[Qgis-psc] Call for evidence - impact of open source

Sun Feb 1 23:29:29 PST 2026

Hi all,

Thanks Anita, Regis and Marco for your comments and editions.

There are a couple of comments from Anita, once resolved, I am happy to be
submitted. Just for the record, it may be a good idea (similar to what
Regis posted from software heritage foundation), to publish the final
submitted version to the mailing list.

Kind regards
Saber

On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 at 00:56, Marco Bernasocchi <marco at qgis.org> wrote:

> Thanks all for all the input. I'm just back from Fossdem where this
> subject was quite present.
>
> I've added all my points and Anita has been reviewing the whole submition.
>
> I would go over all corrections tomorrow evening and then submit on
> tuesday mornings in the PSC' name. Is that ok with you (especially Saber,
> you put a lot of work in there?
>
> Cheers
> Marco Bernasocchi
>
> QGIS.org Chair
> OSGEO.org VP Europe
> OPENGIS.ch CEO
> http://berna.io
>
> On Tue, 27 Jan 2026, 08:56 Emma Hain via QGIS-PSC, <
> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All
>> Though not European, I believe this will pave the way for other reqions -
>> here are my thoughts:
>>
>>    1. Australia has tax incentives for R&D
>>    <https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/incentives-and-concessions/research-and-development-tax-incentive-and-concessions/research-and-development-tax-incentive>.
>>    In reading the response, I see mention of grants, but no tax incentives,
>>    2. Education is super important - adaptation in curriculum and the
>>    later Higher Education course development should be a focus on
>>    sustainability
>>
>> Kind regards
>> Em
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 23:19, Saber Razmjooei via QGIS-PSC <
>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Regis,
>>>
>>> Thanks for those examples. They are very concise and nicely worded.
>>>
>>> I think QGIS is not a generic tool and can be linked with some of the EU
>>> specific policies (e.g. EUDR, Data Spaces, Inspire) and highlight the
>>> importance of it from those aspects.
>>>
>>> The format of response can change, but first we need to gather all the
>>> ideas/comments in one place.
>>>
>>> Kind regards
>>> Saber
>>>
>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 14:10, Régis Haubourg <regis at qgis.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi there,
>>>> I am following the freedesktop foundations mailing list [0],  which is
>>>> dedicated to collaboration between open source projects.
>>>>
>>>> They pushed a response to europe with many interesting points. The form
>>>> of the document is really nice to read and summarized with a short
>>>> operational recommandations.
>>>>
>>>> A copy of the response here :
>>>> https://nx57269.your-storageshare.de/s/XmF44Cqx96GKibf
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [0] see https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/foundations
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>> Régis
>>>>
>>>> https://nx57269.your-storageshare.de/s/XmF44Cqx96GKibf
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Le 21 janvier 2026 13:31:48 GMT+01:00, Saber Razmjooei
>>>> <saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk>
>>>> <saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk> a écrit :
>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for your interest. I have shared with the interested parties a
>>>>> document for the draft response. Feel free to share further and add your
>>>>> comments/ideas.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kind regards
>>>>> Saber
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026 at 13:19, Marco Bernasocchi via QGIS-PSC <
>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>>> I've also started reading this in detail an preparing some notes.
>>>>>> @Régis Haubourg <regis at qgis.org> you had a collaborative MD hedgehog
>>>>>> somewhere?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I could dump my toughts there.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Marco Bernasocchi
>>>>>>
>>>>>> QGIS.org Chair
>>>>>> OSGEO.org VP Europe
>>>>>> OPENGIS.ch CEO
>>>>>> http://berna.io
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026, 12:10 Régis Haubourg via QGIS-PSC, <
>>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>> I agree too that we need to raise our voices. I had a deep look, and
>>>>>>> fitting into European formalism is not that easy, but worth the try.
>>>>>>> I also think that we should debate what could be pragmatically
>>>>>>> improved with european public policies regarding our project.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From my corner, having been on the side of public funder,
>>>>>>> contributor in a company, and now benevolent in a research institute that
>>>>>>> uses QGIS, I see these bottlenecks :
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - The IT culture around open source is very low, and many IT
>>>>>>> departement, or even public market try to fit open source business into the
>>>>>>> mold of closed source habits. Europe could improve things by a directive
>>>>>>> that forces countries to change their public market rules to allow open
>>>>>>> source service buying for any contract. This would secure a lot of
>>>>>>> contracts. And allow those contracts to be more agile, because open source
>>>>>>> moves fast.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - The cyber stuff pushes us back into a vendor pattern, where we are
>>>>>>> a lot more responsible of our distribution packages than the GPL licence
>>>>>>> for our own code says.  This increases infra and administrative tasks a
>>>>>>> lot, and only big projects can follow the flow and our obligation.   The
>>>>>>> CRA open source stewardship stuff releases the legal pressure, but
>>>>>>> customers will still treat open source as vendors and will expect the same
>>>>>>> level of reactivity over disclosures. That means we need to secure our
>>>>>>> package process, anticipate scanner issues, have a proactive security
>>>>>>> strategy. That means more QGIS.org funded work in the long run. What can
>>>>>>> Europe do? Find ways to secure the funding of open source stewards, but
>>>>>>> how? Communication and budget helpers can help, but it is already done
>>>>>>> currently. If we are in a new IT cold war, I would be in favor of a tax on
>>>>>>> numeric giants that would be funding open source foundations.  The real
>>>>>>> political question would then be the way this money can be redistributed (
>>>>>>> I'd rather let the economy find its way and not depend too much on polical
>>>>>>> choices, but I'm afraid that doesn't work fast enough) .
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - Github centralization fears me too. Funding codeberg sufficiently
>>>>>>> so that they are strong enough to allow project have decent CI minutes, on
>>>>>>> par features, so that open source project can grow without paying the
>>>>>>> AI/closed system toll in Europe would also be necessary. An open source
>>>>>>> tool, with one majors strong public funded instance.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -  Renewing the motivation to contribute to open source in schools.
>>>>>>> I think modern centralized IT platform, and AI move contributors away from
>>>>>>> the project. I can only see a public educational program to mitigate this.
>>>>>>> Open source basics, contribution basics should be pushed in educational
>>>>>>> programs (in France, a team is doing a great job currently with a long term
>>>>>>> strategy based on open source and commons :
>>>>>>> https://www.education.gouv.fr/feuilles-de-route-450426 ) . To me
>>>>>>> Europe should also launch a funded program alike the Google Summer of Code,
>>>>>>> publicly funded.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - Finally, Europe should push rules to forbid IT tools that block
>>>>>>> real interoperability and lock users in companies in closed ecosystem. We
>>>>>>> have shy initiatives around RGPD data portability. Europe should go further
>>>>>>> and set up a "vendor locking" score, added to all the IT audits I see.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> @Saber if you take the lead to write something, maybe we could share
>>>>>>> a collaborative pad to gather our notes and ideas?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best regards
>>>>>>> Régis
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 1/21/26 08:49, Andreas Neumann via QGIS-PSC wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes - I agree it is important.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It is pretty obvious for us (and the European governments), that the
>>>>>>> US government (with a lot of influence on the US economy) is not anymore a
>>>>>>> reliable partner. So I believe Open Source and other European software
>>>>>>> alternatives to US commercial software where Europe is dependent on is
>>>>>>> probably of quite some importance.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> PSC will try to submit something before the deadline.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Andreas
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026 at 05:20, Valentin Buira via QGIS-PSC <
>>>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Saber
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks a lot for bringing the topic, I submitted my feedback as an
>>>>>>>> individual.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Now I strongly suggest the PSC to do so as well for QGIS. Because
>>>>>>>> from the way the call for evidence is worded, it is very obvious (and
>>>>>>>> explicit even) that it's preliminary work for a new a new law on open
>>>>>>>> source.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> QGIS has this unique ability to trickle down on so many
>>>>>>>> disciplines, and in the end on the life of people
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> *If the EU is putting open source software on its strategic road
>>>>>>>> map*, this could mean securing new funding for QGIS. And it would benefit
>>>>>>>> to the QGIS project worldwide.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> And it could also help to deter side effects of this future
>>>>>>>> regulation. What I mean by that, it would be cool to avoid the same burden
>>>>>>>> as the Cyber Resilience Act(CRA)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> P.S: The deadline for submitting a feedback is on 3 February, so
>>>>>>>> it's getting closer. [1]
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> P.P.S: I also recently suggested the creation of a Europe QGIS user
>>>>>>>> group with potential perks for the EU [2]
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>> Valentin
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> [1]
>>>>>>>> https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
>>>>>>>> [2]
>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-user/2026-January/055990.html
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Andreas Neumann
>>>>>>> QGIS.ORG board member (treasurer)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing listQGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.orghttps://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Saber Razmjooei
>>>
>>> CO-Founder
>>>
>>> lutraconsulting.co.uk
>>>
>>>  [image: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/]
>>> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/>
>>> <https://www.youtube.com/@LutraConsulting>
>>> <https://github.com/lutraconsulting>
>>>
>>> <https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>

-- 

Saber Razmjooei

CO-Founder

lutraconsulting.co.uk

 [image: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/]
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/>
<https://www.youtube.com/@LutraConsulting>
<https://github.com/lutraconsulting>

<https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/>
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