Free Software with a Female touch

A few months ago, a group of people gathered with the intention of planning the structure and setting the goals of the future Free Software Foundation Latinoamérica (FSFLA), an organization meant to become a sister to the United States of America’s Free Software Foundation (FSF), Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and Free Software Foundation India (FSFI).

We started our discussions in november 2004, in light of the fact that Free Software’s worldwide growing popularity and widespread use raises the need for a network of FSFs working in a coordinated fashion, upholding and strengthening Free Software’s philosophy, legal framework and ideals, in consonance with the FSF’s definition (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html).

Free Software Foundation Latinoamérica will become yet another actor in strengthening this international FSF network.

Free Software Foundation Latinoamérica’s main goal will be to act together with the rest of the FSFs in the promotion and defense of Free Software, as well as to help guide and influence policies which concern, have an effect on or are affected by Free Software.

We are leading our discussions together with the presidents of both FSF and FSFE, Richard M. Stallman and Georg Greve, as a means of keeping Free Software Foundation Latinoamérica in close touch with its peers from its inception.

To be a sister organization means to practice the same values and philosophy, as well as to share objectives. The coordinated work with our sisters is a key ingredient to avoid divisiveness within our movement.

So far, our core team is composed by the following people:

Beatriz Busaniche – bea@vialibre.org.ar Enrique Chaparro – echaparro@uolsinectis.com.ar Federico Heinz – fheinz@vialibre.org.ar Fernanda G Weiden – fernanda@softwarelivre.org JuanJo Ciarlante – jjo@mendoza.gov.ar Mario Bonilla – miope@miope.org

We are making slow but steady progress to strengthen our network of collaborators, with the conviction that we must pay special attention to the maturity, integrity and solidity of our team.

At this point, we are drafting the specific goals of the organization, as well as the political foundations of its structure, which will certainly parallel our sister organizations’ lines of work.

If you wish to come in contact with us, please do so by e-mail at info@fsfla.org.

If you wish to be informed of our progress in the creation of the organization, you can do so through fsfla-anuncio@fsfeurope.org .