213 lines
9.0 KiB
HTML
213 lines
9.0 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2024-11-08">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Vim developer Bram Moolenaar posthumously receives the European SFS Award</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Vim developer Bram Moolenaar posthumously receives the European SFS Award </h1>
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<p>
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The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and Linux User Group
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Bolzano-Bozen (LUGBZ) posthumously honored Bram Moolenaar, creator of
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the widely used Vim text editor, with the European SFS Award at SFSCON
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2024. This award celebrates Moolenaar’s invaluable contributions to the
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Free Software community.
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</p>
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<figure>
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<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/original/c8/24/f1c508abf5d52667b820f9313a95.png"
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alt="Collague with pictures from Bram Moolenaar." />
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<figcaption>
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Pictures of Bram Moolenaar: working on Vim, at SFSCON 2009, a
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phone and an antenna he helped to set up in Uganda, and the piggy
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bank he had at his work space to ask for donations. You can find
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the pictures <a href="
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https://pics.fsfe.org/gallery/hj9Tzrk93x6eEGM3KIZwoH7F">here</a>.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p>
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“This year’s European SFS Award goes to Bram Moolenaar whose mantra was
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‘Detect inefficiencies, find a quicker way, make it a habit’, someone
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for whom efficiency of computers users was crucial. His work transformed
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how many interact with computers, maximizing programmers productivity by
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minimizing unnecessary keystrokes. His tool has become invaluable for
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Free Software contributors, developers, and creators.” said Matthias
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Kirschner, president of the FSFE as he presented the 2024 European SFS
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Award during SFSCON 24.
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</p>
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<p>Bram Moolenaar is best known for developing <a
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href="https://www.vim.org/">VIM</a>, a powerful, screen-based text
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editor. Released in 1991, Vim was originally a port of the Stevie editor
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for Amiga and has since become an indispensable tool for developers
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worldwide, available across multiple platforms. Vim remains one of the
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most popular and versatile development environments, supporting
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countless programmers and fostering a dedicated user community.
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Moolenaar released Vim as “charityware,” encouraging users to support
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children in the south of Uganda through <a
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href="https://www.iccf-holland.org/donate.html">charitable
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donations</a>.</p>
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<p>
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“Educating others to empower them was also important for Bram outside of
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the technology field”, explained Raphael Barbieri, a member of LUGBZ,
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during the ceremony. “He helped children in Uganda, many of whom had
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lost their parents to HIV, gain access to education at the Kibaale
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Community Centre. He founded an NGO to collection donations for this
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work, even on his work desk there was a piggy bank so that visitors can
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easily donate.”
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</p>
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<p>
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Beyond Vim, Moolenaar was a prolific contributor to the Free Software
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movement, having worked on numerous technical projects, created a
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programming language, and developed a tool to streamline software
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installation and management. He also held official roles within software
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organisations, amplifying his impact on the Free Software landscape.
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</p>
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<p>
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This award commemorates Moolenaar’s unwavering dedication to help others
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to better understand computers and software. It gave him great pleasure
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to participate in conferences, explain the Free Software culture at his
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work place, and help others to develop and use his software. He wanted
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others to also experience this joy. "If you are happy, I am happy!" was
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one of his sayings. Moolenaar passed away on 3 August, 2023, due to a
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rapidly deteriorating illness. His legacy in the developer community and
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in social work is expected to continue.
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</p>
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<p>
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In a message from Moolenaar's family, they expressed their pride and
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gratitude: "We are very proud that Bram received this award. As a
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dedicated supporter of Free Software, we believe he would have been
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honored to accept it. We thank the Free Software Foundation Europe and
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LUGBZ for recognizing Bram's lifelong work and encourage anyone wishing
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to honor him to support children in Uganda through <a
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href="https://www.iccf-holland.org/donate.html">ICCF Holland</a>."
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</p>
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<figure>
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<peertube url="https://media.fsfe.org/w/fYwrRaaw8qQhauiG2niY3t" />
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<figcaption>Message from Christian Brabandt ,VIM maintainer, recognizing the European SFS Award.</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<h2>The European SFS Award</h2>
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<p>
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The SFS Award was first presented in 2004 to Hugo Leiter at the SFSCON
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South Tyrol Free Software Conference in recognition of his work
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implementing LibreOffice across all municipalities in South Tyrol. In
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2023, the award expanded to a European level, with the Free Software
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Foundation Europe (FSFE) partnering with LUGBZ, the award’s initiator,
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to honor those who have made exceptional contributions to the promotion
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and dissemination of Free Software across Europe.
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</p>
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<p>
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The European SFS Award celebrates developers whose work has
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significantly advanced the accessibility and impact of Free Software in
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Europe. In 2023, the award was presented to Frank Karlitschek, founder
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of Nextcloud, for his contributions to Free Software.
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</p>
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<h2>2024 Laudatio</h2>
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<p>
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<strong>Matthias:</strong> It is an honor to present the European SFS
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Award 2024. The FSFE and LUGBZ worked together again this year to find a
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winner from all nominations. This year’s European SFS Award goes to
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someone whose work transformed how many interact with computers,
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creating a tool for Free Software contributors, developers, and
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creators. A tool that new users might be a little afraid of because it
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can be tricky to exit.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Raphael:</strong> (Yes, you may know the software we’re talking
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about.) A piece of code that makes every keystroke feel like a power
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move, where “Esc” is the most important key on your keyboard. Since its
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launch in 1991, this software has spread across more than 15 operating
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systems and is installed on millions of computers around the world.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Matthias:</strong> For our winner, efficiency of computer users
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was crucial. His mantra was: “Detect inefficiencies, find a quicker way,
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make it a habit!” and he helped many people to how to actually
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accomplish this. He went on to help those he met on mailing lists, at
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conferences like SFSCON in 2009, or at his workplace. He even talked to
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public administrations, so they actually use and thereby benefit from
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Free Software. He wanted to ensure that all software which is procured
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by public administrations is published under a Free Software license for
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the good of society.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Raphael:</strong> Educating others to empower them was also
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important for him outside of the technology field. He helped children in
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Uganda -- who often lost their parents due to HIV -- to get education at
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the Kibaale Community Centre. He enabled school education for many of
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them so they can take care about themselves and their families in the
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long run. He founded an NGO to collection donations for this work, even
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on his work desk there was a piggy bank so that visitors can easily
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donate.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Matthias:</strong> There was a huge online rivalry between the
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users of his software and those on the other side: those who used
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another "operating system" and who called his software the "editor of
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the beast". This rivalry became an enduring part of hacker culture and
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the Free Software community. A huge fan of Monty Pythons, this year's
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winner did not shy away from engaging in such banter.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Raphael:</strong> His dedication was enormous. His family will
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not forget the moments, in which he disappeared on Christmas day,
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because he "needed to fix some bugs". It gave him great pleasure to
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develop and use his software, and he wanted to help others to also
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experience this joy. "If you are happy, I am happy!" was one of his
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sayings. He took every opportunity to work on his projects, even while
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in the hospital.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Matthias:</strong>With his death on 3 August 2023 the Free
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Software community lost a person who enabled thousands of people to
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contribute efficiently to software freedom. We regret that he was not
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able to live longer with his beloved turtles, finishing his plans for a
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vacuum robot that could clean stairways, fixing bugs, implementing new
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features for the users of his software, and being here with us.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>Raphael:</strong> For his remarkable contributions to software
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freedom the European SFS Award 2024 goes posthumously to Bram Moolenaar,
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the creator of Vi IMproved -- or VIM.
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</p>
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<p><strong>Matthias:</strong> So, please join us in a big round of applause for Bram Moolenaar.</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="press">Press Release</tag>
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<tag key="sfscon">SFSCON</tag>
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<tag key="it">Italy</tag>
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<tag key="community">Community</tag>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="highlights">highlights</tag>
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</tags>
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<discussion href=""/>
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<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/original/c8/24/f1c508abf5d52667b820f9313a95.png"
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alt="Collague with pictures from Bram Moolenaar." />
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</html>
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