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8.9 KiB
HTML
197 lines
8.9 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html newsdate="2010-08-04" type="newsletter">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>FSFE Newsletter - August 2010</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>FSFE Newsletter - August 2010</h1>
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<p>The focus of this edition is Free Software in the public
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sector: on a national level within the United Kingdom, in the Italian region of
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Bozen, and in the Austrian city of Linz. We introduce a new definition of
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mnemonic Open Standards, and invite you to participate in upcoming local Free
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Software events.</p>
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<p>Additionally in July <a
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href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/maelle">Maëlle Costa</a> and <a
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href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/samtuke">Sam Tuke</a> started their <a
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href="/about/jobs/internship.html">internships</a>. Răzvan
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Sandu transcribed Richard Stallman's speech from eLiberatica, Maëlle created a
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<a href="/freesoftware/transcripts/rms-2009-05-22-eliberatica.html">structured
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web edition</a>, and our active translator Stelios Stavroulakis translated it
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into Greek. Matthias Kirschner gave the first in a new <a
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href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=625">series of radio interviews</a> occurring
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on the 4th Monday of the each month for the public radio station 'Dradio
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Wissen'.</p>
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<p>Europe is witnessing an ever increasing number of public administrations
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considering the migration to Free Software. Public administration represents the
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largest purchaser of software in each EU country, and is a critically important
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area of Free Software growth. Increased public sector use of free software means
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more money invested in the development and deployment of Free Software, which
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ultimately results in greater quality and quantity of Free Software
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programs.</p>
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<p>In June the Government of Malta<a
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href="http://ictpolicies.gov.mt/docs/GMICT_D_0097_Open_Source_Software_v1.0.pdf"
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> asked all their agencies</a> to prefer Free Software in all future purchases.
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In their statement they directly referred to <a
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href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">FSF's Free Software
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definition</a>.</p>
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<h2>Saving money with Free Software in the UK</h2>
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<p>In the UK, her Majesty’s Treasury asked 600,000 people working for the
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government how more savings could be made. They got 60,000 ideas out of it,
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processed them and put that into 31 proposals. Two of those <a
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href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=614">proposals relate to Free Software</a>.
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They include annulling the government’s contract with Microsoft to
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furnish government departments, and replace their products with Free Software,
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including GNU/Linux and OpenOffice. Supporting arguments for the switch included
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lower costs, improved security, and the opportunity to create a
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"more diverse spectrum of the IT industry, instead of [just] one
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corporation".</p>
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<h2>Public tendering: Bozen reconsiders deal with Microsoft</h2>
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<p>Progress in the public sector of Italy was also made this month, when the
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regional government of Bolzano accepted FSFE's request to discuss a rethink of a
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plan forged earlier this year to renew and extend their licenses from
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Microsoft. On the 25th of May Italian politicians agreed to spend 2.2 million
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EUR over the next three years on contracts with Microsoft Ireland, and increase
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the number of licenses that they had purchased. This decision was made without
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a public call for tender, making it impossible for competing suppliers to make
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offers of their own.</p>
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<p><a href="/news/2010/news-20100702-01.html">We asked the local government to
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rethink their decision</a> and accept an offer of dialogue extended to them
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by local Free Software experts at the GNU/Linux User Group Bolzano (LUGBZ). The
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local government has now <a
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href="http://www.osor.eu/news/it-bolzano-region-begins-discussion-on-open-source-strategy">accepted LUGBZ's offer</a>,
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and the first meeting is planned for the
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beginning of August. Also in attendance shall be representatives from the Free
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Software Center of TIS and the Free University of Bolzano.</p>
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<h2>Linz - region for Free Software</h2>
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<p>In the Austrian city of Linz, Free Software is already the norm, and a new
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scheme is being devised to crown it a 'Free Software Region'. Linz City
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councillors recognise the social importance of Free Software, and as a result
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are instigating a much wider programme of Free Software use and promotion.
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Government officials have identified <a
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href="http://www.netzpolitik.org/2010/linz-will-open-commons-region-werden/">7
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key
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characteristics</a> (German) that an area should fulfil in order to merit the
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title of Free Software Region. Amongst them: general public sector support for
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Free Software, regular Free Software events together with local companies and
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user groups, usage of Free Software in universities, schools and other education
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bodies, as well as the suggestion that public administration and organisations
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should cooperate with Free Software organisations, or become members of
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them.</p>
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<h2>Open Standards on the political agenda in Germany</h2> <p>Beside
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the progress of Free Software in the public sector, Open Standards continue to
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be on the political agenda. In June, Thomas de Maiziere, German Minister of
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Interior, <a
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href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2010q2/000158.
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html">demanded Open Standards for all public IT
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systems</a>, therefore supporting FSFE's long standing demands. The minister's
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permanent secretary and IT Commissioner of the German government, Cornelia
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Rogall-Grothe <a
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href="/news/2010/news-20100705-01.html">explained his
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position further in an interview</a>: "only by using Open Standards can [the
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government] obtain independence from software development companies". She also
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recognised that "maximal interoperability can be reached with open
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IT-Standards".</p>
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<h2>Now available in English: AEIOU mnemonic for Open Standards</h2>
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<p>While <a href="/news/2010/news-20100705-01.html">publishing our press
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release</a> <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/mk/?p=618">Kai Eckert translated our
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German AEIOU mnemonic for Open Standards</a> into English. We hope it helps you
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to remember a clear and meaningful definition of the term <a
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href="/freesoftware/standards/def.html">Open Standard</a>. This definition requires formats
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and protocols to adhere to the following rules:</p>
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<!--
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note for translators & editors: keep the following bullet points in sync with
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/news/2010/news-20100705-01.en.xhtml
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-->
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<ul>
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<li><strong>a</strong>pplicable (without restrictions): free from legal or
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technical clauses that limit its utilisation by any party or in any business
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model,</li>
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<li><strong>e</strong>xisting (implementations): available in multiple
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complete implementations by competing vendors, or as a complete
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implementation equally available to all parties.</li>
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<li><strong>i</strong>ndependent (of a single vendor): managed and further
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developed independently of any single vendor in a process open to the equal
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participation of competitors and third parties</li>
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<li><strong>o</strong>pen (specification): subject to full public assessment
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and use without constraints in a manner equally available to all parties</li>
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<li><strong>u</strong>ntainted (with dependencies to closed standards):
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without any components or extensions that have dependencies on formats or
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protocols that do not meet the definition of an Open Standard themselves</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Get active: Help at local events</h2>
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<p>This month FSFE President Karsten Gerloff participated in local regional
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events, including <a
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href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/?p=376">RMLL Bordeaux</a> (France) and
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Free Software events in Vitoria, San Sebastian, and Bilbao in Basque (Spain).
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For organising such events we depend local volunteers. Help us to introduce Free
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Software to people in your region:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>We have an <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/FellowshipEvents">event
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calendar</a> where you can add Free Software events (Thanks to Paul Boddie for
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implementing this great feature!)</li> <li>Add the <a
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href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/FellowshipEvents">ical calendar</a> to your own
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digital calender, and get in contact with us if you can help at one of the
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events.</li>
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<li>Contact <email>contact@fsfe.org</email> if you organise an event and you need more
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help at the booth or a speaker from FSFE.</li> <li>Help us to improve our <a
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href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/BoothCountdown">documentation for organising
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booths</a>.</li> </ul>
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<p>Regards,<br /> <a href="/about/people/kirschner/kirschner.html">Matthias
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Kirschner</a>- FSFE</p>
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<p>-- <br />
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<a href="/index.html">Free Software Foundation Europe</a><br />
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<a href="/news/news.rss">FSFE News</a><br />
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<a href="/events/events.rss">Upcoming FSFE Events</a><br />
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<a href="https://planet.fsfe.org/en/rss20.xml">Fellowship Blog Aggregation</a><br />
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<a href="/about/contact.html#community">Free Software Discussions</a> </p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="newsletter"/>
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<tag key="openstandards"/>
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<tag key="public-administration"/>
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<tag key="de"/>
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<tag key="rmll"/>
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</tags>
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</html>
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<!--
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mode: xml ***
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End: ***
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