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Dear Free Software Supporter,
Valentine's Day is a day to reflect upon our relationships with our
loved ones, but we ask you to take a moment on this day to reflect on
something else -- your relationship with technology. Software is so
pervasive in our lives that it deserves some extra attention. There
are millions of people in the world, who, on a daily basis, are
working to give users free (as in freedom) options. I Love Free
Software Day, started by Free Software Foundation Eurpoe (FSFE), is a
day to reflect upon our appreciation of free software. It is also a
day to help a friend or family member learn more about the benefits of
choosing user freedom.
This year, to celebrate, we wanted to share some responses we have
heard from the broader community about how they came to learn about
free software and their reasons for loving it. Please read their
responses, and consider sharing your own story via [the Freedom Ladder
page on the LibrePlanet wiki][1], as well as on [social
media][2]. Let's celebrate together, and take a few steps toward
educating others!
[1]: [link removed]
[2]: [link removed]
## Reasons to love free software
This year we organized an online event in which we asked free software
supporters to [share their free software journey][3] in order to help
others start their own. At the event, we asked attendees, among other
things, to share what their favorite free software projects are, how
they learned about free software, and what keeps them committed. Here
are some of their responses we felt were especially worth
highlighting:
[3]: [link removed]
### What is your favorite free software project?
> *"GNU binutils and GNU toolchain, GNU. The world is much better with
> GNU."*
> *"Trisquel: is like Ubuntu but 100% free. User friendly. Thank you
> Ruben and all folks there in this project."*
> *"The Guix package manager, because it provides unprivileged package
> management, and bit-for-bit reproducible portable packages."*
> *"GNU Emacs, it can do many things and is infinitely customizable."*
Don't see your favorite project here? There is still time to
participate in the discussion on the [Freedom Ladder][4] page.
[4]: [link removed]
### How did you learn about free software?
> *"I was watching a TV show, *The Big Bang Theory*, and one of the
> characters, Sheldon, mentioned Ubuntu. [...] When I read more
> about what GNU stands for, software freedom, I became a free
> software advocate. I call the operating system I use GNU/Linux and
> use free software."*
> *"In one of the courses I attended in college, one of the students
> did a presentation about copyleft. The first time I learned about
> free software properly was reading *Free Software, Free Society* in
> ~2017."*
Take a moment to reflect upon how you first encountered free
software. Perhaps it just "clicked" for you. Perhaps it took some
persuasion. Either way, you found yourself on a new path and we are
glad to be on it with you.
### What keeps you committed to free software?
> *"I love rights, I love the people, I love the idea, and I love the
> fact that I can fix my computer if I have a bug!"*
> *"Reliability -- possibility to learn new stuff -- keeps me running
> :-)"*
> *"Awareness that even if a program doesn't work as expected, I can
> fix it myself or with the help of the community.*"
We thought -- and we hope you agree -- that these are all great
reasons to love free software! We look forward to having you join in
future events so that we may hear your favorites as well.
### Sharepic: One way to tell the world why you love free software
[FSFE][5] created a [free template][6] of a shareable image called a
"Sharepic" for you to create a festive image you can upload to a Web
site and/or social media.
[5]: [link removed]
[6]: [link removed]
* Use the template to create your Sharepic. Step-by-step instructions
are below.
* Before you begin, make sure you have a free software SVG editor,
such as [Inkscape][7], installed on your computer.
* [Download a copy of the template][8].
* To change the text in Inkscape, click the text using the "text
object editor" (big "A" on the toolbar)!
* To change the image in Inkscape, click "File" from the menu and
select "Import." Select your desired image from your computer.
* Now you can move/resize your image into place. Feel free to delete
the image behind the heart shape in the template.
* Move the image until your new image is behind
the template, but visible within the heart shape.
* Click "File" from the menu, and choose "Export PNG Image." Select
"Page" as the "Export area" in order crop the resulting image
automatically.
* We encourage you to share your custom picture on your preferred
social media with the #IloveFS hashtag.
[7]: [link removed]
[8]: [link removed]
### Share your love with the #ILoveFS hashtag
Over the next few days, we will be reading posts with the hashtag #ILoveFS
on social media to get a better understanding for what folks
love about free software, especially how they started their respective
journeys. Please feel free to share why you love free software, even
if you do not create a Sharepic.
### Help educate others toward making their first step
Of course, what is love if you cannot help others feel it for
themselves? This is why the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has been
engaged in an ongoing Freedom Ladder campaign, with the goal to help
others learn for themselves what free software is, and why so many
people -- from around the world -- love it. If you have a moment,
please check out the campaign page, [read stories from others][9], and
consider [offering your own input][10] as well.
[9]: [link removed]
[10]: [link removed]
Please enjoy I Love Free Software Day with friends and family this
Monday.
Happy hacking,
Devin Ulibarri
Outreach & Communications Coordinator
--
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