At a time when The EU is seeking to cut FOSS funding to funds like @NGIZero
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Wendy M. Grossman last edited by
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by [email protected]
One way you can let the EU know that you'd like more funding into the FOSS Grassroots which includes several Fediverse Projects, is to fill in the consultation that @fsfe has written about and has a guide on how to fill it in.
The deadline is September 20th.
Free Software Foundation Europe (@[email protected])
The @[email protected] has cut important funds for #FreeSoftware in a non-transparent decision. π₯ Raise your voice and take part in an ongoing consultation to ask for sustainable long-term funds for software freedom! We explain why and how: https://fsfe.org/news/2024/news-20240911-02.html
Mastodon (mastodon.social)
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Emelia πΈπ»replied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Emelia πΈπ» last edited by
A small amount really. Like surely like the EU could find more change down the back of the couch.
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Wendy M. Grossmanreplied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @thisismissem @EC_NGI Sorry, what's the β¬140 million?
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Wendy M. Grossman last edited by
@wendyg @thisismissem @EC_NGI The amount that NGI has invested in Open Source Projects.
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Wendy M. Grossmanreplied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @thisismissem @EC_NGI Compared to what we got out of it collectively, that's incredibly cheap.
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Wendy M. Grossman last edited by
@wendyg @thisismissem Like so many of us are really cheap.
But the work that @NGIZero supports is amazing, so many projects. Lot of us still in an early stage. But through it folks like me and MissEm get a bit of funding.
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Evilham :antifa:replied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @wendyg @thisismissem @NGIZero
"So many of us are really cheap" made me lol so badly.
Because, yes. Compared to the amount of tax money we give out to MS and AMZ, we are incredibly effective with little money.
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Evilham :antifa: last edited by
@evilham @wendyg @thisismissem @NGIZero We're spread out across Europe, not all of us live in big cities.
Some of us work in remote areas, online.
At a time when the EU was pondering how to stop the depopulation of areas due to brain drain, what we do seems like it could be a part of the solution.
Not as attractive as big or π¦.
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Wendy M. Grossmanreplied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @evilham @thisismissem @NGIZero When I said "we" I meant everyone - the economy built on FOSS benefits all of society. Cheap even at a bigger price!
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Leah Rowe is not a Rowebotreplied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @NGIZero A better question is: do we want critical funding for a large number of free software projects to be subject to the whims of the European Commission, who are not directly elected by citizens and whom our adversaries have much more sway over?
I think it should be national governments paying into a consortium that we control, diversifying the fund; national government is more accountable.
NGI is great but the EC is a huge single point of failure, and the EU has been fracturing.
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Leah Rowe is not a Rowebotreplied to Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot last edited by
@onepict @NGIZero Until something better exists, I would suggest that NGI funding must continue for the forseeable future, but I always have in mind the fact that citizens do not control the Commission.
The reason the Commission created NGI was because of our lobbying and due to geopolitical instability around the world, so they want Europe to be more self-sufficient; their reasoning has nothing to do with actual software freedom even if we benefit from NGI in the meantime.
NGI is a liability.
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot last edited by
@libreleah @NGIZero I'm not sure.
We've seen issues recently with #innovateuk and the shenanigans with the Womens Innovation funding.
UK funding for FOSS grassroots is pretty thin on the ground.
Although @nlnet is pretty good at managing other non EU Funds. So perhaps more NLNet like funding bodies, spread out.
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Robert Riemann πͺπΊreplied to Wendy M. Grossman last edited by
@wendyg @onepict @thisismissem @EC_NGI how do you measure what we got out of it?
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Robert Riemann πͺπΊ last edited by [email protected]
@rriemann @wendyg @thisismissem @EC_NGI I think that's what @NGICommons is meant to be for?
I don't know if anyone has measured it.
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Leah Rowe is not a Rowebotreplied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@onepict @NGIZero @nlnet NLnet is great, and they've existed since the 90s if I'm not mistaken. I would argue for the creation of a body similar in concept to, say, the W3C, but geared to free software, open source hardware and right to repair. Member-led, fully democratic and transparent.
What NGI actually does is amazing but we can't trust the Commission. The fact that NGI isn't on Horizon 2025's budget proves this fact even if it's later added to the budget; the EC can still cancel it later.
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot last edited by
@libreleah I think there's a lot of us in FLOSS who are feeling the lack of an organisation that does represent us.
I used to hope OPENUK could be that for UK folks in the EU. The OSI and FSF are for a different purpose entirely.
I want an organisation that does represent Human Rights and consumer rights like the right to repair. I want more local decentralised organisations that could link in with right to repair cafes and hackerspaces.
I want the focus on community not AI.
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Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:replied to Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: last edited by
@libreleah we can repair, create code and hardware. But we need to eat and we also want other folks to link up with us.
To outreach as well as fund.
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like jam or bootlacesreplied to Evilham :antifa: last edited by
I hate that things work this way, but a big epiphany I had when dealing even a little bit with budgetary bureaucracy is that you absolutely can scupper efforts by asking for too little.