Opening ceremony took place on Wednesday (11) and was attended by representatives of the free software movement and authorities

The spirit of resistance promises to be one of the highlights of the International Free Software Forum (FISL) of 2018. It was with this inspiration, to think of free software as a strategy for the overrun of the crisis and for the development of more fair economies and societies, which began on the morning of this Wednesday (11) The 18th edition of the event, in Porto Alegre (RS).

Initiating the ceremony, the coordinator of the Livre.Org Software Association (ASL. ORG) and the FISL 18, Sady Jacques, spoke about the challenge of keeping the project free Software Brazil and the forum itself at a time of world crisis, justifying the fact that the event was not held in 2017.

-Nonetheless, we persist. We understand that this event has an irrevocable character of resistance, so we needed to hold this meeting-explains the coordinator, arguing that the event should also be a way to preserve the idea that free software is a generous solution and Indispensable for social development.

Jacques made it a point to highlight that despite the difficulties, the free software movement is still strong in the country. There was a cycle of growth and now the moment is of crisis but also of restart-and the best: with all the knowledge and experiences accumulated since 2000, when the FISL was born.

-There was a reason back there that must be recovered and brought back as a strategy. If we want real economic and social development, we need to start from local intelligence, and she needs raw material. And that raw material is free software.

Representing the international Free Software Network (Laughal), of which ASL. Org is integral, Ismael Castagnet also talked about the difficulties of free software movements in Uruguay. For him, there is currently a contradiction: at the same time that large institutions and multinationals have appropriated the use of free software, the movements in the region have weakened.

-We have to, together, keep thinking about how we are going to change this reality-said, emphasizing the importance that a space of exchange as the FISL has in this discussion.

Director-President of the data processing company of the municipality of Porto Alegre (Procempa), Paulo Roberto Miranda was also present, representing the mayor of the municipality, Nelson mafie Jr. Still on the discussion regarding the incorporation of free software by large corporations, he pointed out that, although it resulted in the resignificance of flags of civil society organizations, it is also a sign that the movement is victorious.

Miranda also spoke about the importance of free software in the context of the growth of municipalities, especially in developing countries such as Brazil.

-We face the challenge of a growing demand for services and citizen attendance, so the search for solutions to improve life in the city goes through actions and concepts such as those of free software-stated.

President of Softsul, one of the supporters of FISL 18, Antônio Antonioni also stressed the need to discuss free software as a technology needed to develop solutions from knowledge sharing.

-The world is increasingly collaborative, and so free software becomes more and more important-defended.

Representative of the Federal Data Processing service (SERPO), Antônio Carlos Tiboni pointed out that the institution operates with this vision: thinking free software as a basis for development. Currently, most of the 3000 developers working on the Serpo work with free software, and the entity has as standard to release the code of its programs, as is the case of the Demoiselle Framework, an open standard of building systems in Java language Based on free Java Community Process specification implementations (JCP).

Beginning the work of the FISL 18, Jacques took the opportunity to remember that as soon as an edition of the event closes, the organization begins the next, and invited everyone to participate in the construction of the 19th edition of the Forum "with the understanding of the power and strategy That free software means for the country, states and cities, "always aiming to strengthen collaborative knowledge and the construction of free technologies.

Check here (https://agenda.fisl18.softwarelivre.org/) The activities of this year's FISL.

Text: Marcia Schuler