Past events
17 February 2021
On 17 February 10:30 to 12:00 CET, Matthias Kirschner will participate in a panel discussion about opportunities, hurdles with and incentives for Free Software in the public administration. The panel is part of the event "digital state online", focusing on topics like digital administration, digital society and digital sovereignty. Patron of the event is the German Federal Chancellor's Office.
FSFE Netherlands online get-together (online)
17 February 2021
On the 17th of Februari the FSFE Netherlands will have another localgroup meeting. Like last few times it will be held online, so that despite missing our regular physical meeting we keep in touch. The meeting will be from 20:00 until 21:00 CET on the conference server. It is usually quite 'gezellig' and so most stay until 22:30, but you can leave whenever you see fit. The meeting is open for everybody, and we'll switch to English if not everybody understands Dutch. To join the meeting please send an email to country coordinator Nico Rikken (nico[dot]rikken[at]fsfe[dot]org), he will send you the meeting link and access code.
14 February 2021
Wikidata users Ainali and Abbe98 are doing some live editing on Wikidata (in English), and discuss their thought process of what they are doing and why they do it. In this episode, since it is I Love Free Software Day, they will both look at Free Software already described in Wikidata and also how you can add more to Wikidata. You need no prior knowledge of Wikidata to follow along in this episode. Sunday, February 14, 19.00 UTC.
14 February 2021
On Sunday, February 14, 2021, the annual "I Love Free Software" day (possibly also known as "Ick lieb' dir, Freie Software" day ;-) will take place! This international day is celebrated every year to thank all the hardworking people who sacrifice their time for us so that we can use cool Free Software. This time we would like to give you the opportunity to present a piece of Free Software that you find useful, beautiful, quirky, special or otherwise interesting. You can find all the details on the event page. We will meet online, on Sunday the 14.02.2021 at 15:00.
06 – 07 February 2021
The FSFE will be present at FOSDEM, the biggest annual Free Software happening in Europe. While FOSDEM normally takes place in Brussels, this year it will happen online. Max Mehl gives a talk about the "Best practices for declaring copyright and licenses" and Lucas Lasota will speak about "Net Neutrality and Free Software: The Case of Router Freedom in Europe". The FSFE will also be present with a digital booth that you can visit to talk with people.
Apart from the digital booth, for the first time the FSFE will co-organise the Legal and Policy Issues Devroom at FOSDEM. We will also continue with our traditional pre-FOSDEM meeting the day before FOSDEM. This is our community get-together which will be kicked-off with a keynote by Cory Doctorow.
FSFE Netherlands online get-together (online)
20 January 2021
On the 20th of January the FSFE Netherlands will have another localgroup meeting. Like last few times it will be held online, so that despite missing our regular physical meeting we keep in touch. The meeting will be from 20:00 until 21:00 CET on the conference server. It is usually quite 'gezellig' and so most stay until 22:30, but you can leave whenever you see fit. The meeting is open for everybody, and we'll switch to English if not everybody understands Dutch. To join the meeting please send an email to country coordinator Nico Rikken (nico[dot]rikken[at]fsfe[dot]org), he will send you the meeting link and access code.
FSFE Netherlands online get-together (online)
23 December 2020
On the 23th of December, at 20:00 (CET) o'clock, the FSFE Netherlands will have their localgroup meeting. Like last time it will be online, so that despite missing our regular physical meeting we keep in touch. The meeting starts at 20:00 until 21:00 (CET) o'clock on the conference server. It is usually quite 'gezellig' and so most of us stay until 22:30, but you can leave whenever you see fit. The meeting is open for everybody, and we'll switch to English if not everybody understands Dutch. To join the meeting please send an email to country coordinator Nico Rikken (nico[dot]rikken[at]fsfe[dot]org) and he will send you the meeting link and access code.
FSFE Netherlands online get-together (online) (online)
23 November 2020
On the 23th of November the FSFE Netherlands will have another localgroup meeting. Like last time it will be held online, so that despite missing our regular physical meeting we keep in touch. The meeting will be from 20:00 until 21:00 CET on the conference server. Last time is was very 'gezellig' and so most stayed until 22:30, but that is optional of course. The meeting is open for everybody. To join the meeting please send an email to Nico Rikken (nico[dot]rikken[at]fsfe[dot]org), he will send you the meeting link and access code. We intend to have a sneak preview of the translated Public Money? Public Code! video before release.
22 November 2020
On 22 November, at 10:00am (CET), Matthias Kirschner, President of FSFE, will speak at this year's KNF Congress about the work of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "Public Money? Public Code", router freedom, Radio Equipment Directive, easier help with licensing or "Free Your Android". These are some of the activities FSFE has been doing since 2001 in order to enable people to use technology in a self-determined way. Using concrete examples from the areas of public relations, policy work and legal actions on Free Software, Kirschner gives an insight into the way the FSFE works and presents possibilities for cooperation. Registration is required for the KNF Congress, but it is free.
21 November 2020
FSFE BNL (Belgium/The Netherlands/Luxemburg) will meet and be present with a booth at the meeting of the Dutch Linux User Group (LUG) NLLGG in Utrecht. If you are interested in Free Software and the FSFE, pass by and get to know the people from the community and our work. Besides the booth there will be the BNL meeting from 16:00 to 17:00. The address of the venue is: Kranenburg Praktijkonderwijs, Tamboersdijk 9, 3582 TZ, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
21 November 2020
On the 21st of November, at 12:00 (CET), Alexander Sander, FSFE's Policy Manager, will give a talk at the FOSSCOMM 2020. 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. Global problems need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for code development. In this talk Alexander Sander will look at the role of Free Software during the pandemic and how governments reacted. There is no registration needed, but in case you want to stay informed you can register here.
28 October 2020
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 tackle the spread of COVID-19. Global problems need global solutions! It is Free Software that enables global cooperation for code development. During the crisis we have seen a lot of Free Software and projects trying to tackle the crisis like tracing apps, hackathons or solutions for remote working - but what will happen after the crisis?
Already before this crisis hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of people demanded that publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licenses.
On Wednesday, 28.10.2020, at 17:15 our Policy Manager Alexander Sander will talk about the advantages of using Free Software in the public sector, about the learnings from the corona crisis and why it is now even more important to use Free Software than ever before.
FSFE Netherlands online get-together (online)
28 October 2020
On the 28th October the FSFE Netherlands will have their localgroup meeting. This time it will be held online, so that despite missing our regular physical meeting we keep in touch. The meeting will be from 20:00 until 21:00 CET on the conference server. The meeting will be open for everybody. To join the meeting please send an email to Nico Rikken (nico[dot]rikken[at]fsfe[dot]org), he will send you the meeting link and access code.
25 October 2020
Digital technologies, and in particular information technologies, have become an integral part of our lives. With the spread of SARS-CoV-2, more people have adopted remote working methods and have become aware of the necessity of knowledge transmission through social technologies. Schools, universities, and all institutions in the education sector are no exception. Teachers, parents, and students are among the first to have experienced the effects of the increasing need to use information tech.
In this talk, Francesco Bonanno and Giuseppe Lipari will discuss the fundamental role of Free Software in today's education system. This talk will take place on the 25th October, at 16:00 (CEST), no registration needed.
17 – 18 October 2020
In this talk by Alexander Sander, FSFE's EU Public Policy Manager, you will hear about the advantages of using Free Software in the public sector, about our learning from the corona crisis and why it is now even more important to use Free Software than ever before.
16 October 2020
Our Policy Manager Alexander Sander will give a talk at the "openSUSE + LibreOffice Virtual Conference" (oSLO). On Friday, the 16. October 2020, at 16:30, Alexander Sander will talk about the advantages of using Free Software in the public sector, about the learnings from the corona crisis and why it is now even more important to use Free Software than ever before. In times when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a crisis, we cannot afford to spend our time on reinventing the wheel. Global problems need global solutions! Free Software solutions developed in one country can be reused and adapted in another one. Publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licences.
09 October 2020
On Friday, 9.October, at 21:00 (CEST), our Junior Project manager and Translators coordinator Bonnie Mehring joins the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) 35th Birthday celebrations. Together with other local Free Software Group coordinators, Mehring will discuss how to organize and work with local groups. You are welcome to join in and discuss with people from the Free Software community about how to involve and coordinate local groups in the Free Software movement. No registration needed.
27 September 2020
In this keynote Alexander Sander, FSFE's EU Public Policy Manager, will provide a brief overview of the Free Software Foundation Europe’s (FSFE) previous and ongoing activities to foster software freedom in Europe, on the levels of politics, legal work with enterprises, and general public awareness. The keynote will take place online on the 27th of September, at 17:00 pm, and registration is free.
18 September 2020
At the esLibre 2020 conference the FSFE's Policy Manager Alexander Sander will talk about the advantages of using Free Software in the public sector, as well as about the learnings from the corona crisis and why it is now even more important to use Free Software than ever before. In times when humanity needs to work together to find solutions for a crisis, we cannot afford to spend our time on reinventing the wheel. Global problems need global solutions! Free Software solutions developed in one country can be reused and adapted in another one. Publicly financed software developed for the public sector must be made publicly available under Free Software licences. The talk will take place on Friday, the 18. September, at 17:30.
10 September 2020
The State of the Source Summit invites Free Software communities from around the world to organize and contribute to a global conversation on the current state of Free Software: non-technical issues that foster development and community, the licenses that enable collaboration, the practices that promote contribution, and the issues confronting cooperation.
Alexander Sander will present a Lightning Talk on "Public Money? Public Code! – Global problems need global solutions!" and explain FSFE's 'Public Money? Public Code!' campaign with regard to the Corona-Crisis and why Free Software is now even more important than ever before. The Lightning Talk session will start at 14:00 (CEST).
24 – 28 August 2020
On 28 August the FSFE's president, Matthias Kirschner, will participate in a panel discussion during the Prototype Fund's demo week. The 21 projects of the Prototype Fund's 7th funding round "Engineering Trust - Building Trust" have spent the last six months tinkering, developing, testing, discarding, adapting and finally producing a Free Software prototype. They will present the results of their work during the demo week, an online event taking place from 24 to 28 August. During this week each project will be presented to the public. Furthermore, an opening and a closing event will be held on Monday and Friday, which can be watched in a live stream. On Friday 28 August from 19:10 to 19:40 CEST, Matthias Kirschner will join a panel with Ann Cathrin Riedel and Michael Weber (Ministry of Education and Research) to discuss if technology can help building trust. The discussion will be in German.
23 August 2020
Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, will talk about "The core values of software freedom" (in German) at FrOSCon. This year the event will take place remotely. Kirschner will argue that the core values of our movement are that everybody, no matter what background, can use the software for every purpose without discrimination. That everybody is allowed to study how software works. That you are always allowed to share your software with others, either to help other human beings or to make money. And that no individual, organisation or government should be forced to change their behaviour because of the software. Instead, according to our principles, they should be allowed to adapt and thereby improve the software for themselves and others. The talk and discussion will take place from 10:00 - 11:00 CEST.
18 June 2020
In the "Digitalcharta Innovationsplattform: D" adopted by the Federal Executive Committee of the CDU, distributed systems and open interfaces are to describe the path to the digital future. The paradigm used is Open-X.
The podium with FSFE Policy Manager Alexander Sander, an author of the Digital Charter and actors of the Open Community and of administrative modernization explains and discusses the idea of Open-X and examples such as Open Data, Open Source, open standards and interfaces. The event will be streamed on www.kas.de.
18 June 2020
Lucas Lasota, FSFE's Deputy Legal Coordinator, will talk at OpenExpo Europe about how Free Software is essential for the future of the Internet. In particular how REUSE can help everybody to have copyright and licensing information properly displayed. The talk will be held online. The language is English and the registration is free.
17 June 2020
Artificial Intelligence is now smarter than ever, showing human-like abilities at complex tasks such as images classification or natural language processing.
But despite its recent advances, it's still not a silver bullet. This talk will present a few challenges in the research and development of artificial intelligence that slow down its progress and adoption. In particular, problems around fairness, the training of models and how to share them will be introduced as well as possible Free Software solutions.
17 – 18 June 2020
Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, FSFE's Legal Coordinator, will give a talk at the OW2online'20 conference, at 12:20 pm, 18 June, about the work we are doing with the European Commission's Next Generation Internet Initiative. OW2online'20 is 2020's edition of the OW2Community Day, held remotely due to COVID-19 measures. This conference brings together experts from around the world who focus on open source software and its role in modern corporate information systems.
16 June 2020
Björn Schießle, FSFE's Germany coordinator, will give a talk about Free Software at the HDM Stuttgart, Germany. Originally planned as a lecture, the talk was moved to a webinar open for everyone to join. The webinar takes place on June 16 at 5:00pm. The talk will be given in German. The link to the webinar will be published on the webpage of the organizer roughly 30 minutes beforehand.
FSFE BNL online meeting
16 May 2020
As FSFE BNL (Belgium/The Netherlands/Luxemburg) cannot meet physically as we are used to, an online meeting will be held next Saturday 16th of May. The BNL meeting will start at 16:00 and is intended to end at 17:00. The meeting URL will be provided on the BNL mailinglist.
16 May 2020
Alexander Sander, FSFE's Policy Manager will give a talk at ÖzgürKon, Turkey. on "Public Money? Public Code! – Global problems need global solutions!" ÖzgürKon is an international online conference, bringing worldwide free software community together in virtual space and underline the importance of free software in the light of current developments.
04 May 2020
On 4 May 2020, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) invites to the event "Digital Sovereignty and Modernisation of Public Administration". During the event we want to present successful Free Software projects in public administration from a provider perspective (morning) as well as discuss the administrations' view on Free Software projects (afternoon). The breaks will be used to give interested people the opportunity to talk to each other in the context of an exhibition. Participation in the event is free, but registration is welcome.
ATTENTION: This event has been canceled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19 virus.
18 – 19 April 2020
IT-tinkering is only possible with Free Software, that's why the FSFE local group Berlin is going to be present with an information and merchandise booth at the Maker Fair in Berlin. The Maker Fair is a get-together of makers and visitors interested in various DIY-ideas. At the FSFE’s booth, visitors can inform themselves about Raspberry Pi as a computer for standard applications especially suitable for education, about how to ‘free’ Android-Smartphones and about email-encryption with Free Software.
ATTENTION: This event has been cancelled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19.
29 March – 01 April 2020
Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, the FSFE's Legal Coordinator, will give a talk at FOSS North. Gabriel will speak about REUSE, as well as the impact that REUSE has had on software projects participating in the Next Generation Internet Zero initiative, to which the FSFE contributes its free software licensing expertise. FOSS North is a conference that serves as a meeting place for the Nordic FOSS communities. The event will take place between 29th of March and 1st of April in Chalmers Conference Centre, in Gothenburg. Tickets are available on the FOSS North website until the day before the event starts.
ATTENTION: Our participation has been cancelled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19.
24 March 2020
Lucas Lasota, FSFE's Deputy Legal Coordinator, will present a talk about the future of Router Freedom in Europe at the Weizenbaum
Institut, the "German Internet Institute". The implementation of Router Freedom rules in Europe has followed diverse paths among countries and has been confronted by several challenges, ranging from business interests, legal hurdles and political pressure. The talk aims to raise awareness for Router Freedom and to understand the impact of future developments over civil society. It will take place on 24 March at 14:30 in room A104/105 of the Weizenbaum-Institut, Hardenbergstraße 32, 10623 Berlin. The entrance is free.
ATTENTION: This event has been canceled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19 virus.
21 March 2020
FSFE BNL (Belgium/The Netherlands/Luxemburg) will meet and be present with a booth at the meeting of the Dutch Linux User Group (LUG) NLLGG in Utrecht. If you are interested in Free Software and the FSFE, pass by and get to know the people from the community and our work. We will be there from 10.00 o'clock to 17.00 o'clock. The booth will be there from 10.00 o'clock to 15.30 o'clock and the BNL meeting is from 16.00 to 17.00 o'clock. The address of the venue is: Kranenburg Praktijkonderwijs, Tamboersdijk 9, 3582 TZ, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
ATTENTION: This event has been canceled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19 virus.
14 – 15 March 2020
The FSFE will be present with a booth at one the meanwhile biggest GNU/Linux conferences in Germany, the Chemnitzer Linux-Tage. Bonnie Mehring and her team are looking forward to speak with you about FSFE and our current projects. Of course, we also have the latest promotion material and merchandise with us.
ATTENTION: This event has been canceled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19 virus.
14 – 15 March 2020
Libre Planet is a conference organized annually by the Free Software Foundation in or around Boston, Massachusetts. This year Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, will join the conference and talk about "Public Money? Public Code! A campaign framework to promote software freedom". In his talk he will explain how the campaign framework can be used to push for the adoption of free software-friendly policies in your area.
ATTENTION: This event has been canceled to help slowing down the spreading of COVID-19 virus.
06 March 2020
Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, gives a keynote about "The core values of software freedom" at FOSS Backstage, a conference about governance, collaboration, legal and economic aspects of Free Software. Kirschner will argue that the core values of our movement are that everybody, no matter what background, can use the software for every purpose without discrimination.
22 February 2020
The "Winterkongress der Digitalen Gesellschaft" is an annual meeting about the digital society in Switzerland. On Saturday, 22 February, hackers, programmers, activists and other interested parties will meet for the third time in Zurich to exchange views on information technology and its effects on our society.
The FSFE will be present with two talks: our president Matthias Kirschner will talk about the "Ethics of Free Software", while Max Mehl, Programme Manager, will give a presentation about why there is "No IT security without Free Software". Additionally, many members of the FSFE's Switzerland team will attend. The event will take place in the "Rote Fabrik", admission fee is 30 CHF.
07 – 08 February 2020
The digital services offered and used by our public administrations are the critical infrastructure of democratic states in the 21st century. To establish trustworthy systems, public authorities must ensure that they have full control over the software and computer systems at the core of our government digital infrastructure. But at the moment this is rarely the case due to restrictive software licenses.
In his presentation our Policy Manager Alexander Sander explain the status quo and how it can be changed. From the EU Commission's Bug Bounty Program to the CDU's party conference resolution on the use of Free Software. He will explain what we can expect in the coming years and what we have to keep in mind when using Free Software.
Madrid Local group meeting in Madrid, Spain
04 February 2020
FSFE's local group meeting in Madrid city. We'll meet in Medialab-Prado, Alameda street 15, Pza. de las Letras. Lab 0/Lab 1.
01 – 02 February 2020
FOSDEM, Europe's largest Free Software conference, takes place on
February 1 and 2 at Campus Solbosch of Free University Brussels (ULB).
The FSFE will be present with multiple talks: Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, gives a talk about "The core values of software freedom" and a lightning talk about "Civil society needs Free Software hackers". Max Mehl, Programme Manager of the FSFE, talks about REUSE in "Go REUSE to license your code" and the FSFE's Deputy Coordinator France, Vincent Lequertier, talks about "Putting Artificial Intelligence back into people's hands".
As usual, FSFE is also present with a booth and presents latest news from our
work, a wide range of information material, stickers, and postcards, and
of course the latest FSFE fashion. This
time, FSFE's booth is in the second level of building K, upstairs from
where it was in the previous years. On Saturday night we invite you to come together after FOSDEM to have a social evening with our community. The location will be announced at the booth the very same day. Pass by and find out. Looking forward meeting you!
31 January 2020
The Free Software Foundation Europe will bring together the key Free Software groups of Europe a day before the FOSDEM event, in order to network and get an overview about activities of Free Software groups from all over Europe.
The Pre-FOSDEM Event will be held on 31 January 2020, 13:30 to 19:00 at MundoB, Edinburgh Street 26, in Brussels. It is for free but we would be happy if you could register.
You can register here: https://registration.fsfe.org/Pre-FOSDEM-2020
The REUSE project in Merano, Italy
21 January 2020
The Free Software community will meet at 20:00 at the Mexican Restaurant Da Carlos Harmonie, via Matteotti 11, 39012 Merano BZ, Italy, for dinner and to have a discussion round about the REUSE project.
No registration needed, if you can announce your attendance writing an e-mail to patrick@fsfe.org we will reserve a big enough table.
18 January 2020
The FSFE will be present with a booth at the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht. If you are interested in Free Software and he FSFE, pass by and get to know the people from our community and our work. We will be there from 10.00 to 16.00 o'clock. The address is: Kranenburg Praktijkonderwijs, Tamboersdijk 9, 3582 TZ Utrecht, The Netherlands. We're looking forward to have a chat with you about Free Software.