91 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
91 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2017-11-16">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Welcome supporters (and goodbye smartcard)</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Welcome supporters (and goodbye smartcard)</h1>
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<p>
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Earlier this year, after a public consultation, we took the decision to
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change the name of our supporter program, the Fellowship of the FSFE,
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and talk about our supporters by their true name: Supporters. This
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is an exciting change for us, as it brings our Supporters much closer
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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
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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>
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<p>
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These changes do not come easy for us. They have been a part of the FSFE
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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
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supporter program.
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</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
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the Fellowship should, and will, be encouraged to think of themselves as a
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part of the FSFE. Rather than talking about Fellowship Groups, meeting
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locally to discuss Free Software, we're now talking about FSFE groups.
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Instead of being a Fellow of the Fellowship program of the FSFE, you will
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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="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/small/2e5c6bf63712522a7f1a0d6758a74aba.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>
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This connection between our supporters, volunteers, and the FSFE is
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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
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volunteer contributions, should feel a part of the FSFE. You can choose
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to do either, or both.
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</p>
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<p>
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By changing the name we also make clear that a Supporter is someone who
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contributes to the FSFE, not someone who gets funded by the FSFE (as some
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have thought it to mean to be a Fellow).
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</p>
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<p>
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At the same time as we're completing this change, we're also decomissioning
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our old Fellowship SmartCard, an OpenPGP SmartCard which all our Fellows have
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traditionally received as a thank you for joining. As we say goodbye to the
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Fellowship, we also say goodbye to the SmartCard, but for different reasons.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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who increasingly join us. Most of the questions we receive about the
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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
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smartcards.
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</p>
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<p>
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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
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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
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one.
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Without the SmartCard, the FSFE can focus its ressources better at what
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is at the core of our mission: Promoting Free Software. It's also a way
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for us to be more welcoming towards new Supporters: you don't need deep
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technical skills to become a Supporter.
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</p>
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<p>
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So with this, it's time for us to say; Goodbye Fellows! Welcome Supporters!
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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</tags>
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<author id="oberg" />
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</html>
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