fsfe-website/campaigns/android/help.en.xhtml

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<title>Contribute! - Free Your Android! - FSFE</title>
<link type="text/css" href="/campaigns/android/android.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen and (min-device-width:1280px) and (min-width:1200px)" />
<meta name="cc-license" content="Portions of this page are
modifications based on work created and shared by Google and
used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0
Attribution License. Android is a trademark of Google Inc." />
</head>
<body>
<p id="category"><a href="/campaigns/android/android.html">Free Your Android</a></p>
<h1>Contribute and Help Others!</h1>
<div id="introduction">
<div class="image" id="hello-free-droid">
<img src="/campaigns/android/robot.png" alt="Liberated Android Robot" />
</div>
<p>
Help us to encourage people to liberate their devices and convince app
developers to release their app as Free Software.
The various Free Software initiatives also need help
and we need to ensure that they stay free as in freedom.
</p>
</div>
<h2 id="OS">Operating Systems</h2>
<p>
Even though custom versions of Android are all based on Free Software,
sometimes non-free parts find their way into these ROMs.
Help us to identify and remove those parts.
</p>
<p>
If you know about non-free software added to CyanogenMod or other versions of Android,
please <a href="mailto:android&#64;lists.fsfe.org">let us know</a> about it!
We collect <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Android#Non-Free_Parts">current information</a> in the wiki.
</p>
<h2 id="Apps">Apps and F-Droid</h2>
<p>
The F-Droid initiative <a href="http://f-droid.org/contribute/">lists many ways to contribute</a>.
Have a look!
Maybe there is something that you can do easily.
</p>
<p>
Other than that, you can help to make F-Droid <a
href="https://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=3789">preinstalled
on CyanogenMod</a> so more people can benefit from a free market.
Other proposals to spread the word about F-Droid can be found in
<a href="http://f-droid.org/forums/topic/spreading-the-word-about-f-droid/">the F-Droid forum</a>.
</p>
<h3>Adding Apps Yourself</h3>
<p>
You are encouraged to add applications To F-Droid yourself. There is a long queue
of <a
href="http://f-droid.org/forums/forum/submission-queue/">applications
that wait to be added</a>. Adding them works similar to <a
href="http://www.freebsd.org/ports/index.html">FreeBSD ports</a> and <a
href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/devrel/handbook/handbook.xml?part=2&amp;chap=1#doc_chap2">gentoo
ebuilds</a> by filling a simple recipe file which controls how a package
is build from source. If you like to add apps yourself, you should read
about <a
href="http://f-droid.org/forums/topic/adding-apps-with-git/">how F-Droid
works with git</a> and <a
href="https://gitorious.org/f-droid/fdroidserver/blobs/master/README">how
to write these so called metadata files</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="FreeingApps">Freeing Non-Free Apps</h3>
<p>
Unfortunately, there are still some applications that do not have a free
alternative. To use the proprietary app is a bad idea; it takes away
your freedom. In addition, if you settle into using the non-free
program, you won't feel the need for it to be free. Even if you don't
know how to program, you can <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/ConvinceYourFriends">contact</a> the authors
of crucial apps and <a href="https://fsfe.pad.foebud.org/en-android">ask
them politely</a> for their reasons for not publishing their app as Free
Software. Many apps are available without payments, so money is not
always the dominating reason. Sometimes one email can make a difference
and there have already been successful attempts: <a
href="https://market.android.com/details?id=cz.hejl.chesswalk">Chess
Walk</a> for example is now <a
href="https://gitorious.org/chesswalk/chesswalk">liberated</a>.
</p>
<h4>Apps That Still Need To Be Liberated</h4>
<p>
We collect apps that have no free counterpart, but are important to have
on a free system <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Android#Apps_That_Still_Need_To_Be_Liberated">in
our wiki</a>. Please add other essential apps there. People can <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/ConvinceYourFriends">contact the authors</a>
of those apps and ask them why they are not Free Software.
</p>
<h4>Responses to Objections We've Heard from App Developers</h4>
<p>
Only when we understand the motivation of programmers who keep their
apps proprietary, we know what needs to be changed in order to change
their minds and to convince them of liberating their own app. Please <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Android#Responses_to_Objections_We.27ve_Heard_from_App_Developers">contribute
your experiences</a> with developers of non-free apps here and <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Android#Responses_to_Objections_We.27ve_Heard_from_App_Developers">share
useful responses</a> to their objections.
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>Objection:</strong> If I publish my app as Free Software, I
will not be able to make money with it.
<ul>
<li> You can still offer your app in other markets and ask for money
there. </li>
<li> Offer options for people to donate. Free markets
like F-Droid can include them and their users like to reward.
Depending on your case, you might make more money with donations
than from sales. </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Objection:</strong> But when my app is Free Software other
people can distribute it without me getting profit.
<ul>
<li> That is true, but keep in mind that people who don't want to
pay you will always find ways to do so. </li>
<li> If you ask people
in a friendly non-obtrusive way and give them good reasons, they
will give you money. </li>
<li> In case other people distribute your
app without charge over markets, there are ways to stop that.
Talking to the distributor or the market operator is one way. </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<strong>Objection:</strong> I'm embarrassed by my bad code and don't
want anybody to see it (from <a
href="http://blog.flattr4android.com/?p=52">Flattr4Android</a>).
<ul>
<li> Your code is very useful to many people and it works. Of course
good code would be better, but code quality is secondary to freedom.
</li>
<li> Everybody wrote bad code at some point. Sharing it will
enable others to help you improving it. </li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="Contact">Contact</h2>
<p>
If you want to stay informed or like to work with others on a free
Android system, you can <strong><a
href="https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/android">subscribe to the
mailing-list</a></strong>. You can also ask questions or give input by
writing to <a
href="mailto:android&#64;lists.fsfe.org">android&#64;lists.fsfe.org</a>.
For technical questions about apps, the <a
href="irc://irc.freenode.net/fdroid">F-Droid IRC channel</a> is a good
place to ask. For exchange about the lower layers of Android, the <a
href="irc://irc.freenode.net/cyanogenmod">CyanogenMod IRC channel</a> is
more suitable. Everybody in this community is very friendly and loves
others to help, so don't be shy and get involved!
</p>
</body>
<timestamp>$Date: 2012-02-17 15:16:09 +0100 (ven. 17 févr. 2012) $ $Author: hugo $</timestamp>
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