[FSFE PR][EN] Association For Free Software (AFFS) becomes associate of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe)

Georg C. F. Greve greve at fsfeurope.org
Wed May 22 17:43:41 CEST 2002


[for immediate release]

London/Hamburg, May 22nd 2002


    "Association For Free Software (AFFS) becomes associate of the
     Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe)"

 The FSF Europe proudly announces that the UK based "Association For
Free Software" (AFFS) is now an associate organisation of the "Free
Software Foundation Europe" (FSF Europe).

 AFFS has joined with the FSF Europe to actively support its
activities, to work for Free Software in Europe and to facilitate
cooperation with organisations in other countries.

 The AFFS currently focuses on the preparation of PR material to
inform the public and to lobby politicians in the UK. Part of this
effort is drafting an introduction to Free Software for
non-specialists and to prepare demo versions of the Debian GNU/Linux
operating system for live demonstrations.

 Through various liaisons the AFFS is actively involved in bringing
the benefits of Free Software especially to schools, other educational
institutions, politicians and - of course - the public in the UK, to
help create a critical mass of people using Free Software.

 Members of the AFFS also engage themselves in attending fairs,
exhibitions and relevant public and non-public meetings of UK
governmental institutions.  The aim is to provide a recognised point
of contact in the UK for information about Free Software. This is
achieved by simultaneously establishing links with the press, MEPs,
MPs and local politicians throughout the UK.

 "Although the AFFS is based in the UK, it fully recognises and
appreciates that Free Software is a world wide effort to bring the
benefits of the information age to everyone on this planet. This
requires international cooperation and coordination. The association
with the FSF Europe is probably the most important step yet for the
AFFS to achieve this goal."  said Dr. Marc Eberhard, a committee
member and one of the founders of the AFFS.

"Experience indicates that it is crucial for the adoption and
understanding of Free Software within a country to have the community
of that country organise itself in competent local organisations."
said Georg Greve, President of the FSF Europe. "Therefore we were very
happy to see the UK community taking the big step forward with the
creation of the AFFS and we gladly welcomed them in our network of
associate organisations. This brings UK people, press and politics the
chance to interface with Free Software and the FSF in a more immediate
way than ever before."


About the Association for Free Software:

The Association for Free Software is a non-profit association with the
primary goal of promoting the adoption of Free Software in the UK.

More information: http://www.affs.org.uk

Contact: AFFS
         c/o Luminas Ltd 
         7 Webster Close
         Norwich NR5 9DF
         UK

Phone:   0709 2312239


About the Free Software Foundation Europe:

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSF Europe) is a charitable
non-governmental organisation dedicated to all aspects of Free
Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate
in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and
redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition -
allow equal participation in the information age. 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 FSF Europe, which was founded in 2001 as the
European sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the
United States.

More information: http://fsfeurope.org/


Contact:
   Georg C. F. Greve <greve at gnu.org>
   Tel: +49-40-23809080
   Fax: +49-40-23809081

Further press contact information is available at http://fsfeurope.org/press/.



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