Notices by NGI Zero open source funding (ngizero@mastodon.xyz)

Let's get rid of all the binary blobs. In S01E02 of the NGI0 podcast we talk to @janneke, founder of GNU Mes. The project helped to significantly reduce the number & size of binary seeds used in the bootstrap of GNU Guix 1.0.
He talks about working on GNU Mes, its community, NGI0 funding & calls for a 5th freedom: freedom 4. The freedom to build a program from source. "If you can't build a binary from source, how would you exercise freedom 0?"

https://podcast.nlnet.nl/@NGIZero/episodes/janneke-gnu-mes

#FOSS #NGI0 #NGI #podcast

Besides financial grants NGI0 also offers practical support to beneficiaries. In the upcoming webinar Ask Us For Help we will introduce four support services: technical writing, testing, translation & localisation and troubleshooting. They will be presented by the experts who deliver the services.
The webinar is open to anyone who is interested but note that the support services are only open to NGI beneficiaries.
November 28, 2024. 13.00-14.00 CET
more info: https://nlnet.nl/events/20241128/index.html

#NGI #NGI0

We are happy to let you know that 49 fantastic free and open source projects will receive NGI0 Core grants.

It's a wide variety of projects covering all 10 layers of the technology stack, from open hardware to applications.

But what unites them is they all contribute to alternatives and improvements to core internet architecture.

Together they are working on an open, resilient and trustworthy internet for all.

Come over and meet the projects! https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20241003-announcing-Core-call.html

#NGI0 #NGI #FOSS

We are really happy to see collaboration emerging between @liberaforms and @Framasoft. LiberaForms produces free and libre software to create online forms & manage the outcomes. Framasoft, known for its work to develop and popularize free software, is testing LiberaForms to power its suite of services that help people get away from Big Tech cloud services.
To quote LiberaForms: "More participation should mean better software."
More about the collaboration: https://blog.liberaforms.org/2024/06/24/collaboration-framasoft-and-liberaforms/
#NGIZero

Request for input:

The @fsf are curious to learn more about current practices of those who advise projects to accept LLM-generated source code contributions & whether they follow any rules or guidelines.

The FSF have therefore started a survey published at https://my.fsf.org/llm-contributions.

Please respond to the survey if you are in any way involved in or have opinions about accepting LLM-generated contributions to software projects. Feel free to spread the link.

CC: @fsfe

Fourty-five free and open source projects have been selected to receive NGI Zero grants in the February round.
Each of these projects offer a unique contribution to an open, resilient, human-centered internet and a more open information society.
We want to thank the 45 teams and individuals for their efforts to build the Next Generation Internet for us all.

Here is an overview of the projects with a short description https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html

#NGI #NGIZero

Hi @chfkch, Mobifree is part of the #NextGenerationInternet initiative* and there are other programmes as well. If you think your project does not fit Mobifree perhaps look at the NGI0 Commons Fund which has a broad scope.
See: https://nlnet.nl/commonsfund/

If you're unsure which fund to pick, choose the open call and mention you are okay with your proposal being allocated to the most suitable fund. https://nlnet.nl/propose/

*https://www.ngi.eu/

@larma @fdroidorg @e_mydata @delta @deltatouch

Radically Open Security, the nonprofit computer security company donates 90% of its profits to NLnet. Today @ros turned 10 years old *and* crossed the magical number of 1 million euro in donations to NLnet.

Happy birthday ROS! And thanks a million :-).

We interviewed ROS co-founder and CEO Melanie Rieback to learn why she decided to give the company such an unusual business model.

https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240507-ROS-10y.html

#FOSS #postgrowth #degrowth #opensource

Dnsmasq wins the first BlueHats Prize!

Dnsmasq provides network addressing for small networks: DNS, DHCP, router advertisement and network boot.

Dnsmasq creator & maintainer Simon Kelley said: "This prize is valuable financially, but much more so as a mark of public recognition that dnsmasq is still something that's worth doing."

https://nlnet.nl/bluehatsprize/2024/1.html

The € 10 000 BlueHats prizes aim to place maintainers of critical #FOSS in the spotlight.

#bluehats #opensource #maintainers

We have 4 new open calls for funding for projects that contribute to an open, trustworthy, human-centered internet. Projects must be free and open source and papers published

Deadline is June 1, 12.00 (noon) CEST
#NGI0 #opensource

“Email is a minuscule text file that you transmit across the internet. To claim that you don’t have the competence to arrange that yourself is a sign of administrative incompetence”, says Michiel Leenaars in an interview on Radio 1. He’s is responding to a recent report of Clingendael Institute warning the Dutch government has squandered cloud sovereignty by outsourcing storing vital & sensitive information to American providers. Listen to the interview here [In Dutch] https://www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/spraakmakers/643d3e2d-6056-4d44-bdb9-ab3df4ad90d4/2024-03-11-michiel-leenaars-we-zijn-slaven-van-bedrijven-als-google-en-microsoft

As the Digital Markets Act comes into effect today, Device Neutrality starts to become a tangible reality in the EU, says @fsfe. But it's only the first step and further commitment is necessary. FSFE launched https://deviceneutrality.org/ to raise public awareness about #DeviceNeutrality. Taking control of digital devices is a matter of freedom and #FreeSoftware is key to that.
Read all about the #DMA and FSFE's next steps
https://fsfe.org/news/2024/news-20240307-01.en.html

CC: @EC_NGI

Data Autonomy and Academic Freedom: great piece by philosophy scholar @tstahl arguing that Big Tech in academia not only fosters digital dependence but can undermine academic freedom. With a shout out to @SURF for creating a cooperative social media platform for Dutch scholars and students on Mastodon.
https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/data-autonomy/blog/data-autonomy-and-academic-freedom

We're having a BoF at 10.00 for anyone interested in NGI0. Room AW1.121 https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3680-ngi-zero-network-meetup/

For all NGI0 related events during #FOSDEM see https://nlnet.nl/events/20240203/index.html

We are happy to announce the launch of the new NGI0 Commons Fund. Its aim is to reclaim the public nature of the internet.

Offering small and medium-sized grants for free and open source projects across the entire technology stack.

First call opens February 1. If you are working on a project that contributes to reclaiming the public nature of the internet, do apply.

With many thanks to the @EU_Commission 's #NextGenerationInternet initiative.

https://nlnet.nl/news/2023/20240109-CommonsFund-starts.html

55 new projects have been awarded an NGI Zero grant. A big thank you to all 55 teams and individuals for contributing to the open internet!

Here is an overview of the 55 projects: https://nlnet.nl/news/2023/20231123-announcing-projects.html

With thanks to the @EC_NGI European Commission's Next Generation Internet initiative.

Adblockers are legal, German courts ruled. Their argument: users not only have the right to receive information but also to refuse it.
That sounds about right. It'd be positively dystopian if companies can claim the right to force-feed information. A win for internet user freedom :).
One of the downsides of the ruling is that a company can exclude users with an activated adblocker from accessing its website.
@fsfe wrote an interesting article about the case
https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20231220-01.en.html

We want a more resilient, trustworthy and open internet. We need your contributions to get there.

Are you working on free and open source projects in open hardware, open software, open data or open standards?

Apply for funding from NGI Zero. We are looking forward to your proposals!

Apply before February 1st 2024 (noon).

https://nlnet.nl/news/2023/20231201-call.html

#FOSS

We invite you to nominate a FOSS project for the Bluehats prize. There are four prizes of €10.000 each, to be spent freely.

Bluehats are civil servants who promote the use and development of Free Software in public administrations.

The French public administration has established the Bluehats prize for maintainers of critical Free Software. To be eligible the software must be in use by at least one agency of the French administration.

https://nlnet.nl//bluehatsprize/2024/

In the latest round of NGI0 grants, 55 FOSS projects received funding. Quite a few of these are #Fediverse related. The @fediversereport has written up an overview of these projects and their goals. Have a look here: https://fediversereport.com/a-fediverse-look-at-nlnets-latest-grant-round/.

(Btw, a new call for proposals just opened. The next deadline is February 1th.)
https://nlnet.nl/news/2023/20231201-call.html

@LaurensHof #FOSS