[Fsfe-uk] FSFE Newsletter

[Free Software Foundation Europe]

1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML
2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg
3. Free Software on Exit festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia
4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung
5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law
6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre
7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding
8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter


1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML

Microsoft has been busy trying to spin the debate on its proprietary
office format Microsoft Office OpenXML in ways to suggest that it was
open, accessible, good for archival and enrolled the help of several of
its partners to make it seem like there was no danger of lock-in. FSFE
has engaged in mythbusting the archival myth, the conversion myth and
the myth of openness and accessibility in the past month(s).

The links below provide a solid initial reference for you to explain
why MS-OOXML should be avoided by companies and especially governments.

 http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions-for-ms
 http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-converter-hoax
 http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions


2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg

The first Swedish Fellowship meeting was held at ITUniversitetet in 
Gothenburg on the 4th of July.  FSFE representatives presented the 
Fellowship, GPLv3, SELF, EU and Richard Stallman's activities in 
Sweden for 2007.  Many of the participants wanted to engage more in 
FSFE activities, and it was agreed that it would be useful to have a 
public mailing list for communication.  Immediate future plans are to 
run a workshop in Gothenburg with a focus on GPLv3.


3. Free Software in Exit Festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia

Members of the Serbian team participated in a public event related to 
Free Software and Open Standards at the Exit 2007 music festival in 
Novi Sad. Ivan Jelić participated in the "Free and Open" discussion on 
MyExit stage, the MyExit social network gathering. He spoke about the 
four freedoms and the social impact of Free Software, with 
participation from representatives of other active organizations 
related to Free Software and the regional representative of Red Hat. 
A day after MyExit stage performance, Ivan Čukić delivered a speech 
on the Agora stage, a place dedicated for Serbian and regional NGO 
sector. Ivan introduced the basic principles of Free Software to the 
audience, speaking about Free Software Network Serbia, FSFE and 
current projects and activities.

  
http://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/attitude/escape_to_freedom/free_software_on_myexit


4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung

Between the 20st to the 22nd of July 2007 FSFE Fellows Ramon Cahenzli 
and Alex Antener organised an event called Bergtagung in the Swiss 
alps. In a small village called Siat, hackers, media artists and geeks 
met for hiking, drinking beer, discussing conspiracies and grilling 
in a beautiful landscape. This is the second time this event has taken 
place, with a third planed for next summer.  For more information 
check the website: 

  http://bergtagung.org


5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law

The terms of the GNU GPL licence have been confirmed as binding once 
again, with a German court ruling that VoIP company Skype was failing 
to uphold its obligations as a distributor.  Skype had been selling a 
Free Software-based telephone without meeting the terms of the GNU GPL 
licence.  Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org, the Freedom Task Force's 
partner project, was the plaintiff in the case.  Shane Coughlan, FTF 
coordinator, pointed out in a press release that this case showed 
the important of adhering to the terms of the GNU GPL, and stressed 
that companies cannot ignore their obligations.  The FTF offers 
personal assistance for businesses using Free Software.

  http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000182.html
  http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000180.html


6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre
 
FSFE President Georg Greve has been invited to preside over the jury 
of the fourth Trophées du Libre, an award for the most innovative and 
promising Free Software projects from numerous countries. This 
important event promotes emerging technologies, thus encouraging 
greater adoption, and has a clear focus on the professional promotion 
of Free Software. If you feel that your favourite projects have not 
yet achieved the fame they deserve, now is the time to spread the word 
and to get them involved!
 
 http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/IMG/pdf/Trophees_du_libre_EN.pdf
 http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/-Inscrivez-votre-projet-.html?lang=en
 http://www.cetril.org/


7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding

Since the publication of GPLv3 a month ago, FSFE has been replying to
questions from free software projects and legal experts.  Questions 
range from how projects can migrate from other licences to GPLv3, to 
how specific clauses of GPLv3 work and how they benefit the free 
software community.  Some work has also been required to rebut 
misleading articles, but the number of such articles has been 
pleasantly low.

  http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/


8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter

You can help FSFE and the Fellowship by making sure more people know
about the Fellowship.  Please consider spreading the word at your local
user groups and with your friends in the technology world.  Don't 
forget to let them know about our Fellowship crypto card!  Maybe a 
good way to start is by sharing a copy of this newsletter with people
who might be interested.

  http://fsfe.org/en/about
  https://fsfe.org/en/fsfeuser/register
  https://fsfe.org/en/card


You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on
http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html

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