ILoveFS needs your participation

[Daniel Pocock]

On 08/01/16 21:39, Max Mehl wrote:
> Dear Free Software lovers,
> 
> Last year on "I love Free Software" day we rocked the internet and
> showed the world how important Free Software is for us. Countless people
> in social networks and blogs praised various projects or aspects of Free
> Software. Our sister organisation initiated the cryptovalentine
> activity, and the EFF used this day to declare the importance of Free
> Software for digital security. We had comics, poems, pictures... well,
> look at the 2015 summary yourself [1]!
> 
> This year on February 14th we want to surpass it again: thank more
> contributors, bring Free Software in the broad media, reach more people.
> But we need your participation to achieve this, and there are lots of
> ways to support the campaign.
> 

One further idea comes to mind, I don't know if it is too late for 2016
though

14 February is typically a day when people are thinking about their
spouse/family, depending upon where they are in life.  I've noticed that
when people retire from some free software communities or stop
maintaining projects, they often cite "family reasons".

What does this mean in practice though?

It would be interesting to look at the relationship between free
software, volunteering and the family.  E.g. how does it compare to
other forms of volunteering that impact family life?

Clearly, the family as a whole benefits from free software, just as a
business or school is better with free software.  Other family members
don't always appreciate the benefit of what their developer-in-law is up
to though, especially when the benefits are sometimes more abstract and
long term.

Maybe FSFE could survey this issue and publicize some of the solutions
on ILoveFS day 2017 (if this year is too soon)?

E.g. at DebConf this year there were many families who attended.  FOSDEM
does a city-tour for spouses.  Free software developers often don't
receive cash for some of the voluntary things they do, but there may be
other ways their work could be more formally recognized, allowing them
to show some tangible benefit to family members.