[FSFE PR][SV] Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"

[press at fsfe.org]

 = Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!" =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200506-01.sv.html ]

The new coalition agreement in Munich commits to the principle of
"Public Money? Public Code!". The FSFE welcomes this decision by the new
government and will closely monitor the progress of the implementation.

The coalition of SPD and Greens in Munich agreed on a coalition treaty
[1] last Sunday following the local elections in March. It includes a
positive statement on the use of Free Software: the principle "Public
Money? Public Code!" should apply in future. Munich thus joins the
FSFE's demand.

    The FSFE welcomes the "Public Money? Public Code!" policy by the new
    Munich government. After the last government of SPD and CSU had
    distanced itself from the prior progressive Free Software strategy
    this is now a positive signal again. Public administrations
    following the principle of "Public Money? Public Code!" can benefit
    from collaboration with other public bodies, independence from
    single vendors, potential tax savings, increased innovation, and a
    better basis for IT security.", says Matthias Kirschner, President
    of the Free Software Foundation Europe.

In 2014, the SPD entered a coalition agreement with the CSU, and Dieter
Reiter (SPD) was elected new mayor of Munich. Munich abandoned their
"LiMux" strategy of developing an independent IT infrastructure built
with Free Software and a GNU/Linux operating system, and started to move
back to depending on proprietary software. The Free Software Foundation
Europe criticised this re-migration in the past [2]. Now, with the new
coalition of SPD and Greens, Munich seems to be back on the track by its
commitment to "Public Money? Public Code!". Still, the treaty leaves
room for improvement as it includes some typical loopholes such as the
vague limitation to software whose code does not contain personal or
confidential data. Therefore the FSFE will continue to closely monitor
the progress of the implementation of the "Public Money, Public Code!"
policy and how procurement procedures will be handled in future.

The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative aims to set Free Software as
the standard for publicly financed software. The Free Software
Foundation Europe together with over 180 civil society organisations and
more than 27.000 individuals signed the open letter. We will use the
signatures to contact decision makers and political representatives all
over Europe and convince them to make public code the standard. You are
invited to add your signature to make a bigger impact on
https://publiccode.eu/ [3]

Discuss this [4]

 == Tags ==

- Public Money? Public Code! [5]

- Public Administration [6]

- Policy [7]

- LiMux [8]

 1: https://www.gruene-muenchen.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Druckfassung_Koalitionsvertrag-2020_2026.pdf
 2: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190515-01.html
 3: https://publiccode.eu
 4: https://community.fsfe.org/t/467
 5: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-pmpc.sv.html
 6: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-publicadministration.sv.html
 7: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-policy.sv.html
 8: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-limux.sv.html

  == 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