179 lines
8.7 KiB
HTML
179 lines
8.7 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2021-07-21">
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<version>2</version>
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<head>
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<title>FSFE: 20 years of empowering people to control technology</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>FSFE: 20 years of empowering people to control technology</h1>
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<p>
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Marking twenty years of the FSFE, we highlight the importance of
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software freedom in Europe and important
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accomplishments since 2001. We shed light on our community with a
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birthday page where you can find community interviews and videos.
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People are invited to celebrate with us and share their own
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stories.
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</p>
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<p>
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Long before the first smartphone was introduced, it was evident to
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the FSFE's founders that it is the people who should be in
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control of technology and not vice versa. In 2001, Free Software
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experts around Europe therefore <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2001q2/000003.html">created</a>
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the Free Software Foundation Europe. 20 years later, we successfully
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concentrate our daily work on <a href="/about/ourwork.html">three main
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pillars</a> to help software freedom thrive in Europe: public
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awareness, policy advocacy, and legal support.
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</p>
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<figure>
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<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/757e1cb6599c1e9f76b202fa52033a73.jpg"/>
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</figure>
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<h2>Some highlights of the last 20 years</h2>
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<p>
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In 2021, the FSFE looks back on a successful history with
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major successes in the public, legal, and policy fields. For example
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in 2005, when our intense <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q2/000057.html">campaigning</a>
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and collaboration with other organisations persuaded the European
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Parliament to <a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q3/000109.html">vote</a>
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against Software Patents. Or two years later, when the European
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Court of Justice aligned with the FSFE, <a href="/activities/ms-vs-eu/ms-vs-eu.html">requiring
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Microsoft to publish interoperability information</a>. During that
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time, we saw that it was needed to help Free Software developers by
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clarifying the legal aspects of their work, such as the enforcement
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in case of license violations. This led to the FSFE starting to
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work with Free Software legal advocates and practitioners for legal
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initiatives in 2006.
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</p>
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<p>
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Meanwhile, the FSFE facilitates <a href="/activities/ftf/ln.html">the world's
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largest professional network on legal issues related to Free
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Software</a>, by providing an online platform as well as in-person events for network members to discuss and share information on licensing issues and best practices. In 2017, we also
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created the highly successful <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE</a> initiative to provide a
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set of recommendations that make licensing Free Software projects
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easier for developers. REUSE has been adopted by well known
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projects such as the German Corona Warn App and the KDE.
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</p>
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<p>
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Since its founding, the FSFE has been committed to running public
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campaigns and helping people to understand the benefits of Free
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Software. As early as 2012, we helped users to overcome software
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restrictions in their phones with the launch of our <a href="/activities/android/">'Free Your
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Android' campaign</a>. Two years earlier we introduced <a href="/activities/ilovefs/index.html">"I Love Free Software Day"</a> which is celebrated around the
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globe every year on 14 February. In 2017, we launched the
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extraordinarily successful <a href="https://publiccode.eu/">'Public Money? Public Code!'
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campaign</a>, convincing several public administrations to change
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their IT strategy. The accompanying <a href="https://publiccode.eu/openletter/">open letter</a> has been signed
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by over 200 civil society organisations, 31.000 individuals, and
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several public administrations like the city of Barcelona and the
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Swedish JobTech Development center.
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</p>
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<h2>FSFE20 campaign: handing over the mic to our community</h2>
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<p>
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Of course, all these accomplishments can only give a glimpse of the
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impact of the FSFE and our activities in the last 20 years. They do not tell how all these successes are the result of our
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large community that we can rely on. To at least shed light on some
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of them we created the <a href="/activities/20years/20years.html">FSFE20 campaign</a>
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this year, where we hand over the mic to our community.
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</p>
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<p>
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We have contacted people who paved the way of the FSFE since its beginning,
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such as long term contributors and past staffers. In a series of
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interviews we discuss the progress of the FSFE as well as
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technological topics. Every person who is involved in the FSFE has
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unique memories, expertise, and hopes for the future. They are all part
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of the story of 20 Years FSFE.
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</p>
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<figure>
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<a href="/activities/20years/20years.html"><img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/f1ad1379cacf2568cbd444f56cd9a395.jpg" /></a>
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</figure>
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<p>
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So far we interviewed <a href="/news/2021/news-20210204-01.html">Georg
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Greve</a>, founder president of the FSFE; <a href="/news/2021/news-20210305-01.html">Reinhard
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Müller</a>, long-term volunteer and former Financial Officer of the
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FSFE; <a href="/news/2021/news-20210420-01.html">Fernanda
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Weiden</a>, former Vice President of FSFE and founding member of
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FSF Latin America; and <a href="/news/2021/news-20210625-01.html">Torsten
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Grote</a>, Free Software developer and long time volunteer in the
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FSFE.
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</p>
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<p>
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And this is just the beginning. We will conduct several more
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interviews to shed light on 20 Years FSFE. In addition, this autumn we want to publish another dedicated birthday page whose content is entirely made from our community contributions.
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You will find more on this and the interviews on our <a href="/activities/20years/20years.html">birthday
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page</a>! Besides these interviews, you will also find a birthday
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video from science-fiction author Cory Doctorow and one by our
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current president Matthias Kirschner alongside information on
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how people can join the celebrations.
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</p>
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<div class="text-center">
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<a class="btn btn-lg btn-success mb-3" href="/activities/20years/20years.html">FSFE20 Birthday Page</a>
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</div>
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<h3 id="a-birthday-message-from-our-president-matthias-kirschner">A
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message to you from our President Matthias Kirschner</h3>
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<p>
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Although technology is ever-changing, our values have been
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consistent throughout the last twenty years. The core of our work
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is, in a nutshell: educating people on the nature of Free Software,
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highlighting its political implications, and simplifying its legal
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preconditions. Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE since
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2015, explains this in his own words in a short video.
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</p>
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<video width="100%" crossorigin="crossorigin" poster="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/685726f6b1f36fc04c0a30509631c288.png" controls="controls">
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<source type="video/mp4; codecs="avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2"" src="https://download.fsfe.org/videos/20years/210424_20YEARS_FSFE-with-intro-outro-logo.mp4"></source>
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<source type="video/webm; codecs="vp9, opus"" src="https://download.fsfe.org/videos/20years/210424_20YEARS_FSFE-with-intro-outro.webm"></source>
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<track default="default" label="English" srclang="en" kind="subtitles" src="https://download.fsfe.org/videos/20years/210424_20YEARS_FSFE-with-intro-outro.en.vtt"></track>
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<track label="Italian" srclang="it" kind="subtitles" src="https://download.fsfe.org/videos/20years/210424_20YEARS_FSFE-with-intro-outro.it.vtt"></track>
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</video>
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<h2>Celebrate with us!</h2>
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<p>
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This autumn we want to publish another dedicated birthday page whose content is entirely made from your contributions. <a
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href="/activities/20years/20years.html#join-the-celebrations">This is the time for you to join in!</a>
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Would you like to share your thoughts about your time with the FSFE?
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You can answer our interview questions. We are looking forward to
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hearing from you! </p>
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<p> Other ways you can join our celebration are to send
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us FSFE pictures from the past, or to create a birthday video and share
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your wishes for the future. Find out how to <a
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href="/activities/20years/20years.html">share your memories</a> in
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our birthday page.
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To cherish this anniversary we also produced something commemorative. Show off your long lasting dedication to Free Software by having an 'FSFE since 2001' <a href="/contribute/spreadtheword.html#fsfe-since-2001-sticker">sticker</a> on your laptop.
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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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<tag key="fsfe20">20 Years FSFE</tag>
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</tags>
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<discussion href="https://community.fsfe.org/t/707"/>
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<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/53aeebdafa0a0c83324dcafc1e4bef1c.png"/>
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</html>
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