Free Software Foundation Europe

Declaration of +Intent

+
+                Free Software Foundation Europe
+                Declaration of Intent
+					-- Georg C. F. Greve
+                                             <greve@gnu.org>
+
+
+
+A group of people have begun working on the concept of a "Free Software
+Foundation Europe" which will essentially be a sister organization of
+the Free Software Foundation founded by Richard M. Stallman.
+
+It has become evident that the FSF in the U.S., being in a totally
+different time and culture zone, can hardly keep in touch with the
+strong developments and currents in European Free Software. Legally
+independent of the FSF in America it will seek to grant an
+organizatory backbone for Free Software in Europe - especially for
+(although not limited to) the GNU Project. Furthermore it will provide
+the necessary local organization for political work and distribution
+of funds.
+
+In achieving the goals
+
+	- Political mouthpiece for Free Software & the GNU Project
+	- Providing an organizational backbone
+	- Raising & Distribution of funds
+
+we percieve it as absolutely paramount to maintain the true spirit and
+essence of Free Software. 
+
+We also would like to avoid creating another splinter group in the
+movement. For this reason we are in contact with Richard M. Stallman
+as the goal is to become the acknowledged "European sister
+organization" of the FSF - this will also allow Europeans to make
+tax-deductable donations to "the" FSF.
+
+Being the official sister organization brings the responsibility to
+preserve its philosophical standpoints and values. In our eyes it is
+the lastingness of all decisions and workings of the FSF that makes it
+so special; so we will apply the same long-term considerations in all
+our steps.
+
+As the recent past has shown, it is quite quite easy to stray off the
+path and lose track of those long-term goals. Hence it is crucial only
+to have members with a firm grasp on the movement, its origins and the
+goals.
+
+We felt that this responsibility made it necessary to become aware of
+the possible traps and pitfalls along the way before making our plans
+public. After over a year of discussions and building trust into each
+others integrity, we feel that it is time to bring those plans to
+life. 
+
+So far the core consists of
+
+	Georg C. F. Greve <greve@gnu.org>
+
+	Bernhard Reiter <bernhard@intevation.de>
+
+	Werner Koch <wk@gnupg.org>
+
+	Peter Gerwinski <peter@gerwinski.de>
+
+and we will set up a "FSF Europe" organization in Germany as a
+starting point. From there on we will follow a step-by-step to other
+European countries with the final plan to have a strong and sound
+structure in Europe that will work towards the goals of Free
+Software. 
+
+We will be looking for other people with a firm GNU and Free Software
+awareness especially in France, the U.K. and Spain as our first step
+of becoming truly European. If you feel you should be contacted and we
+haven't done so already, don't despair. You might consider getting in
+touch with us, but please bear in mind that being part of this
+organization requires a relatively high level of commitment and
+establishing the necessary level of trust into each other is a slow
+process. 
+
+We intend to do things right as a flawed approach might reap hideous
+results. If you want to help us, feel free to get in touch with us at
+
+	<team@fsfeurope.org>
+
+or subscribe to the general discussion list
+
+	<discussion@fsfeurope.org>
+
+If you just want to be kept update of the progress, feel free to
+subscribe to the announcement-only mailing list
+
+	<announce@fsfeurope.org>
+
+You can subscribe to the mailing lists by sending mail to
+
+	[name]-request@fsfeurope.org
+
+with "subscribe" in the subject or by using the web interface at
+
+	http://mailman.fsfeurope.org
+
+

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