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< title > Welcome supporters (and goodbye smartcard)< / title >
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< h1 > Welcome supporters (and goodbye smartcard)< / h1 >
< p newsteaser = "yes" >
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Earlier this year, after a public consultation, we took the decision to
change the name of our supporter program, the Fellowship of the FSFE,
and talk about our supporters by their true name: Supporters. This
is an exciting change for us, as it brings our Supporters much closer
to the organisation, by making them an integral part of the FSFE. Today,
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with the change almost complete, we're also taking the opportunity to
say goodbye to the Fellowship Smartcard, which has been a part of
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FSFE life for more than ten years.
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< / p >
< p >
These changes do not come easy for us. They have been a part of the FSFE
for as long as many of us, and many of us have at times identified as being
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part of the Fellowship. But what's become apparent is in creating the
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Fellowship, we also introduced an artificial divide between the FSFE and its
supporter program.
< / p >
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< p >
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In order to have a closer connection to the FSFE, anyone who has felt part of
the Fellowship should, and will, be encouraged to think of themselves as a
part of the FSFE. Rather than talking about Fellowship Groups, meeting
locally to discuss Free Software, we're now talking about FSFE groups.
Instead of being a Fellow of the Fellowship program of the FSFE, you will
be a Supporter of the FSFE.
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< / p >
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< div class = "captioned" style = "width:80%; margin: 1.5em auto;" > < img src = "/picturebase/miscellaneous/supporter-patch.m.png" alt = "FSFE Supporter patch" / > < footer > < p > A photo of the brand new FSFE supporter patch which all new (and old!) supporters will receive, as an exclusive gift for supporters.< / p > < / footer > < / div >
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< p >
This connection between our supporters, volunteers, and the FSFE is
important to us: as a volunteer organisation, anyone who participates in
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our work, regardless of whether they support us financially or through
volunteer contributions, should feel a part of the FSFE. You can choose
to do either, or both.
< / p >
< p >
By changing the name we also make clear that a Supporter is someone who
contributes to the FSFE, not someone who gets funded by the FSFE (as some
have thought it to mean to be a Fellow).
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< / p >
< p >
At the same time as we're completing this change, we're also decomissioning
our old Fellowship SmartCard, an OpenPGP SmartCard which all our Fellows have
traditionally received as a thank you for joining. As we say goodbye to the
Fellowship, we also say goodbye to the SmartCard, but for different reasons.
< / p >
< p >
We love the SmartCard, and many of us still use it. But the number of
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of supporters who actually use it is small. The fact it requires
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a SmartCard reader, which most people do not have in their computers,
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further limits its use, especially amongst the non-technical supporters
who increasingly join us. Most of the questions we receive about the
SmartCard are also about how to use it. Which we would love to help with,
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but the FSFE is not setup to handle support inquiries related to OpenPGP
smartcards.
< / p >
< p >
Since the FSFE is not the only provider of these SmartCards, we've decided
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to stop offering them to new Supporters. These days, you can get similar
SmartCards and other crypto devices from
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other vendors for those of our Supporters who still want to get a hand on
one.
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Without the SmartCard, the FSFE can focus its ressources better at what
is at the core of our mission: Promoting Free Software. It's also a way
for us to be more welcoming towards new Supporters: you don't need deep
technical skills to become a Supporter.
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< / p >
< p >
So with this, it's time for us to say; Goodbye Fellows! Welcome Supporters!
< / p >
< / body >
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< tag > front-page< / tag >
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< author id = "oberg" / >
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