The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has asked the EU Commission to support the basically ambitious goals of its new open source strategy with tangible implementation measures in the coming weeks and months. The advantages of free software are emphasized again and again in the paper, but there is no clear commitment to their use. Hardly any concrete goals were mentioned.

The Commission’s open source roadmap so far was 2017 expired. The FSFE had therefore hoped for a “big step” after the long break, which would reflect the current developments around the debates about digital sovereignty and the state of the art in administration. With its 15 – page document, the Brussels government institution only presented “a fig leaf”. The entire funding approach threatens to fail.

Apart from the plan to set up a programmatic open source office that “enjoys real political and organizational support and all the general directorates integrates “, according to the FSFE, there is no sign of a better approach by the Commission. At most, there is still talk of using open source programs more internally. In contrast to funded external projects, there are no plans to publish the code under a license for free software.

The title “Think Open” indicates a change in mentality, writes the non-profit organization . The strategy mainly repeats previous commitments and activities, while looking in vain for sustainable and verifiable approaches. The fact that the commission continues to depend heavily on major manufacturers such as Microsoft for operating systems, office packages and e-mail programs is not an issue at all. So there is apparently no plan to solve it.

Stronger support for open source The one published on Wednesday Open source agenda should apply until 2023. The commission does not only want to use more free software itself. It has also undertaken to work with Member States, businesses and the general public to “develop new, innovative digital solutions that work across borders and serve technological sovereignty”.

We are ready to To play a more active role also within the developer community, to set up open source innovation laboratories and to eliminate the administrative burden for the release of free software, assured Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration. “Open source is everywhere,” says the paper. “We will increasingly fall back on open source software – wherever this is practicable”.

The commission itself comes out as “enthusiastic user and editor of free and open source software”. This has an important role to play in “making the transition to an inclusive, better digital environment”. In line with best practices, it would also “perform automated continuous security testing to ensure that the open source components we use in our applications are free of vulnerabilities”. You will also “thoroughly check” your own code before sharing it.

Lip service The FSFE keeps the text as a whole for lip service that is further restricted by vague formulations and loopholes. It was missing