Free software groups April and FSFE say
Europe’s two main free software advocacy groups, April and the FSFE, argue that software specifically developed for or by the public sector should be made available as free software. The two NGOs will continue to push Europe’s public administrations to increase the use of free and open source software.
“For 2016, our focus is on pushing our demand for all publicly funded software to be published as free software”, writes the FSFE in its annual report, published online on 24 February. “The European Commission recognises the value of public data”, says Jonas Öberg, FSFE’s executive director. “Free software is as much a driver for innovation as is open data.”
April argues that the source code of software written for or by public authorities is administrative information which should be made public just like other government documents. April published its 2015 report on 13 February.
“Publishing code does not make it free software”, warns April executive director Frédéric Couchet, “but it is a first step.” April wants an upcoming Digital Law to instruct public services to give priority to free software.
Open standards
The April NGO, founded in 1996, has 4377 members in 51 countries, including 9 public administrations such as the cities of Paris and Grenoble and the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur province.
The FSFE, which started in 2001, has over a thousand active FSFE fellows in 42 countries, and has a network of over 10,000 supporters.
In their reports, both NGOs extensively describe their many free software advocacy activities. The two organisations interact with local, national and European public administrations and regularly collaborate in their advocacy. For example, on the occasion of the 2015 Free Software Day, the two groups joined others in calling on the European Commission to strengthen its open standards policy.
More information:
April annual report (in French)
April annual report, summary
FSFE annual report
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Excellent initiative