This page has not been translated yet. Please help us to translate this and other pages on fsfe.org, so people can read our message in their native language.

Newsletter

Municipalities using Free Software +++ PMPC tour in Italy

on  

In this issue, read about nine administrations innovating and saving money with Free Software, a Dutch coalition calling for fair digital education, and how a sustainable telecom sector is attainable with Free Software. Volunteers organise ‘Public Money? Public code!’ tour in Italy.

three pictures with groups of people

9 administrations innovate and save money with Free Software

In 2020, the city of Bühl in Germany launched "Palim! Palim!", a video conferencing platform based on the Free Software "Jitsi Meet". The city offered the platform to citizens who needed it, and the initiative was well received. Two years later clubs, citizens, and the city itself use "Palim! Palim!" daily.

three people in a video call
Interview with German administrations which use Free Software. May 2022.

Other municipalities have also shown interest in the solution. An association of nine administrations that use 'Palim! Palim!' have jointly modernised the administration, based on Free Software. Re@di – regional.digital is an inter-communal cooperation of nine southern German cities. Their common needs are met through synergy effects in collaborative development. In an interview, Alexander Gabriel and Eduard Itrich shared that the administrations could use their resources cost-efficiently thanks to cooperation and sharing Free Software.

Dutch coalition calls for fair digital education

Students should not have to use proprietary software to participate in the educational process. The FSFE joins the Dutch coalition ‘Fair Digital Education’ supporting privacy-respecting solutions involving Free Software in schools. The coalition signed a manifesto calling for more control and fairness in the digital solutions used for education. Students should be taught skills instead of products. Free Software increases code literacy and shows the value of cooperation.

How to attain a sustainable telecom sector

The right to install any software on any device, Free Software licensing, and Device neutrality serve digital sustainability as well as consumer protection measures. When users can install any software on any device this can make the difference in order to repair the device or reuse it and this way prevent it from becoming e-waste. Users’ right to install any software they want, manufacturers’ obligation to publish the full source code, and Device Neutrality are all necessary to reclaim devices. These principles should guide future policies on product design in the EU. The FSFE made this point answering a public consultation about the impact of the telecommunications sector on the environment.

Save the date!

Past and ongoing activities

 booth where two people with black T-shirts and sunglasses are smiling in a sunny day
Alexander Sander and Lucas Lasota at the FSFE booth at make-it.saarland in Saarbrücken, Germany, May 2022. Photo credit: Cuvée
group of people in front of a building
The FSFE participated in the General Assembly of European Digital Rights (EDRi). May 2022.

FSFE groups

Aarhus | A group relaunches after seven years. The FSFE local group Aarhus restarts with the aim to raise awareness of Free Software in Denmark. The first meeting will take place on 9 June.

Berlin | The FSFE local group Berlin decided to have the regular monthly meetings in person again from now on, and also met at Linux Works LUG. The group also had the regular online monthly meeting dedicated to Free Software in Education.

Greece | The FSFE country team Greece translated the FSFE’s answer to the consultation round of the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission about the position of the Network Termination Point. Join the Greek-speaking FSFE Matrix room to discuss impossible translations of technical terms and other software freedom topics you like.

Hamburg | The FSFE local group Hamburg had its monthly meeting.

two people in a booth
André Ockers and Nico Rikken at the FSFE booth in the NLLGG in Utrecht, The Netherlands, May 2022.

The Netherlands | The FSFE country team the Netherlands organised an FSFE booth in the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht, and had its regular online meeting.

Women | The FSFE Women group met for the first time in person in Berlin. They discussed search engines, chats, and password managers that make lives easier.

Zurich | The FSFE local group Zurich organised a hackathon to prepare an initiative supporting federated communication for public authorities.

Get active in Italy!

Volunteers will present the ‘Public Money? Public code!’ campaign in Italy. Meet the people behind the Italian translations of the FSFE and learn how the digitalisation of the Italian public sector can be improved. The events are in Trento on 7 June, in Bologna on 8 June, in Caltanissetta on 18 June.

Contribute to our Newsletter

If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please 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 and 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.

Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou