Dutch government formation: open letter on Free Software and Public Money? Public Code!

[press at fsfe.org]

 = Dutch government formation: open letter on Free Software and Public Money? Public Code! =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211118-01.nl.html ]

The Dutch government is about to form itself and setting up goals for
the next term. With an open letter, the FSFE urges the coalition parties
to implement the "open, unless" policy of 2020 and thus the principle of
Public Money? Public Code!

Free Software gives everybody the right to use, study, share, and
improve software. This right helps support other fundamental freedoms
like freedom of speech, press and privacy. With the principle of "Public
Money? Public Code!" implemented, the government will improve the
transparency and digital sovereignty.

Also it will help educational institutions with digital skills,
information literacy, and improving the privacy of students and staff.
At the same time it will stimulate the IT market and thus others like
the labour market. Open code encourages cooperation with governments at
home and abroad.

First attempts to promote Free Software among public bodies, like the
"open, unless" policy of 2020, need to be followed, implemented, and
extended. We urge for legislation requiring that publicly financed
software developed for the public sector be made publicly available
under a Free Software license. Code paid by the people should be
available to the people!

You can read the full open letter in Dutch [1] and in English [2].

Uw financiële bijdrage is belangrijk voor de vrijheid in de
informatiesamenleving.

Word nu een supporter [3]   Discussieer hierover [4]

 1: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/FSFE_letter_20211116_NL.pdf
 2: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/FSFE_letter_20211116_EN.pdf
 3: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211118-01.html
 4: https://community.fsfe.org/t/758

  == Over de Free Software Foundation Europe ==

  Free Software Foundation Europe is een goed doel dat gebruikers in staat
  stelt om technologie te controleren.  Software is sterk verweven met
  alle aspecten van onze levens. Het is belangrijk dat deze technologie
  ons tot iets in staat stelt in plaats van ons te beperken. Vrije
  Software geeft iedereen het recht om software te gebruiken, te
  begrijpen, aan te passen en te delen. Deze rechten helpen het
  ondersteunen van andere fundamentele vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van
  meningsuiting, pers en privacy.

  De FSFE helpt individuen en organisaties begrijpen hoe Vrije Software
  bijdraagt aan vrijheid, transparantie en zelfbeschikking. We verbeteren
  gebruikersrechten door het opheffen van barrières voor de adoptie van
  Vrije Software, moedigen mensen aan om Vrije Software te gebruiken en te
  ontwikkelen en voorzien in middelen om iedereen in staat te stellen
  Vrije Software in Europa verder te promoten. 

  https://fsfe.org