In his speech at aKademy, Bernhard Reiter of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) both celebrated Software Freedom Day and reminded the KDE community of what freedom in software means. The FSFE was founded in 2001 to promote and defend free software, and to coordinate national free software organizations, throughout Europe.

The FSFE was founded in 2001 to promote and defend free software, and to coordinate national free software organizations, throughout Europe

Bernhard is the Chancellor of the German Chapter of FSFE and has been involved since its inception. Interested in what he had to say to the KDE community, I caught up with him after his talk to ask him a few questions.

TC: You mentioned in your presentation the threats of software patents and DRM (Damn Restriction Management, as you described it). What other areas do you think the free software movement will need to address in the next few years?

BR: Well to begin with, the issues of software patents and DRM will be huge and so will be keeping us all busy for many years yet. Other issues do exist but they are generally ongoing as opposed to short-term projects. We expect that there will be more legislative and political attacks on free software, but we cannot predict what they will be.

The most important point I want to emphasize is that we must continue to educate people, and especially politicians, about free software We must convey what it means to the whole world, in terms of who controls technology and how it affects our lives. If we can do that, we won’t have to spend so much time defending against attacks because more people will help us.

Bernhard Reiter

TC: In Europe in particular, Governments are now driving a lot of the free software adoption. What part can projects like KDE and organizations like the FSFE play in this process?

BR: Not everybody takes a huge interest in politics and I believe that it is normal that some people stay out of the technical side of things and just develop software. On the other hand we need more people to engage themselves politically for free software. Others should at least be responsible and keep their eyes open for events and developments where they can do their share. So they should, for example, be aware of demonstrations and lobbying efforts on issues like software patents.

We need more people to engage themselves politically for free software

In terms of development, members of the free software community should also bear in mind that code can shape laws. If the code doesn’t allow a person to perform a particular action, then the code is controlling that person. In projects like KDE, which are reaching a fairly mature stage, developers should be focussing on the users and trying to make free software more usable for them. Even development can be political issue.

TC: An important aspect of freedom in software is the ability to use it. But while KDE is currently translated into over 80 languages, there are hundreds more that are commonly used and that aren’t yet covered. How can a community of volunteers, both in KDE and the FSFE, help this?

BR: KDE developers already do help, in that they are part of a process of gradual improvements in internationalization and localization. In terms of free software organizations, apart from the FSFE in Europe and the FSF in North America there aren’t any well established organizations.

In general the direction that free software takes ought to be guided by competition and user demand, not interference from government

We’re hoping to change that, but we don’t want to take money and help from governments and companies, even if it would help with internationalization, if it were to harm our independence and our ability to promote free software. We need to be careful about where we use our money, and what the specific focus of our investments are.