07 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0100

In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from Superrr Lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast

SFP#10: How to support Free Software and a sustainable digital infrastructure

In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from Superrr Lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim.

For this episode Matthias Kirschner and Bonnie Mehring talk with Elisa Lindinger about the survey Roadwork ahead, which evaluates the needs of those working for software freedom and a digital infrastructure for the public. What concrete actions are needed to create sustainable Free Software communities and projects? How could developers spend more time on coding and not so much time on organising events and finances, in short how could community management be better organised? And how could those who do volunteer work for open infrastructure and Free Software receive the support they need? Those are just some of the questions discussed in the podcast. All of those problems are brought into a broader sense of this topic, when we talk about how our digital civil society can be more sustainable. We discuss the four claims Elisa and her team developed and advocate for:

1. Digital civil society needs to be part of political discussions about digital policy,

2. New methods are needed of support and funding,

3. "Public Money? Public Code!" should be a guiding principle for public procurements and Open Data, Open Access and Open Source should be the base for public contracts,

4. A commitment for long-time support of widely-used software, libraries and protocols is needed to ensure their maintenance.

Together, we discuss what a sustainable digital civil society can look like and what is still needed for this aim to be reached. This episode provides knowledge and insights for all of you who want to support Free Software and create a long-lasting digital society.

Read more:

What is Free Software?

Report: Roadwork ahead

Learning from the crisis: empower civil society organisations!

Superrr Lab

Next Generation Internet Zero Initiative (NGI0)