Software Freedom Podcast: Recent Episodes
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
SFP#25: MirageOS and OCaml with Hannes Mehnert and Matthias KirschnerFor our 25th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we are happy to welcome Hannes Mehnert, one of the MirageOS core developer. Matthias Kirschner, president of the FSFE, and Hannes talk about MirageOS. This episode gives an overview of everything from the basics to the future of MirageOS.
As one of the core developers of MirageOS, Hannes Mehrnert, has a deep understanding of the inner workings of the programming framework and its modules. He and Matthias talk about the usage of MirageOS, the funding and how you as a volunteer can support MirageOS. However, they not only stop there but also cover the functional programming language OCaml, the foundation on which it all builds. Listen to a deeply interesting conversation between Hannes and Matthias while learning more about MirageOS, modular systems, reproducible builds and functional programming.
This is the perfect episode for everybody who wants to get familiar with MirageOS and modular systems!
Show notes
- MirageOS
- OCaml, a functional programming language
- Follow Hannes on Mastodon
- Xen Project
- Next Generation Internet Zero
- Indian cuisine the curry book and functional programming (DE)
- robur Coop
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
SFP#24: The status of Free Software with Karen Sandler and Alexander SanderHave there been any changes for Free Software in Europe or the USA in the last year? How is Free Software viewed by legislators? What can we do to support software freedom? Karen Sandler and Alexander Sander are active in the Free Software movement and share their views on the current status of Free Software in our society.
Karen Sandler is the executive director of the Software Freedom Conservancy and has a background in law and engineering. Our second guest for this episode is the FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant, Alexander Sander. In his work, Alex focuses on policy topics, always raising the status of Free Software within Europe. Over the past year, he has met with many decision-makers in Europe such as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) or officials from the European Commission and Council, to talk about Free Software, for example in relation to the AI Act, the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), or the Product Liability Directive (PLD).
At the same time, across the ocean, the Software Freedom Conservancy has been working with a broad alliance to advocate for the right to repair.
In short a lot has happened in the past year. Luckily, Alex and Karen are here to talk with our host Bonnie about the current situation and what we still need to do for software freedom. Learn more about the state of Free Software with Alex and Karen and find out how you can support software freedom.
This is the perfect episode for everybody who needs a quick summary of the past year. Let's start software freedom!
Show notes
https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/small/13/04/1eca3b91f7d5d338f8f2c6876d6c.png* Software Freedom Conservancy * "Amicus curiae brief": SFC joins amicus curiae in Green v. Department of Justice * Use the source * Software Freedom Conservancy Podcast with Karen Sandler * Liability, Interoperability and Free Software in EU: what we are expecting * EU Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles falls short of its ambitions * "Public Money? Public Code!" * "Public Money? Public Code!": contact your local public bodies * FSFE's activities and how you can join our work for software freedom * FOSDEM Legal and Policy Issues devroom * Valetudo: liberate your vacuum robot * Dédalo: Managing Cultural Heritage Archives * Mujer y memoria
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
SFP#23: What is Free Software? A Christmas podcast to learn about Free SoftwareThese days are quite special, right? So is our Christmas Software Freedom Podcast episode! In this 23rd episode, the FSFE goes crazy and has fun playing a guessing game with terms related to Free Software. This is the perfect episode for you to learn more about your favourite type of software: Free Software!
Our podcast host, Bonnie Mehring meets with Matthias Kirschner, the FSFE's President, Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, member of the FSFE's legal team, and Tobias Diekershof, the FSFE's System Administrator, to play a little guessing game about Free Software basic terms.
This episode has something for everybody, no matter if you are already part of the Free Software universe or if you just arrived in this world. It is the perfect episode to learn more about Free Software. Share this episode with your family so they finally understand what you are talking about, when you talk about GNU 😉.
And do not forget to stop the audio and have a guess yourself! ♥♥♥
Show notes
- Book by Lawrence Lessig: Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace
- "FSFE's initiative: Upcycling Android"
- How to Upcycle your smartphone
- Next Generation Internet
- Learn more about: What is Free Software?
- Read more about Free Software in our newsletter.
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
SFP#22: All about "Public Money? Public Code!" with Johannes NäderIn our 22nd Software Freedom Podcast episode, we talk with Johannes Näder, Senior Policy Project Manager at the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), about "Public Money? Public Code!".
The "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative advocates for public bodies to switch to Free Software instead of spending tons of money on proprietary software. The reasons for "Public Money? Public Code!", how the initiative has evolved over the years, and how the FSFE defines its role as a watchdog within the initiative are discussed with Johannes in this episode.
Johannes has been involved with Free Software since the 1990s. In November 2022, he turned his passion for Free Software into his daily bread and started working for the Free Software Foundation Europe. He is, among other responsibilities, the current coordinator of the FSFE’s "Public Money? Public Code!" initiative.
If you have not heard of this initiative yet, or if you don’t know how best to get involved, check out our new Software Freedom Podcast episode and learn all about "Public Money? Public Code!".
Show notes
- Mailing list for German municipalities
- "Public Money? Public Code!"
- Open letter: Publicly funded software has to be Free and Open Source Software.
- TEDective: Find out where the money flow goes in the EU
- Sovereign workspace openDesk: German Ministry of the Interior provides answers
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
Listen to our new Software Freedom Podcast episode with Lina Ceballos. Lina and Bonnie talk about everything related to Free Software in European Politics. Learn more about Lina's work at the Free Software Foundation Europe and how political decisions come to pass in the EU. Discover how best to advocate for Free Software, and especially, what the Interoperable Europe Act is all about and why the Free Software communities need to be on the lookout for the protection of software freedom. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
SFP#20: All about Device Neutrality with Lucas LasotaJoin us for the 20th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, where Bonnie Mehring and Lucas Lasota discuss Device Neutrality and Router Freedom. They cover the concepts and fundamentals of these initiatives and explain why end-users should have control over their devices.
Lucas Lasota, FSFE Senior Project Manager, has been with the organisation since 2019. In this episode, he discusses the Device Neutrality and Router Freedom initiatives, which aim to empower users to control their digital equipment with free software and end-user control over data. Router Freedom specifically means the right for end-users to deploy their own router/modem to access the internet, making it a key element for open internet.Lucas explains the historic background of these initiatives, the issues that arise without these standards, and how individuals can best support them. Join Bonnie and Lucas as they break down these concepts.
This is the perfect episode for everybody interested in controlling their devices and access to the internet.
Read more:
- Survey for Router Freedom in Europe
- Router Freedom
- Device Neutrality
- Greece adopts Router Freedom
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
SFP#19: Why we need Free Software on medical devices with Karen SandlerFor this episode Bonnie Mehring met with Karen Sandler to talk about her relationship with Free Software. Karen depends on a medical device to keep her heart working. This led her to become an advocate for Free Software in medical devices.
In her daily life Karen relies on a defibrillator to help her heart work properly. Like many medical devices this defibrillator uses proprietary software. Therefore Karen had to put software into her body over which she has no control in order to let her heart keep working. In this episode Bonnie Mehring talks to Karen about the problems that are occuring with non-free medical devices and why it is important to have Free Software on them. What happens to people when their support ends when the company that manufactures their devices goes bankrupt? And what is the connection with Dick Cheney?
Listen to Karen and Bonnie talk about the importance of Free Software on medical devices and find out more about Karen's heartwarming story of software freedom.
Read more:
- SFconservancy
- Outreachy
- "Abandoned: The human cost of neurotechnology failure" in Nature
- Honorary Doctorate for Karen Sandler
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
SFP#18: IT-Security from a cryptographer's point of view with CryptieA cryptographer and privacy specialist Amandine Jambert, a.k.a. Cryptie, is our guest in the 18th Software Freedom Podcast episode. With her experience, Cryptie is the perfect person to tackle some basics about Security in Free Software.
Cryptie has been involved with Free Software for around 20 years now and has been a volunteer for the FSFE for 10 years. Together Cryptie and Bonnie Mehring discuss the basics of cryptography and discover what a privacy specialist is. They then move on to the basics of IT-Security and talk about prejudices against the security of Free Software. If you have wondered what is needed to make Software more secure this is the perfect episode for you to start with this topic and learn about the basics of IT-Security.
Read more:
- Amandine "cryptie" Jambert
If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.
Discuss this
Join the FSFE community and support the podcast
In this 17th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast Matthias Kirschner and Petter Joelson uncover how Free Software can be a tool for citizens to actively participate in their local community. Petter invites you into the world of Decidim and explains what citizen participation should look like. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
In this episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Bonnie Mehring speaks with Hugo Roy about his long involvement with the FSFE. Hugo is also very active in the French Free Software community and gives us an overview of the standing of Free Software in France. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
In November 2021 the FSFE has launched the new campaign "Upcycling Android". If you haven't already upcycled your phone or you are curious to learn more about the campaign listen to our new Software Freedom Podcast episode with the campaigns manager Erik Albers. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
With this episode the Software Freedom Podcast opens the door to the fascinating and sometimes complex world of mesh networking. And who better than Elektra Wagenrad can take us on this journey? Elektra is one of the original developers of the B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol and of the Mesh Potato project. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
The upcoming "I Love Free Software Day" will focus on Free Software Games. One of the most famous Free Software games is "0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant". In this episode Bonnie Mehring talks with Stanislas Dolcini, the project leader of 0 A.D., about the game itself, the project, and how the game became Free Software. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
With our 12th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we dig into the history and the beginning of enforcing Free Software licences, especially the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL). Together with Till Jaeger, who has been working alongside Harald Welte for enforcing the GNU GPL in the first court cases in Germany, we talk about the long way we have come since those early days. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
Max Mehl and Bonnie Mehring talk about the REUSE initiative and the newly launched REUSE Booster programme. This 11th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast is the perfect match for you if you are interested in Free Software licensing and curious about how REUSE and its tools make that easier for developers and users. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from Superrr Lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
For this episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk about the background of the "I Love Free Software Day" and how it all began 11 years ago. Discover together with Bonnie Mehring why Free Software developers, advocates, activists and contributors think this special day is so important for Free Software. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
In this Software Freedom Podcast episode Bonnie Mehring and Matthias Kirschner talk about the monetary costs of Free Software. On the example of a conversation Bonnie had with her mother, both discover ways of explaining the world of Free Software and how to answer common questions and misunderstandings about software freedom. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
For the seventh episode of our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Vincent Lequertier about transparency, fairness, and accessibility as crucial criteria for artificial intelligence (AI) and why it is important for our society to release AI software under a Free Software license. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
We invited Miriam Ballhausen to talk with us about copyright enforcement. She is a German lawyer who focuses on software, data protection, copyright law and specifically Free Software copyright. This is the sixth regular episode of the Software Freedom Podcast for which we invite experts from our community. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this special episode, we talk with Dr. Luis Falcón and Dr. Axel Braun about the Free health and hospital information system GNU Health. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, about regulation of society, offline as well as online, about the different means of regulation, and shed light on regulations through code. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
In the monthly Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Carmen Bianca Bakker about the REUSE project. By this we are covering the very broad topic of software licensing and the problems there, which REUSE is able to solve with three simple steps. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this third episode, our guest is Harald Welte, Free Software programmer and activist. Harald discusses with us his current projects regarding mobile phone communication and the general status of Free Software in this area. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
We are back with the second episode of our Software Freedom Podcast! Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Lydia Pintscher from KDE about the development of the KDE community, the different KDE projects and the issues they will be tackling over the next two years. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast
We have a Podcast! Starting with this episode, we will talk once a month with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In our first episode of our Software Freedom Podcast, we address the issue of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) together with Cory Doctorow, a British-Canadian writer, political activist, and co-editor of the blog boingboing.net. Cory Doctorow is a prominent supporter of software freedom and a less restrictive copyright law. His books are published under Creative Commons licenses. Join the FSFE community and support the podcast: https://my.fsfe.org/support?referrer=podcast