159 lines
6.4 KiB
HTML
159 lines
6.4 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 Free Software Foundation Europe - FSFE</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<p id="category"><a href="/about/about.html">About</a></p>
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<h1>About FSFE</h1>
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<h2>Self-Conception</h2>
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<p>The people of the <a href="http://fsfeurope.org">Free Software
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Foundation Europe</a> (FSFE), see ourselves as Europeans from
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different cultures with the shared goal of co-operation across
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cultures and of developing a common culture of co-operation from a
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regional to a global level.</p>
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<p>We form a non-profit non-governmental organisation and network that
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itself is part of a global network of people with common goals and
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visions. We are not representative for anyone but ourselves and our
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work. Our common work and dedication to freedom in all aspects of
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digital society is what defines us.</p>
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<p>With the Free Software community growing faster every day, it
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becomes more important to keep the vision of Free Software healthy,
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solid and alive. In some cases, increased political interest in our
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issues also creates desire to exploit them for particular personal
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interests regardless of the medium- and long-term effects.</p>
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<p>Therefore, the central component of our work is keeping the legal,
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political and social base of Free Software strong, secure and free of
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particular interests. This requires deep understanding of Free
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Software and related issues. Above all it requires being primarily
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committed to the long-term vision.</p>
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<p>We understand this sometimes means having to accept short-term or
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even medium-term disadvantages in order to remain true to our
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principles, which may be hard to communicate and occasionally even
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unpopular.</p>
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<h3>Principles</h3>
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<p>We feel strongly committed to the principles of democracy,
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transparency, plurality, consistency, reliability and focus.</p>
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<p>In the light of substantial legal responsibilities and the need to
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remain decisive even in difficult times, our structure aims to
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implement the above principles as well as possible.</p>
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<h3>Structural Overview</h3>
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<p>Voluntary work and contribution
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is the fundamental on which everything rests. Different levels of
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involvement exist; level of involvement is primarily a personal
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decision.</p>
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<p>Everyone is welcome to occasionally, regularly or permanently
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participate in the activities of the Free Software Foundation Europe
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(FSFE) and make its activities their own.</p>
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<p>If you wish to become part of the Free Software Foundation Europe, you
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can join one of our teams -- either geographically or by focus --
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and take responsibility to work and act in the name of the FSFE. </p>
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<p>The country-based teams are generally co-ordinated by the members
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of the association (see below) responsible for these countries. The
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other teams are either co-ordinated by members of the association,
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members of the teams or members of an associated organisation (see
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below).</p>
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<p>If you wish to become part of the Free Software Foundation Europe,
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but do not have the time to do work, you might also choose to <a
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href="/donate/donate.html">make a donation to FSFE</a> or become a <a
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href="http://fellowship.fsfe.org">fellow</a> of the FSFE.
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</p>
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<p>If your association pursues similar goals to those of the Free
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Software Foundation Europe and wishes to establish formal
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co-operation, it can become an <a href="/associates/">associate
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organisation</a> of the FSFE, thus becoming part of the FSFE
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network.</p>
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<p>The skeleton of the Free Software Foundation Europe is the formal
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and legally established <a href="/about/legal/">association</a> with
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its chapters in the member countries. Membership in this association
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requires the highest commitment, measured in years of dedication and
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the responsibility to put long-term consensus over personal
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opinion.</p>
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<p>The FSFE association is fundamentally democratic. All parts of the
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FSFE -- members of the association, members of the teams, as well as
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<a href="http://fellowship.fsfe.org">fellows</a> and members of associate
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organisations -- are welcome to actively participate in the decision
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making process.</p>
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<p>Members of the association are usually proposed by members of the
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teams and the associate organisations from their countries. They are
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then approved by the general assembly of the FSFE association.</p>
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<p>Although voluntary contributions in terms of work and resources are
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the grounds of our work, we recognise that some of these tasks cannot
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be undertaken as part-time activities and therefore require full-time
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work.</p>
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<p>Normal employees of the Free Software Foundation Europe are part of
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the executive only and do not become part of the general decision
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finding processes.</p>
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<p>Any decision about employment/payment must ultimately be agreed upon
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by the general assembly of the members of the association.</p>
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<p>The main criterion for these decisions are the needs of the Free
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Software Foundation Europe in terms of successfully pursuing its
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goals. Whenever possible, we try to hire a person for each job that
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has already done the job without getting paid -- either within the
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FSFE structures or outside -- because knowledge, dedication and
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initiative are virtues of the FSFE.</p>
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<p>Ideally we will allow someone to dedicate themselves fully to a task
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that was already important enough to them to contribute much of their
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available resources.</p>
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<h3>Decision Processes</h3>
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<p>The people of the Free Software Foundation Europe believe in
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consensus. We always seek to base our work on the consensus -- and
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sometimes compromise -- of our active members.</p>
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<p>Also, we believe it is occasionally necessary to make quick and
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decisive actions. For this reason we have established the FSFE
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association and its extended executive committees at European and
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national levels. These provide fall-back structures and procedures
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that are determined, monitored and controlled through democratic
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processes.</p>
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<p>This approach was adopted in search of a structure that will allow
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transparency, plurality and participation, at the same time remaining
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as lightweight as possible.</p>
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<p>It ensures the possibility of participation by all parts of FSFE.
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Members of the association, members of the teams and members of
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associate organisations can all participate. This allows the Free
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Software Foundation Europe to act quickly when necessary and maintain
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a strong organisational long-term consistency.</p>
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</body>
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<timestamp>$Date$ $Author$</timestamp>
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</html>
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