he has
been working with CERN within the White Rabbit project, aimed at sub-
nanosecond synchronisation of I/O cards. He enjoys working with CERN, as
they have a policy to publish all their work as Free Software and Free
Hardware.
Alessandro was already a member of the Free Software Foundation Europe
from 2001 to 2006 and recently joined FSFE again. He felt that FSFE is
the right place to have positive and constructive discussions about Free
Software. Beside his volunteer engagement in FSFE and in other Free
Software organisations, he is an active boy scout, likes cycling, is
father of two children, and listens to white noise during work.
"I am happy to welcome both Matthias and Alessandro to their new
roles," says Executive Director Jonas Öberg, "both have been
instrumental in shaping the organisation into its current form and I
look forward to the expertise they will bring as we go about
empowering users to control technology."
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= "Freedomvote": 10 questions about digital freedom for the Swiss national election =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150916-01.en.html ]
In anticipation of the Swiss national parliament elections (Nationalrat-
/ Ständeratswahlen) on 18 October 2015, FSFE Switzerland starts the
„Freedomvote“[1] campaign today, in cooperation with the "Swiss Open
Systems User Group“ (/ch/open). The campaign offers an online portal
that lists those candidates who will run for election, and their opinion
towards Internet policy, Free Software, and open data formats.
The Freedomvote campaign aims to give voters guidance about the
candidates who are running for election. For many voters nowadays, it is
important what candidates think about aspects of Internet politics, such
as freedom and user rights in the digital age. However, many politicians
still try to avoid these topics. With its Freedomvote campaign, the FSFE
Switzerland wants to change that and bring Internet policy topics and
the use of Free Software into the political agenda. All candidates are
invited to answer diverse questions affecting digital user rights,
e-voting, net neutrality, open data, educational material, Free Software
and encryption. In addition, candidates are welcome to explicitly
explain their own position and provide answers to each question in a
free text field. Based on the answers of the candidates, voters who care
about digital rights, receive help to decide for whom they might vote
for. To get the best results, it is also possible to set up one's own
profile as a voter in order to match your distinct answers with those of
the candidates.
„To answer the ten questions, candidates can use our platform directly
themself and forward the answers via their party, or directly contact
us" says Simon Wächter from Freedomvote, "what we hope for is active
encouragement of candidates from all parties to our transparency
initiative. The more who participate, the more can the campaign help to
offer good guidance for the voters." FSFE Switzerland sends out
hundreds of mails and letters this week, to ask candidates for their
participation. You can help them by additionally asking the candidates
of your region about their participation, personally.
Besides the development and provision of Freedomvote by FSFE Switzerland
and /ch/open[2], the campaign is supported by various civil rights
organisations, such as Parldigi[3], Internet Society Switzerland
Chapter[4], Opendata.ch[5], Digitalle Allmend[6], and Willhelm Tux[7].
The underlying software of freedomvote.ch is self-developed and is
published as Free Software[8].
--
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://freedomvote.ch
2. http://ch-open.ch/
3. http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/
4. http://www.isoc.ch/
5. http://opendata.ch/
6. http://allmend.ch/
7. http://www.wilhelmtux.ch/
8. https://freie.software/adfinis-sygroup/freedomvote
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= A restriction on technological restrictions =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150506-01.en.html ]
== The right to install other software on your computing devices ==
Safecast is a global project to map radiation data from around the world
and release this information openly. When the project just started out,
they used modified hardware, together with their own custom software and
a few clever tweaks, to allow anyone to participate in the project. This
kind of ingenuity, the ability to re-purpose or adapt existing
technology by replacing or supplementing its software, should be
permitted and encouraged by the law. In the example of Safecast,
fortunately nobody prevented them from being innovative.
But all of us depend on the possibility to install or replace programs
that we use every day, to increase our security, privacy or convenience
-- or just because we happen to like using a different program on our
laptop, tablet, phone, router, television, car, or on other devices.
Today, on the International Day Against DRM, the undersigned
organisations are calling on lawmakers to safeguard the right to tinker
for everyone. To make sure that the owner of every device is allowed to
replace or supplement the software in that device if they so choose,
thereby empowering owners to control their own property. Many
manufacturers today add technological restrictions that prevent device
owners from changing their devices, or having someone do so for them.
This can be in breach of the licences on the devices (as with Free
Software/Open Source Software licences, which grant the rights to use,
study, share, and improve the software for any purpose). It is clear
that any right to tinker must also be coupled with a legal provision
that prevents technological restrictions of the same right.
To successfully guarantee that device owners are in control of their own
technology, the following organisations ask that the right to tinker be
guaranteed for everyone, and that technological restrictions that
interfere with this right be limited by law.
- L'Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de logiciels libres (AFUL) <https://www.aful.org>
- Chaos Computer Club <https://www.ccc.de>
- Deutscher Konsumentenbund <https://www.konsumentenbund.de>
- Digitalcourage <https://digitalcourage.de>
- Digitale Gesellschaft <https://digitalegesellschaft.de>
- European Digital Rights <https://edri.org>
- Free Software Foundation Europe <https://fsfe.org>
- KDE e.V. <https://ev.kde.org>
- Associazione LibreItalia ONLUS <https://www.libreitalia.it>
- Open Rights Group <https://www.openrightsgroup.org>
- Open Source Business Alliance <https://www.osb-alliance.de>
- Open Source Initiative <https://opensource.org>
- The Document Foundation <https://www.documentfoundation.org>
- UFC-Que Choisir <https://www.quechoisir.org>
- VideoLAN <https://www.videolan.org>
- Vrijschrift <https://www.vrijschrift.org>
== Press contact ==
Matthias Kirschner <press(a)fsfeurope.org>
Vice President, Free Software Foundation Europe
Schönhauser Allee 6/7, Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49-1577-1780003
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Worldwide more than 50 events about Open Standards =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150324-01.en.html ]
On March 25 is this years Document Freedom Day and, depending on your
time zone, it has already started. Document Freedom Day is the global
campaign for document liberation by local groups throughout the world.
So far more than 50 groups registered their events in over 25 countries
ranging from Asia, Europa, Africa, to South and North America.
Open Standards are crucial to ensure that different computer systems can
work together, and that users can access documents regardless of the
computing platform or device they use. They are the foundation of the
Internet and the World Wide Web as well as all kinds of technical
communication.
Every year, on the last Wednesday of March and the days around, people
highlight these important aspects of our digital sovereignity by
celebrating Document Freedom Day. In 2015, Document Freedom Day is
happening around the world beginning on Tuesday 24, 12 UTC until
Thursday, 12UTC. Following the path of the sun, the first events are
happening in Japan, Taiwan and India, followed by more than 20 events in
Europe, 1 in Africa, and more than 20 in North- and South American.
Taken together, all these events make DFD the biggest campaign to
promote Open Standards on a local level.
And Document Freedom Day is growing even beyond: In the past years,
Document Freedom Day achieved to establish a view on technological
boundaries and freedoms under social aspects. More and more, Document
Freedom Day is becoming a day to raise political attention also on a
national level or global. In 2015, different organisations will use
Document Freedom Day to publish and spread political statements. If you
are not close to any event or you miss the time to pass by, watch out
#DFD2015 in the news, blogs and media, participate and help to get the
world interconnected in freedom.
You can still participate: use this day to invite your friends or work
mates for a drink or a coffee break and tell them about the
international day of Open Standards and why Open Standards are important
to you - and for everyone.
--
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>
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Jonas Öberg joins FSFE as Executive Director =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150302-02.en.html ]
FSFE has recruited long-time Free Software activist Jonas Öberg to be
the organisation's Executive Director. He joins the organisation's
leadership team on March 1.
Jonas Öberg[1] is one of FSFE's founding members, and was the
organisation's vice president from 2001 through 2008. He has
considerable experience in managing Free Software-related projects and
organisations. Before joining as the organisation's Executive Director,
he has been a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow working on the Elog.io
project to create a global provenance repository for creative works,
worked as Creative Commons' regional coordinator in Europe, lectured in
Software Engineering and built up the conference FSCONS in its original
form.
Jonas first started volunteering for Free Software in 1998, while
studying mathematics at a university level. Finding the classes in
computer science much more interesting than mathematics, he soon found
Free Software and began volunteering for the Free Software Foundation as
chief webmaster for the GNU Project. Through the years, he's also
participated in Debian, the GNOME project, and authored the occasional
software himself.
"We're absolutely delighted to have Jonas on board," says Karsten
Gerloff, FSFE's president. "FSFE's volunteers and staff are
enourmously dedicated and motivated. Jonas will channel this energy
into an even greater capacity for action. Thanks to him, we will be
able to achieve so much more for Free Software."
"We face a need to secure the legal, social and technical
foundations of Free Software, as well as continuing the work of
raising awareness of Free Software," says Jonas Öberg. "Those are
challenges that I very much look forward to tackling together with
our staff, Fellows and volunteers across Europe and elsewhere, as
well as in collaboration with other organisations."
--
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. http://www.fsfe.org/about/oberg/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Call for events: Be a part of Document Freedom Day 2015 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150224-01.en.html ]
Document Freedom Day (#DFD2015) is a global campaign for document
liberation, with grassroots events throughout the world taking place on
March 25, 2015. Add your voice to this worldwide celebration of Open
Standards, and register your DFD event for 2015![1]
Every year since 2008, people who care about a free information society
celebrate Document Freedom Day to raise awareness of Open Standards[2].
On this day activists around the world come together to talk about
access to communications, run local public activities, and generally
spread the word about Open Standards in a dozen different ways. Be part
of the movement and sign up your DFD team today![3]
== How to get involved ==
"Every year, the most important part of this campaign is being done
by people just like yourself that run local events around the world.
For this, we have made it easier than ever to organise an event"
says Erik Albers, head of the international Document Freedom Day
team. "We are offering promotion materials[4] in many languages, and
artwork you can remix, share and improve[5] to publicise your own
event."
To coordinate this year's DFD campaign, FSFE's Document Freedom Day team
has also built a shiny new website[6], making it easier for you to get
in touch with other people participating in DFD around the world, and
with FSFE's campaign staff.
If you are running a local event, we may be able to offer funding of
your local activities or your local print runs[7] - thanks to DFD's
generous sponsors[8]. To get inspired, take a look at what other groups
from Mexico to Japan did last year[9].
--
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://www.documentfreedom.org/registerevent.html
2. https://fsfe.org/activities/os/index.en.html
3. https://www.documentfreedom.org/registerevent.html
4. https://www.documentfreedom.org/promotion.html
5. https://gitorious.org/document_freedom_day/artwork
6. https://www.documentfreedom.org/index.html
7. https://www.documentfreedom.org/funding-expenses.html
8. https://www.documentfreedom.org/sponsors.html
9. https://www.documentfreedom.org/news/2014/news-20140424-01.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/
= Show your love for Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20150209-01.en.html ]
Every year on 14th February, the Free Software Foundation Europe asks
all Free Software users to think about the hard-working people in the
Free Software community and to show them their appreciation individually
on this "I love Free Software"-Day.
Like last year[1] the campaign is dedicated to the people behind Free
Software because they enable us to use, study, share and improve the
software which enables us to work in freedom. This time the focus
especially lies on the small contributions to the big picture of the
Free Software community.
"When people think of the Free Software they need and admire, many
think of large well-known applications. These softwares and the
organisations behind it are very important indeed. But we should
also think of the countless developers who spend their free or work
time to write and improve the smaller bits of software we also rely
on." says Max Mehl, this year's #ilovefs[2] campaign manager.
"Coders are no machines and their contributions deserve our respect
and gratitude."
For I love Free Software Day 2015 FSFE has several suggestions how to
show one's love to the people behind Free Software, for example:
- *Pictures* A picture is worth thousand words. The Free Software
Foundation Europe already collected some images[3] of people showing
how they express their support for Free Software developers in public.
That's a very individual way to participate.
- *Postcards* If you rather prefer to clothe your thoughts in words the
brand-new postcards enable you to do so. It's either suitable for your
valentine or for developers which software you adore. The postcards
can be ordered[4] for free just like FSFE's other promotion material.
- *#ilovefs* always had great online impact so FSFE is once again
looking forward to seeing a lot of messages on microblogs, social
networks, mailing lists, and blogs in a variety of languages.
- *Donations* to developers and organisations dedicated to Free Software
are another way how to declare one's appreciation. Invite them for a
drink or donate to their projects, to FSFE[5] or to other supporters
of Free Software[6].
"Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. It is
important that this technology empowers rather than restricts us.
Free Software contributors give everybody else the freedom to use,
understand, adapt and share the software they have written. This way
they help to support other fundamental freedoms like freedom of
speech, freedom of press and privacy." says Matthias Kirschner,
FSFE's Vice President. "We should not underestimate the power of a
simple "thank you" to motivate them in their important work for
society. So say thank you on 14th February!"
--
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/2014/news-20140221-01.en.html
2. http://ilovefs.org
3. https://fsfe.org/campaigns/ilovefs/whylovefs/gallery.en.html
4. https://fsfe.org/contribute/spreadtheword.en.html#ilovefs-campaign
5. https://fsfe.org/donate/index.en.html
6. https://wiki.fsfe.org/DonateToFreeSoftwareProjects
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues,
securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
of the FSFE.
http://fsfe.org/