EU election +++ DMA & Apple +++ REUSE tool
In this issue, we explain our plans to make a movie of the story of Ada
& Zangemann and we are asking for your support. A new REUSE version
released; read the FSFE opinion to the European Commission on
Apple’s new strategy to comply with DMA and its impact on Free Software.
Table of contents
Quote of the Month
“Socks. I want the socks. I love the FS socks. And if you have, others too”
-FOSDEM 2024 FSFE attendant-
Take action! Talk to your politicians, like our
FSFE Netherlands coordinator
In a couple of days, the European
citizens will choose their next representatives in the European
Parliament. Get
active to ensure that Software Freedom is part of the larger
political debate!
The FSFE Netherlands coordinator has added his voice for Free
Software to Amsterdam's digital city debate. Now it's your chance
to highlight the importance of Free Software in the lead-up to the
upcoming European Elections next week.
FSFE Netherlands coordinator question (in Dutch):"I think
in March something beautiful happened in Amsterdam: the proposal
'Amsterdam Digital Independent' (or 'autonomous') was adopted. I was
wondering: in it open source is mentioned to promote autonomy, but
also to promote transparency. I would say this aligns with the points
of the NSC. What will you do in Europe to bring that further and to
support governments and municipalities to really make progress with free and
open source software?"
REUSE v.3.1.0a1
The REUSE tool v3.1.0a1 has just been released! This is an alpha
release that includes the new REUSE.toml functionality that replaces
.reuse/dep5 (which is being soft-deprecated). The main purpose of
REUSE.toml is to resolve .reuse/dep5 scenarios as described in https://github.com/fsfe/reuse-tool/issues/779:
if a file has a header
and is also covered by .reuse/dep5, and the two sources of information
disagree about the licence, which licence applies?
In three steps, REUSE software addresses a fundamental problem with
Free Software licensing at its source: what licence is a file licensed
under, and who owns the copyright? The REUSE project consists of a set
of best practices and a tool that makes it easy and simple to add this
legal information to every single file in a project.
We are working on releasing version 3.2 of this tool soon,
so stay tuned!
Apple's approach to DMA will harm Free Software
The FSFE continues to work on the implementation of the Digital Markets
Act (DMA), monitoring the strategies adopted by affected companies
(gatekeepers), and their impact on Free Software. We submitted a
comprehensive stakeholder position to the European Commission on how
Apple cannot be compliant with DMA, and their strategy will reinforce
their anti-competitive position. Our report lists that:
- Apple should not limit business and end-users in their software freedom by
overstating arguments of integrity and security of devices.
- Apple should not discriminate against Free Software.
- Apple should not be allowed to impose DRM encryption for app distribution regarding Free
Software.
- Apple should not be allowed to impose
arbitraryinteroperability request forms, but interoperability
should be granted automaticallyand effectively.
This study received substantial contributions from experts and other
organizations including F-Droid, Onion Browser, and AppFair.

FSFE at the DMA compliance workshop about Apple
This report concludes that, while the DMA aims to promote contestability
and fairness, Apple's proposed changes may reinforce its monopolistic
behaviour by restricting software freedom, strengthening the dependency
of developers and users on its own services and products, and increasing
switching costs. The report also sets forth how integrity of
operating systems must not be used for summarily imposing restrictions
on 3rd party app stores
Ada goes to the set: let’s make an animated movie!
The illustrated book 'Ada & Zangemann: A Tale of Software,
Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream' has made it into homes and libraries
around the world. Now we need your help to reach even more kids! Help us make a film of this
story and continue doing readings to spark more
kids’ interest in coding and tinkering!
Stories from our community
On 25 and 26 May, the RoboCup France Junior took place in Bordeaux.
Nursery and primary kids presented their robots while the teens and
young adults competed with theirs in various competitions from soccer
to rescue. On Sunday 26 May, Théo (15y) and Émilie (12y), two young
French supporters, repurposed some of their local robot club (CDSR)
booth into their first FSFE booth! They proudly shared FSFE
stickers and presented the children's book Ada & Zangemann.
Also in France, in this case in Lyon, FSFE volunteer Vincent Lequertier
participated in the Days of the Software Libre (JDLL is its acronym in
French) with two readings of the illustrated book "Ada & Zangemann:
Un conte sur les logiciels, le skateboard et la glace à la framboise".
And in the Netherlands, André Ockers, volunteer and deputy
coordinator of the Dutch FSFE team, presented (in English) the Free
Software Foundation Europe at WikiconNL 2024, the annual conference on
Wikipedia, Wikimedia, digital heritage, and free access to information
in a changing world.
Do not forget to check out planet.fsfe.org; our blog aggregator
has several articles that you might find interesting!
And even more: LibreItalia, DORS/CLUC 2024 and esLibre 2024 conferences
At the beginning of May, we took part in the LibreItalia
Conference. It was a great occasion to meet and chat with the Italian
Free Software community. We had the possibility to talk about Public
Money? Public Code! and engage with a younger audience thanks to the Ada
and Zangemann story!
A bit later last month, we participated in DORS/CLUC, a conference
in Zagreb with two talks, one about "Making AI Really Open: The
Current Landscape of Free Software and AI Licensing" and another about
"When our routers are not free: the challenges for an Open and Neutral
Internet".
Finally, we travelled to Valencia to attend esLibre
2024. There we presented the competition YH4F, talked about CRA, PLD,
and liability in Europe and explained why Free Software is important
for our society!
Our talks from esLibre and DORS/CLUC were recorded so we will upload
them in our usual channels as soon as they are available!
Contribute to our Newsletter
We would love to hear from you. If you have any thoughts, pictures, or
news to share, please send them to us at newsletter@fsfe.org. You can
also support us, contribute to our work, and join our community. We would like to thank
our community and all the volunteers, supporters, and donors who make
our work possible, with a special mention to our translators who make it
possible for you to read this newsletter in your mother tongue.
Your editor,
Ana
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