Our mission

Fossware’s mission is the dissemination and democratization of free software. People have the right to own computing systems that respect their freedoms, rights, and self-determination. Communities have the right to have access to tools that enable self-governance and growth, improving and supporting the lives of the people who are part of them.

Achieving these goals requires a significant and dedicated effort. Fossware promotes the user’s fundamental freedoms and the representation and agency of users within communities; it develops all technologies it deems necessary as free and open-source software; and it spreads and facilitates education and user independence with respect to free software and hardware.

Our values and objectives

The following values and objectives guide Fossware in its decisions and its path:

• Foundations in free software: All software, whenever possible, that Fossware uses and promotes, as well as all software that Fossware develops and distributes, adheres to the FLOSS philosophy. Free and open-source software respects the four fundamental freedoms:

  1. The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.
  2. The freedom to study how the program works and to modify it to suit your needs. Access to the source code is a prerequisite for this.
  3. The freedom to redistribute copies in order to help others.
  4. The freedom to modify the program and publicly distribute your improvements, so that the entire community benefits. Access to the source code is a prerequisite for this.

• Support for open-source software: All software, in cases where a free software solution is not possible, must necessarily comply with the Open Source definition. Open-source software does not guarantee compliance with the four fundamental freedoms, but it is nevertheless a prerequisite and a good alternative to proprietary software.

• Recognition of open-core software: In cases where it is not possible to support an open-source solution, Fossware prefers to acknowledge the improvement that the Open Core business model brings over proprietary software business models.

• Foundations in free hardware: All hardware, whenever possible, that Fossware uses and promotes complies with the Open Source Hardware definition. In addition, Fossware supports any type of hardware that maximizes the use of FLOSS both internally and externally.

• Community foundations: Fossware recognizes the importance of supporting and expanding, as much as possible, the communities that sustain free software and hardware, both locally and online. A strong and educated community is essential for the proliferation of computing systems that respect and empower the user. This support takes the form of outreach and educational projects in various forms, such as courses both in-person and online, and the dissemination of informational materials.

• Support for affiliated organizations: Fossware recognizes the need to actively contribute to all organizations that are aligned with it and can benefit from direct actions. For this reason, it is committed to contributing both financially and in terms of time through direct work and by sharing affiliated organizations within its community.