German members of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) are once again contacting political candidates in next month’s state elections. The major, traditional parties fear the unknown, while left, green and pirate parties favour the use of this software in public administration.
In the state of Berlin and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern FSFE members are studying the party programmes. At the same time, the group is lobbying the candidates and advocating public administration’s use of free and open source software solutions.
In early August, FSFE-president Matthias Kirschner reports how in Berlin, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) do not yet have an opinion on free software. However, the Green Party Berlin, Die Linke and the Berlin Pirate Party advocate the use this type of software in government.
Later that month, similar results are aggregated by FSFE members in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Government parties are not aware or are only superficially aware of the economic and social importance of free software, FSFE’s Germany-coordinator Max Mehl is quoted as saying in a statement.
Dismaying
On 31 August, the FSFE publishes its findings on the Berlin election programmes. The advocacy group is pleased with the opposition’s support for free software. However, they’re disappointed by the lack of understanding in the two current government coalition parties (SPD and CDU). The latter considers modifying source code to be dangerous, writes the FSFE, while the former remains vague on any commitment to free software.
More information:
FSFE advocacy on the state of Berlin
FSFE advocacy on the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (in German)
FSFE press release (in German)