FSFE Newsletter - March 2017

on 2017-03

The Chronicles of LiMux

In February, the news about LiMux shook the world. LiMux, a project run by the city of Munich and completed in 2013, constitutes one of the finest examples of vendor-neutral administration based on Free Software; during its execution phase, 15,000 personal computers and laptops used by public administrations were migrated to Free Software.

In a surprise move, a coalition of parties filed a motion with minimal lead time before the city council, asking for the abolishment of the project and the return into proprietary solutions.

The response by the community was immediate and formidable. FSFE's Deputy Coordinator for Germany, Björn Schießle, describes what followed. An ad-hoc coalition was formed by the FSFE, the Document Foundation, KDE and OSBA, collecting questions around the motion and its related processes. Members of the city council were contacted prior to the public hearing and FSFE supporters in Germany and Austria were invited to engage, contacting politicians on the issue. Media coverage in multiple languages was additionally created.

During the public hearing, participating parties quoted some of our questions, and admitted they had never before received so much input from the public. The result of the hearing was a modified motion passed on February 15, calling the administration to propose a strategy for the unification of the city's client-side IT architecture by the end of 2020, building on a yet-to-be-developed proprietary client and guaranteeing maximal compatibility with the existing solutions.

The FSFE does not claim LiMux has solved all the problems. However, we do claim these problems are mostly of organisational nature, and as such must be disconnected from the technical side. Public infrastructure must remain independent of single software vendors, and invest into common assets, which are provided by Free Software.

Help us grow and make a difference in 2017 https://fsfe.org/join

What else have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE

For #IloveFS, André translated the Free Software song.
After last year's successful pre-FOSDEM meeting, the FSFE and OpenForum Europe continued the tradition of bringing together active Free Software stakeholders during a prior to FOSDEM public policy related event. This year's meeting offered the opportunity to individual citizens and decision-makers to exchange their views on the basis of practical first-hand information concerning Free Software in public policy.
For 16 years, FSFE has been present at FOSDEM with a booth, numerous volunteers and staff. Reinhard Müller, FOSDEM booth coordinator, describes in his report the great atmosphere among the booth volunteers and how an outstanding amount of merchandise and promotional material was distributed during the 2 days of the event.
In 2016, Europe welcomed three new umbrella organizations for Free Software (and hardware) projects: Public Software CIC, The Commons Conservancy, and the Center for the Cultivation of Technology. Standing by the needs of the community, the brand-new organisations provide a legal entity for projects to join, with regards to donations, accounting, grants, legal compliance, or even sophisticated governance. These administrative services allow projects to focus on technical and community matters.

Get active

We're still able to accept additional student interns for 2017. If you're currently studying and are required to do an internship as part of your studies, or if you've not yet graduated and want to do a voluntary internship, you should apply now.

If you see some news you think should be included, forward it to us. If you'd like to share any thoughts, send them to us. The address is as always newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks to all volunteers, supporters and donors who make our work possible.

your editors Olga Gkotsopoulou and Jonas Öberg FSFE