89 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
89 lines
5.3 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
||
<html newsdate="2022-02-24">
|
||
<version>1</version>
|
||
|
||
<head>
|
||
<title>FSFE at FOSDEM: A vital Devroom, virtual chats, and waffles</title>
|
||
</head>
|
||
|
||
<body>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<h1>FSFE at FOSDEM: A vital Devroom, virtual chats, and waffles</h1>
|
||
|
||
<p>At the prominent annual conference for Free Software, FOSDEM, we exchanged opinions and chatted with people from the
|
||
Free Software community. We raised awareness on wider issues that impact our movement in the Legal and Policy Devroom,
|
||
co-hosted by the FSFE. Enjoy the videos from the talks and stay in touch via Matrix until the next FOSDEM.</p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<h2>Troubleshooting legal and political barriers to Free Software</h2>
|
||
|
||
<p>We co-hosted the Legal and Policy Issues Devroom again, together with Karen Sandler and Bradley M. Kuhn from
|
||
Software Freedom Conservancy and Richard Fontana from Red Hat. We had five interesting lectures covering a whole
|
||
range of topics: from education to international politics to the current status of Free Software in the world to EU
|
||
legislation and Device Neutrality. As in past editions we also summed up everything in our organisers panel at the
|
||
end of the day. </p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/906558005910a82b268ad223a91223b1.jpg" alt="Digital booth"/>
|
||
<figcaption>A picture from our digital booth in 2021.</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
<p>Masafumi Ohta kicked off the 2022 Devroom, <a href="https://fosdem.org/2022/schedule/event/teachingoss/">talking about his experience on teaching Free Software licenses and
|
||
compliance at a Japanese university</a>. <a href="/freesoftware/education/"> Education and Free Software</a> is not an easy topic,
|
||
as we have seen from the discussions in the chat. For example, in schools, it is obvious that we see many problems in the field of
|
||
education. Again and again, children have to use proprietary software in everyday school life. Nonetheless, we were also able
|
||
to point out positive examples that give us courage for the future.
|
||
</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Vittorio Bertola presented an update to his talk from last year on the Digital Markets Act, the new European rules for online competition.
|
||
Vittorio <a href="https://media.fsfe.org/w/2Nt8Auippqob2kSxErQ9p9">explained what had happened </a>in the meantime and talked about the impact of the new
|
||
rules that might be adopted soon.
|
||
</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Christopher Klooz <a href="https://media.fsfe.org/w/ud3ERe9C9Zdz5Lbm2bcfsD">argued</a> how with international regulations, in particular the possibility of international arbitration, we could achieve a globally
|
||
unified governance framework for Free Software. The chat participants also discussed this topic in depth, as did the organisers during their panel. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Italo Vignoli <a href="https://media.fsfe.org/w/sf3TPJfTNQ66gDwhSZfWN8">showed how proprietary software gained ground during the pandemic</a>. He pointed out the huge lobbying power of big tech, and how
|
||
this influences the global use of software.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Last but not least, Lucas Lasota, FSFE Project Manager, <a href="https://media.fsfe.org/w/vnCosTd5csWzYP5KYBA6mD">proposed Device Neutrality as the necessary principle </a>to make sure we
|
||
are able to run Free Software on our devices without artificial barriers.</p>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>In the end, the Legal and Policy Issues Devroom organisers Karen, Bradley, Max and Alex discussed many ideas from the talks and made
|
||
<a href="https://media.fsfe.org/w/kmWiEp5H7CKuU19yYEuGaU">closing remarks in a panel</a>. One of our main wishes for 2023: to have an in-person event in Brussels again.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>You can find all the recordings on our <a href="https://media.fsfe.org/c/fsfe_media/videos">Peertube instance</a>.</p>
|
||
|
||
<h2>Typing faster than talking</h2>
|
||
|
||
<p>Every past FOSDEM visitor surely remembers the legendary FSFE booth in the K building – balloons, banners, and loads of merchandise,
|
||
posters, and stickers. Our goal was to transpose this to the virtual FOSDEM, and for the second year in a row we have delivered.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>For first-time visitors, we provided a shiny <a href="https://stands.fosdem.org/stands/free_software_foundation_europe/">virtual booth presence on the FOSDEM website</a>, showcasing
|
||
the FSFE and our most notable developments in recent months. However, the real fun happened in the dedicated Matrix chat room in which we had many interesting and oftentimes
|
||
funny conversations, mostly about Free Software, but surprisingly also about waffles. And yes, we also had a lot of balloons there, albeit virtual ones.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>On Saturday evening, we opened an after hours event via video chat which provided more space for exchange of ideas and getting to know each other. It was a nice
|
||
replacement for the dinner parties we usually organise in Brussels.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We would like to thank the many FSFE community members who made the booth so pleasantly chatty and welcoming to visitors! If you liked being in touch with us
|
||
via our channels during the event we invite you as well as everyone to <a href="/about/contact.html#matrix">stay in contact with the community on Matrix</a>.</p>
|
||
|
||
</body>
|
||
|
||
<tags>
|
||
<tag key="front-page" />
|
||
<tag key="fosdem">FOSDEM</tag>
|
||
<tag key="event">event</tag>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</tags>
|
||
|
||
<discussion href="https://community.fsfe.org/t/808" />
|
||
<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/906558005910a82b268ad223a91223b1.jpg" alt="Digital booth" />
|
||
|
||
</html>
|