135 lines
4.4 KiB
HTML
135 lines
4.4 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>About Associate Organisations - FSFE</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<p id="category"><a href="/associates/">Associates</a></p>
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<h1>About Associate Organisation Status</h1>
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<p>
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Any organisation working in Free Software or a related field can
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become an associate organisation of the FSFE. Normally these
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organisations will be from Europe, but that is not strictly
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necessary. Any organisation in the world that feels close or
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attached to the European spirit could apply.
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</p>
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<p>
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Although we try to find at least one organisation to work with
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closely in every European country, there is no exclusivity. So
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there can easily be more than one associated organisation per
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country. Also associated organisations of the FSFE can still ally
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themselves with other organisations.
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</p>
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<p>
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Of course it would seem odd if an organisation associated with the
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FSFE formally allied with an organisation opposing the goals of
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the FSFE. There is nothing to prevent it from happening, but in
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that case it would seem likely that the FSFE would dissolve the
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association after discussion with that associate.
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</p>
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<p>
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There are no prerequisites regarding statutes, membership
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structures, finances or such. Associate organisations are entirely
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independent and autonomous.
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</p>
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<p>
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It does not seem useful to associate with an organisation that
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does not share the spirit of freedom and philosophy, however. So
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what the FSFE generally wants to see in an organisation that
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wishes to associate with it is a dedication to Free Software and
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its deeper implications.
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</p>
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<p>
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That also includes the wish to educate people and build awareness
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for the fundamental issues around freedom in a digital
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society.
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</p>
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<p>
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As the effectiveness of this is at least partially based upon
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using the best and most precise terminology available, we also
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wish our associates to (just like us) avoid terms that tend to
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create confusion and spread misinformation.
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</p>
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<p>
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Yes, this does include referring to the GNU/Linux system as
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"GNU/Linux" (see "<a
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href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html">Why
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GNU/Linux?</a>" for reference) and using Free Software or the
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adequate term in the local language, avoiding the misleading "Open
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Source" terminology (see "<a href="/documents/whyfs.html">We speak
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about Free Software</a>" for reference).
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</p>
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<h3>How to become an associate organisation</h3>
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<p>
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Given that the majority of members in your organisation feels
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close to the philosophy, issues and work of the FSFE and wishes to
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cooperate more closely as an associate organisation, how do you
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proceed?
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</p>
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<p>
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The basic process is very simple. You need to make a formal
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decision within your organisation about applying for associate
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status. This will most likely involve a general assembly for
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democratic organisations.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then the representative of your organisation should write mail to
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team@fsfeurope.org, informing us about your application for
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associate status.
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</p>
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<p>
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If we do not know you yet, or feel there is some question that we
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don't know the answer to regarding your organisation, we may ask
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you a few questions before having an internal discussion about
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your application.
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</p>
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<p>
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If the FSFE accepts the application, you will receive mail by the
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president or vice-president of the FSFE, making you an official
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associate.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then we will possibly create/connect communication channels (if it
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seems useful) to improve communication between us. Also we will
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give you access to the FSFE web site (if you don't have it
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already) and create your associate web area at
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/associates/<yourorg>/ where you can put information
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about/from your organisation for visitors of the FSFE web
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site.
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</p>
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<p>
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The rest we make up as we go along.
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</p>
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<p>
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If you still have questions about this, please send mail to
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team@fsfeurope.org
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</p>
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</body>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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