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160 lines
5.7 KiB
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<html newsdate="2015-01-05" type="newsletter"> |
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<version>1</version> |
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<head> |
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<title>FSFE Newsletter - January 2015</title> |
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<body microformats="h-entry"> |
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<h1 class="p-name">FSFE Newsletter – January 2015</h1> |
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<h2>A revolution</h2> |
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<p> |
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The Earth has once again completed a full, customarily counted |
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revolution. Here at FSFE we have been busy throughout 2014, working hard |
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to ensure that users remain in control of their devices and that Free |
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Software may once compete on a level playing field for public tenders. |
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More information, including the extent of our limited success and our |
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future prospects, on both these issues and our other frontiers may be |
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found in our <a href="/news/2014/news-20141218-02.html">annual report for 2014</a>, |
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penned by our President <a href="/about/people/gerloff">Karsten Gerloff</a>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of our activities in |
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2014, Karsten finishes the report with a sneak peek of the challenges |
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we are going to face and overcome in revolution 2015. |
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For instance, we intend to build on the success of the |
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<a href="http://freesoftwarepact.eu/">Free Software Pact</a> to spread |
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awareness about Free Software among both the elected representatives of |
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the European citizenry and the unelected bureaucrats of the executive |
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branch. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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We also intend to invest more in our local volunteers and Fellowship |
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groups. We are hopeful that not only will we reach a wider audience and |
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have a greater impact with increased local participation, but this will |
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also be much more fun for everyone involved. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Fellowship elections</h2> |
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<p> |
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FSFE has a bit less than 1500 <a href="/fellowship/">Fellows</a> or |
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sustaining members. In addition to receiving |
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<a href="/fellowship/about/fellowship.html#youget">certain benefits</a> |
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useful for digital activists, all of them have a say in the governance |
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of the FSFE. This right is exercised by |
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<a href="/about/legal/constitution.html#id-fellowship-seats">electing</a> |
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representatives to the General Assembly, the highest decision-making |
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body of FSFE. Your temporary editor will have served his term as a |
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Fellowship Representative by this spring, and hence a new Representative |
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will be elected by the orderly Fellows from February 20th to March 6th |
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2015, 12pm. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Your outgoing Representative would like to take this opportunity to |
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invite all our Fellows to partake in the elections. The General Assembly |
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is responsible for making all strategic decisions for FSFE, and all |
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Fellows, whether true idealists or business-minded pragmatists, have |
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the same right to affect our future growth and direction, so please do |
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so. |
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</p> |
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<h2>EU: the good and the bad</h2> |
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<p> |
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On December 17, 2014, the European Parliament adopted the EU budget for |
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2015. We are very happy to report that thanks to the efforts of MEPs |
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Julia Reda (Pirates) and Max Andersson (Greens), the Parliament has |
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allocated up to a million euros to audit Free Software used by the |
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European Parliament and Commission. We hope that the institutions |
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concerned will closely work with upstream developers to best benefit |
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the public. We also welcome |
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<a href="/news/2014/news-20141219-01.html">further allocations</a> |
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that aim to allow equal participation in the digital society. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Unfortunately, we must still call upon EU institutions to make use of |
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Open Standards and Free Software, as a recent study prepared for the |
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Greens/EFA |
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<a href="/news/2014/news-20141212-01.html">has found</a> that the EU |
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Parliament falls woefully short of its democratic obligations to ensure |
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transparency and openness. Among other shortcomings the parliamentarians |
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lack access to a standards-compliant e-mail solution. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Something completely different</h2> |
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<ul> |
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From the planet aggregation: |
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<li> |
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Paul Boddie writes about the |
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‘<a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=802">unplanned obsolescence</a>’ |
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of early Fairphone devices, justifiedly arguing that Fairphone's |
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decision to overlook or deprioritize hardware support for Free |
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Software was unwise considering the abundance of information available |
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on the lack of hardware support for Free Software. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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Otto Kekäläinen |
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<a href="http://seravo.fi/2014/password-hygiene-every-mans-responsibility">writes</a> |
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about password management while recognizing that people are not |
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storage media. Otto's piece is an excellent read when taken with a |
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pinch of salt. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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Nico Rikken contemplates the right to make bad choices in his piece |
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‘<a href="http://nicorikken.eu/blog/optional-rights/">Optional rights</a>’. |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p> |
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2015 will bring a new etiquette to our Fellowship Planet. A proposed |
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draft will be presented to the Fellows for consultation at the earliest |
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convenience. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Get active: spread free software</h2> |
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<p> |
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The gift giving season has just ended. No doubt you have a friend or |
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relative unfortunate enough to have been given a computer bundled with |
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non-free software as a gift. Help them install a free GNU/Linux |
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distribution or <a href="http://www.replicant.us/">Replicant</a>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Thanks to all the <a href="/contribute/contribute.html">volunteers</a>, |
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<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">Fellows</a> and |
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<a href="/donate/thankgnus.html">corporate donors</a> who enable our |
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work,<br /> |
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<a href="/about/ojasild">Heiki Ojasild</a><br /> |
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Fellowship Representative, <a href="/">FSFE</a> |
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</p> |
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<followup>donate</followup> |
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