At RMLL/Libre Software Meeting 2018 in Strasbourg, I presented the “Public Money, Public Code” campaign to one of Europe’s longest-running Free Software conferences. The RMLL/LSM brings together activists, developers, and public sector stakeholders who have been advocating for Free Software since the late 1990s, making it an ideal audience for discussing how to systematically transform public digital infrastructure. The talk built on decades of Free Software advocacy to argue for a new policy paradigm.
I delivered the opening keynote at OW2con 2018 in Paris, presenting the “Public Money, Public Code” vision to a conference focused on Open Source middleware and enterprise solutions. OW2 is a European association fostering Open Source infrastructure software, with strong connections to both industry and public sector organizations. The keynote position reflected the growing recognition that making publicly funded code freely available isn’t just an activist demand – it’s a pragmatic approach to building better public digital infrastructure.
Jake Edge from LWN.net wrote a comprehensive article covering my presentation at the 2017 Free Software Legal and Licensing Workshop about the EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED). The article detailed the concerns around Article 3(3)(i) of the directive, which requires manufacturers to ensure that only “compliant” software can be loaded onto radio equipment. This seemingly technical requirement threatened to mandate device lockdown across a huge range of consumer electronics containing radio transmitters.
At the exclusive Legal and Licensing Workshop 2017, I presented on the EU Radio Equipment Directive and its potential for extensive device lockdown. The Legal and Licensing Workshop brings together legal professionals, compliance officers, and policy experts working on Free Software issues, making it the right audience for a detailed legal and technical analysis of this directive’s implications. The talk warned about how seemingly well-intentioned radio equipment regulations could be implemented in ways that fundamentally threaten software freedom on radio-capable devices.
You cannot imagine how long I’ve waited to write this blog post. Normally I’m not the bragging kind of guy but for this year’s edition of my „I love Free Software“ declaration articles (after 2014, 2015 and 2016) I just want to shout out to the world: I have the world’s best mail client: astroid!
At FOSDEM 2017, I presented on the EU Radio Equipment Directive and its potential to become a major threat for Free Software on radio-capable devices. This talk was part of raising awareness in the Free Software community about an emerging regulatory threat that could fundamentally undermine software freedom on billions of devices. The Radio Equipment Directive (RED), ostensibly designed to ensure radio equipment compliance, contained provisions that could be interpreted to require device lockdown preventing any software modifications.
Note: This guide is also available in FSFE’s wiki now, and it will be the only version maintained. So please head over to the wiki if you’re planning to follow this guide.
Those who create, edit, and translate FSFE websites already know that the source files are XHTML files which are build with a XSLT processor, including a lot of custom stuff. One of the huge advantages from that is that we don’t have to rely on dynamic website processors and databases, on the other hand there are a few drawbacks as well: websites need a few minutes to be generated by the central build system, and it’s quite easy to mess up with the XML syntax.
Last weekend, I visited Oberhausen to participate in OpenRheinRuhr, a well-known Free Software event in north-western Germany. Over two days I was part of FSFE’s booth team, gave a talk, and enjoyed talking to tons of like-minded people about politics, technology and other stuff. In the next few minutes you will learn what coat hangers have to do with flat irons and which hotel you shouldn’t book if you plan to visit Oberhausen.