= Dutch government formation: open letter on Free Software and Public Money? Public Code! =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211118-01.nl.html ]

The Dutch government is about to form itself and setting up goals for the next term. With an open letter, the FSFE urges the coalition parties to implement the "open, unless" policy of 2020 and thus the principle of Public Money? Public Code!

Free Software gives everybody the right to use, study, share, and improve software. This right helps support other fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy. With the principle of "Public Money? Public Code!" implemented, the government will improve the transparency and digital sovereignty.

Also it will help educational institutions with digital skills, information literacy, and improving the privacy of students and staff. At the same time it will stimulate the IT market and thus others like the labour market. Open code encourages cooperation with governments at home and abroad.

First attempts to promote Free Software among public bodies, like the "open, unless" policy of 2020, need to be followed, implemented, and extended. We urge for legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free Software license. Code paid by the people should be available to the people!

You can read the full open letter in Dutch [1] and in English [2].

Uw financiële bijdrage is belangrijk voor de vrijheid in de informatiesamenleving.

Word nu een supporter [3] Discussieer hierover [4]

1: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/FSFE_letter_20211116_NL.pdf 2: https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/FSFE_letter_20211116_EN.pdf 3: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211118... 4: https://community.fsfe.org/t/758

== Over de Free Software Foundation Europe ==

Free Software Foundation Europe is een goed doel dat gebruikers in staat stelt om technologie te controleren. Software is sterk verweven met alle aspecten van onze levens. Het is belangrijk dat deze technologie ons tot iets in staat stelt in plaats van ons te beperken. Vrije Software geeft iedereen het recht om software te gebruiken, te begrijpen, aan te passen en te delen. Deze rechten helpen het ondersteunen van andere fundamentele vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van meningsuiting, pers en privacy.

De FSFE helpt individuen en organisaties begrijpen hoe Vrije Software bijdraagt aan vrijheid, transparantie en zelfbeschikking. We verbeteren gebruikersrechten door het opheffen van barrières voor de adoptie van Vrije Software, moedigen mensen aan om Vrije Software te gebruiken en te ontwikkelen en voorzien in middelen om iedereen in staat te stellen Vrije Software in Europa verder te promoten.

https://fsfe.org