Public Hackathons +++ Munich supports Public Code +++ New Podcasts

Read about our demand to publish the results of publicly financed hackathons as Free Software, about a new coalition-agreement in Munich that aligns with our principles of "Public Money? Public Code!" and what happened inside the FSFE and our community. You will also read about the results of our web-sprint, about our regular podcast and an extraordinary one.

COVID-19 Hackathons: Only Free Software creates global solutions

In recent weeks we have seen many hackathons that have been organised to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, many of them have been organised by governments and other public bodies who are hosting or funding these hackathons. As with our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign, at the FSFE we demand that software resulting from publicly funded hackathons can be re-used globally by publishing it under a Free Software license.

Especially in a time when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a crisis, we cannot afford to reinvent the wheel again and again for software that helps us contain the spread of COVID-19. Global problems need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for code development. Any proprietary solution will inevitably lead to countless isolated solutions and will waste energy and time which we as humanity cannot afford in such a critical situation.

At the FSFE's hack-a-thons, everything we code is free.

Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"

Just a few years ago, a Munich government formed by SPD (social democrats) and CSU (conservatives) decided to abandon the local administration's migration to Free Software under the project name "LiMux". Since the election in March a new government has been in place and the coalition agreement between SPD and Greens in Munich includes a positive statement on the use of Free Software: the principle "Public Money? Public Code!" should apply in future.

While we welcome that the City of Munich seems to have come back on track, the agreement 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. 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 the future.

Governments publish Corona tracing apps under a Free Software licence

In early March the FSFE published its demand that the use of any tracking technology to break the chains of disease infection may only be promoted on a voluntary basis, with fundamental rights respected, and that the software be published under a Free Software license. As a reaction to this, EU member states, supported by the European Commission, released a "Common EU Toolbox for Member States" including "Recommendations for a common approach to mobile tracing apps" asking to "openly publish the technical specifications and the source code for the apps, as a way to maximise re-use, interoperability, auditability and security".

Now more and more governments, like Germany, Austria or the Netherlands, follow the FSFE's demands and stipulate to publish the code of Corona tracing apps under a Free Software license. Still, we will closely monitor the process and want to achieve that the whole development process happen transparently as we know it from Free Software - and not to publish the code only after its development.

The biggest financial impact the FSFE faces in these times of physical distancing is the cancellation of Free Software conferences, including our own events. To keep the software freedom movement solid and alive, please consider donating a part of your conference budget to Free Software organisations, including the FSFE.

Upcoming events

• On 16-17 May will be the online event Özgürkon during which Alexander Sander will present recent developments in our "Public Money? Public Code!" campaign. The FSFE is a partner organisation of the event.
• On 17.-18 June will be OW2online20 during which our legal coordinator Gabriel Ku Wei Bin will speak about REUSE and the NGI project.

What have we done? Inside and outside the FSFE

• We have a new episode of our regular Software Freedom Podcast, this time with Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder and present board member of Creative Commons. Together we discuss the different types of regulation that affect society both online and offline, such as laws, norms, the market, or architecture.
Katharina Nocun, Lawrence Lessig and Matthias Kirschner while recording the Software Freedom Podcast.
• We also published a special episode of the Software Freedom Podcast in which we talk about some of the advantages of GNU Health and how it can and already does help with the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests are Dr. Luis Falcón who is the author of GNU Health and Dr. Axel Braun who published the first live CD of GNU Health.
• The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of NGI Pointer, one of the projects within the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative. Within this role, the FSFE will provide license compliance support to successful applicants. The first call for applications to join NGI Pointer is now open until 1 June 2020.
• The FSFE co-organised the online event "Forum Bits&Bäume" with the topic "Sustainable Soft- and Hardware". Erik Albers gave a session about the role of Free Software regarding sustainability of software.
• We ran a "little web sprint" to improve some major things regarding our website. Among the visible things are the relaunch of our front page and the our team site. Many other major improvements have been happening in the background and are only "visible" in our issue tracker.
• Matthias Kirschner and Max Mehl have been covered in two episodes of the Librezoom podcast which is done by the FSFE's local group in Zürich. Max Mehl talks about security and privacy and Matthias Kirschner about "cloud" and Free Software. Both episodes are in German.

Netherlands commits to Free Software by default

In an open letter to the Parliament, the Dutch minister for internal affairs, Raymond Knops, commits to a "Free Software by default" policy and underlines its benefits for society. A rewording of current market regulations shall be proposed to allow publishing of Free Software by the government.

Stories from the FSFE Planet

• Hannes Hauswedell writes about Game-streaming without the "cloud": how to stream a native Windows game, "Divinity Original Sin 2", installed DRM-free from GOG, via Steam Remote Play from his Desktop running Devuan GNU/Linux in 4K resolution and maximum quality directly to his TV running Android.
• Dmaphy writes about a new update for the terminal emulator Terminator 1.92, now supporting Python 3.

Get Active: Convince hackathons to create global solutions

We are still looking for hackathons that are organised by public entitites and trying to convince them to publish their software under a Free Software license. If you know such a hackathon, then help us to gather more of them on our dedicated wiki page.

Please ask for others to help you or directly get in contact with the organisers yourself to make them aware that the results of these hackathons should be made ready to be used globally and adapted locally - which is only possible if the software can be used, studied, shared and improved. You can find help for your communication on the very same wiki page.

Contribute to our newsletter

If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly contribution.

Thanks to our community, all the volunteers, supporters and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.

Stay safe,

Erik Albers

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Support FSFE

Munich commits to "Public Money? Public Code!"

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 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. 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/

Support FSFE

NGI Pointer Begins Funding Calls for Projects Designed to Improve the Internet

NGI Pointer is an initiative from the European Commission designed to provide funding and expertise to Free Software projects that can improve the internet as a platform. The FSFE has joined its Advisory Board to provide assistance to these participating projects. The first call for applications to join NGI Pointer is now open until 1 June 2020.

The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of NGI Pointer, one of the projects within the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative . By doing so, the FSFE expands the scope of our work for the NGI initiative, adding our support for NGI Pointer to our current work with NGI Zero.

NGI Architects will change the underlying fabric of the Internet

The scope of topics eligible to gain funding and support in NGI Pointer will be in the following predefined areas:

Privacy-by-design Network optimization Limitations in the TCP/IP protocol suite Autonomous Network operations and control Internet at the Edge Virtualization and isolation Industrial Internet Security Trust for New Internet/Web Users Energy Efficiency Open Disruption of the Internet Architecture Free Software Made Easy For Everyone

As part of NGI Pointer’s Advisory Board, the FSFE will provide support to successful applicants with advice about how to effectively and properly make their projects available as Free Software, as well as to provide assistance to those who wish to be REUSE compliant.

We are well-placed to assist with NGI Pointer, as our involvement will be similar to the work we are currently doing in the NGI Zero (“NGI0”) project. Under NGI0, the FSFE works with a consortium of non-profit organisations to similarly provide funding and technical advice for promising software projects, albeit with different topical scopes from NGI Pointer. Specifically, the NGI0 PET action seeks to support developing technologies that enhance privacy and trust in the internet, while the NGI0 Search and Discovery action aims to support projects that improve how information is searched for and discovered online.

Get Active!

NGI Pointer has recently launched its first open call for applicants on 1 April 2020. Once selected, NGI Architects will enter into a 12 month support programme across different stages that will be tailored to each individual beneficiary’s needs. The deadline for this first open call is 1 June 2020. If you think that you fit the bill of an NGI Architect ready to improve the web and internet architecture, be sure to apply!

Similarly, the NGI0 PET and Search and Discovery actions also have ongoing calls within the same time frame. Apply here to be part of NGI0 and get support for your software project now!

Support FSFE

NGI Pointer Begins Funding Calls for Projects Designed to Improve the Internet

NGI Pointer is an initiative from the European Commission designed to provide funding and expertise to Free Software projects that can improve the internet as a platform. The FSFE has joined its Advisory Board to provide assistance to these participating projects. The first call for applications to join NGI Pointer is now open until 1 June 2020.

The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of NGI Pointer, one of the projects within the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative . By doing so, the FSFE expands the scope of our work for the NGI initiative, adding our support for NGI Pointer to our current work with NGI Zero.

NGI Architects will change the underlying fabric of the Internet

The scope of topics eligible to gain funding and support in NGI Pointer will be in the following predefined areas:

Privacy-by-design Network optimization Limitations in the TCP/IP protocol suite Autonomous Network operations and control Internet at the Edge Virtualization and isolation Industrial Internet Security Trust for New Internet/Web Users Energy Efficiency Open Disruption of the Internet Architecture Free Software Made Easy For Everyone

As part of NGI Pointer’s Advisory Board, the FSFE will provide support to successful applicants with advice about how to effectively and properly make their projects available as Free Software, as well as to provide assistance to those who wish to be REUSE compliant.

We are well-placed to assist with NGI Pointer, as our involvement will be similar to the work we are currently doing in the NGI Zero (“NGI0”) project. Under NGI0, the FSFE works with a consortium of non-profit organisations to similarly provide funding and technical advice for promising software projects, albeit with different topical scopes from NGI Pointer. Specifically, the NGI0 PET action seeks to support developing technologies that enhance privacy and trust in the internet, while the NGI0 Search and Discovery action aims to support projects that improve how information is searched for and discovered online.

Get Active!

NGI Pointer has recently launched its first open call for applicants on 1 April 2020. Once selected, NGI Architects will enter into a 12 month support programme across different stages that will be tailored to each individual beneficiary’s needs. The deadline for this first open call is 1 June 2020. If you think that you fit the bill of an NGI Architect ready to improve the web and internet architecture, be sure to apply!

Similarly, the NGI0 PET and Search and Discovery actions also have ongoing calls within the same time frame. Apply here to be part of NGI0 and get support for your software project now!

Support FSFE

NGI Pointer Begins Funding Calls for Projects Designed to Improve the Internet

NGI Pointer is an initiative from the European Commission designed to provide funding and expertise to Free Software projects that can improve the internet as a platform. The FSFE has joined its Advisory Board to provide assistance to these participating projects. The first call for applications to join NGI Pointer is now open until 1 June 2020.

The FSFE has joined the Advisory Board of NGI Pointer, one of the projects within the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (“NGI”) initiative . By doing so, the FSFE expands the scope of our work for the NGI initiative, adding our support for NGI Pointer to our current work with NGI Zero.

NGI Architects will change the underlying fabric of the Internet

The scope of topics eligible to gain funding and support in NGI Pointer will be in the following predefined areas:

Privacy-by-design Network optimization Limitations in the TCP/IP protocol suite Autonomous Network operations and control Internet at the Edge Virtualization and isolation Industrial Internet Security Trust for New Internet/Web Users Energy Efficiency Open Disruption of the Internet Architecture Free Software Made Easy For Everyone

As part of NGI Pointer’s Advisory Board, the FSFE will provide support to successful applicants with advice about how to effectively and properly make their projects available as Free Software, as well as to provide assistance to those who wish to be REUSE compliant.

We are well-placed to assist with NGI Pointer, as our involvement will be similar to the work we are currently doing in the NGI Zero (“NGI0”) project. Under NGI0, the FSFE works with a consortium of non-profit organisations to similarly provide funding and technical advice for promising software projects, albeit with different topical scopes from NGI Pointer. Specifically, the NGI0 PET action seeks to support developing technologies that enhance privacy and trust in the internet, while the NGI0 Search and Discovery action aims to support projects that improve how information is searched for and discovered online.

Get Active!

NGI Pointer has recently launched its first open call for applicants on 1 April 2020. Once selected, NGI Architects will enter into a 12 month support programme across different stages that will be tailored to each individual beneficiary’s needs. The deadline for this first open call is 1 June 2020. If you think that you fit the bill of an NGI Architect ready to improve the web and internet architecture, be sure to apply!

Similarly, the NGI0 PET and Search and Discovery actions also have ongoing calls within the same time frame. Apply here to be part of NGI0 and get support for your software project now!

Support FSFE