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    <title>Look back with us on Konrad's amazing 'Youth Hacking 4 Freedom' project</title>
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 <h1 id="interview-with-Konrad">Look back with us on Konrad's amazing 'Youth Hacking 4 Freedom' project</h1>
 <p>Youth Hacking 4 Freedom inspires European youth to use their skills for 
 change. Konrad's learning platform for the amateur radio service exam is 
 one example. Let's break down his project and see how YH4F helped him 
 bring his vision to life. Join us in the exciting world of YH4F!
 </p>
 <p>The second edition of the "Youth Hacking 4 Freedom" contest is currently
 underway, with participants hard at work on their projects. To keep you
 motivated and showcase the amazing ideas being developed, we have been 
 speaking to some of the first edition contestants over the past few 
 months. One of them is Konrad, who developed a learning platform to help
 people study for the "Amateur Radio Service" exam, which is a 
 requirement for using the "Amateur Radio Service". Let's hear from 
 Konrad about his experience in the contest, his project, and the 
 inspiration behind it! Did you know that he is also participating in 
 this second edition?
 </p>
 <p>
 Konrad has been programming for a while now and still enjoys it very 
 much. In addition to programming, he also likes to build practical 
 projects that make a real impact and help others.
 </p>
 <p><strong><span style="color:#3394ce"> FSFE</span></strong>: Hello 
  Konrad. Thank you for your time.</p>
   <p>
   <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: What was 
   your first experience with programming, and how did you start 
   learning to program?
   </p>
        <p><strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>:
        Back in 2017, I got my first laptop that was able to browse the 
        internet. The creative possibilities seemed endless back then, so I 
        started tinkering around with lots of different programs and tools. I 
        used the pre-installed music software a lot and created short films of 
        my village.</p>
 <p>After a while, I discovered Minecraft, and a whole universe opened up to
 me. I was now able to create whatever I wanted, and secretly, I was 
 learning the core concepts of programming by using command blocks in the
 game.</p> 
    <p>After some time, I realized that the platform was inaccessible for most 
    people and started looking into web development. At the time, HTML, CSS,
 and JavaScript overwhelmed me, and it took a whole year until I became 
 fluent in using HTML. My first programming project was a small weather 
 station that I built with a Raspberry Pi, which saved the data to a 
 MySQL database. At that point, I also got in touch with Linux for the 
 first time while using the Raspberry Pi. The simplicity was completely 
 new to me, and I was astounded by the flexibility the whole system 
 offered.
    </p>
 <p> 
    <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Can you 
    remember your first contact with Free Software?</p>
 <p>
 <strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: Before I 
 used the Raspberry Pi, I had no clue what Free Software meant 
 or what positive aspects it offered. But as I delved further into the 
 matter, I noticed that most of the tools I used and loved were Free 
 Software. At that point, I also installed Linux as the main operating 
 system on my first computer and started wondering how it all worked in 
 the background. I discovered a whole new world of software and 
 communities passionate about their beliefs.</p>
  <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: What led you 
  to participate in the first edition of YH4F, and why did you decide to 
  join the second edition as well?
  </p>
         <p>
    <strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: Since I 
    had some experience in developing software and using versioning 
    tools like Git, I took the opportunity to practice and improve my skills
 even further. During the first round, I gained a lot of insight into 
 the background of the Free Software Foundation and learned why not every
 software that appears to be open actually is. I also learned a lot 
 about decentralization and how to write good documentation. Lastly, I 
 was interested in meeting other like-minded people, so I joined the 
 Matrix channel and had a lot of fun discussing topics related to Free Software.</p>
    <p>
    <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: What do 
    you enjoy most about the contest?
    </p>
        <p>
    <strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: 
    Honestly, I mostly enjoyed the company and talking to other people and 
    getting to know their project, their beliefs and values when it 
    comes to software development.
    </p> 
    <p>
    <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Your 
    project from the first round was connected to amateur radio 
    services. Could you briefly explain where your interest for amateur 
    radio services comes from and how it works?
    </p>
  	<p><strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: Amateur 
  	radio, also known as ham radio (which is not actually related to
 the food), is a strictly non-commercial radio service that is available
 throughout the world and supports international understanding. Usage of
 encryption or proprietary standards is heavily prohibited in amateur 
 radio worldwide.</p>
 <p>
 So you can imagine amateur radio as an Free Software radio service that is
 used for talking, exchanging information, or scientific experiments. I 
 was always interested in the technical aspects of networks, and ham 
 radio is a very practical hobby where you can build your own networks 
 from scratch and experiment a lot.
 </p>
 	<figure> <img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/3a/db/bb369aad4dc7f01fcea3ca8e9701.jpeg"
 alt="Konrad's amateur radio setup"/>
 <figcaption>Konrad's amateur radio setup: The picture is licensed under CC-BY-SA and the license holder is Konrad.</figcaption>
 </figure>
 	<p>There are, for example, projects throughout Europe where a 
 	non-commercial alternative to the internet is being built up. So I see a
 deep connection between the things I liked when playing around with my 
 computer and the things that are done in amateur radio. But I can only 
 scratch the surface here; there is so much more to it than you might 
 think at first. There is even a radio station on board the International
 Space Station, and if you are lucky, you might catch the astronauts in 
 their free time and chat with them for the duration of the overpass.
 	</p>
 	<p>
 	<strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Are there any 
 	requirements for people to join a conversation via radio services?
 	</p>
  	<p><strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: Radio, in 
  	general, is heavily regulated around the world because the 
  	frequency of a radio wave can only be used once by a person or company. 
  	As a result, amateur radio is in constant rivalry with big companies 
  	that would rather use the frequencies commercially, considering them as 
  	valuable resources.
  	</p>
  	<p>
  	Amateur Radio, however, sets itself apart by being open to anyone with a
 license that can be obtained in a month of learning. But even without a
 license, there are still many ways to participate. For example, you can
 build antennas and listen to amateur radio stations from all over the 
 world using only a single wire. It's easier than it might seem at first.
  	</p>
  	 <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Could you 
  explain a bit more about your project?
  	 </p>
 	<p>
  	<strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: My 
  	project from the first round was also related to amateur radio, as I 
  	was studying for the exam at that time. The exam is built up by 
  	multiple-choice questions here in Germany, which are available as a PDF 
  	download on the website of the federal agency.</p>
  	<p>I started looking for ways to study the questions but only found 
  	software developed for Windows or costly proprietary software. So, I 
  	searched for the question data that was used in those apps and found a 
  	modified version that was slightly more convenient to work with. I 
  	wanted to assist people who were in the same situation as me by 
  	developing a learning platform for the exam.
  	</p>
  	<p>
  	I chose Flutter as the development tool because it can be used on all 
  	major platforms such as Linux, Android, or iOS. Since this was my 
  	first project written in Flutter, I learned a lot on my way to the 
  	finished platform. I was most proud of the user progress tracking 
  	feature that helps users identify how much they still need to learn.
  	</p>
 	 <p>
 	 <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: What motivated you to free this kind of data?
 	 </p>
 	<p>
  	<strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: As I 
  	mentioned before, the apps I saw were either outdated, proprietary,
 or difficult to use. My project aimed to motivate more people to get 
 into amateur radio by lowering the entry barrier. I believe this data 
 should also be available in a machine-readable format, such as JSON or 
 at least CSV. That's why I thought FSFE might be interested in my 
 project since I saw their campaign <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">"Public Money? Public Code!"</a>.
  	</p>  	
  	<p>
 <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Did you 
 encounter any problems during the coding period?</p>
 <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: Especially 
  the data processing was difficult at first because the 
  dataset was huge and the conversions were often challenging. 
  Additionally, implementing the database feature for progress tracking 
  was also a challenge. Overall, getting used to Flutter and Dart as new 
  tools was difficult but rewarding, and I had a lot of fun learning both.
 </p>
 <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: And last but 
  not least, what is your current project for the second round of YH4F</p>
 <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#d0f400">Konrad</span></strong>: This year 
  I am pretty busy, but nevertheless I am working on converting a 
  weather probe that is launched by weather services to observe the 
  atmosphere and can be recovered by anyone.</p>
 <p> I already recovered two of 
  them because one landed in the neighbouring village. Now, I am trying on 
  flashing and building a new firmware for me to use the probe as a 
  weather station. So back to the roots.
 </p>
 <p>
  <strong><span style="color:#3394ce">FSFE</span></strong>: Thank you, 
  Konrad, for your time, and we wish you good luck in this year's 
  competition.
 </p>
 <p>
 The second edition of YH4F is currently in its coding period, offering 
 teenagers between 14 and 18 the opportunity to challenge themselves, 
 connect with like-minded peers, and compete for cash prizes. This 
 contest, run by the Free Software Foundation Europe, aims to inspire young people by 
 providing them with a fair and enjoyable platform to hack software 
 projects and interact with fellow young developers from various parts 
 of Europe. 
 </p>
 <p>
 You can find more information at the <a href="/activities/yh4f/">YH4F website</a>.
 </p>
 </body>
 <tags>
 <tag key="front-page"/>
 <tag key="interview">Interview</tag>
 <tag key="yh4f">Youth Hacking 4 Freedom</tag>
 </tags>
 <discussion href="https://community.fsfe.org/t/1027"/>
 <image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/9594f30fb15a8edf5082d60baac594bd.png" alt="Three young hackers are tinkering on their laptops"/>
 </html>