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Free Software Foundation (Internship) Program

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What is Free Software Foundation (FSF)?

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom. FSF aims to teach why free software matters, and how to use them, dig deep into software freedom issues like copyleft, Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), or surveillance and encryption. They promote the use of open-source free software by helping people learn about design, system administration and few other tasks.

FSF Internship Program:

FSF Internship applications are open three times in a year i.e., in

  • Summer (June to August)
  • Fall (August to December)
  • Spring (January to April)

As an intern, interns work closely with FSF staff members in their area of interest, such as campaign and community organizing, free software licensing, systems and network administration, GNU Project support, or Web development. These positions are unpaid unless you are doing your internship through Outreachy, but in either case, the FSF will provide any appropriate documentation you might need to receive funding and school credit from outside source. They place an emphasis on providing hands-on educational opportunities for interns, in which they work closely with staff mentors on projects that match their skills and interest.

Internship Positions:

FSF looks for interns to spend their time contributing to work in one of three areas: campaigns, licensing, or with their tech team.

• The FSF Campaigns Team is in charge of communicating with and expanding their audience of free software supporters, targeting important opportunities for free software adoption and development, and empowering people to act against specific threats to their freedom. Campaigns team interns might work on expanding and updating their resources on a particular area of the free software world.

• The FSF Licensing and Compliance Lab Team works with developers to license their packages under one of the GNU General Public Licenses and to help organizations maintain compliance. They also field all licensing and copyleft inquiries. Licensing team interns might assist with the Respects Your Freedom certification program, or they might work to improve the Free Software Directory or analyse the compatibility of other licenses with the GPL.

• The FSF Tech Team maintains and improves the infrastructure for the FSF and the GNU Project. Tech team interns may choose from their current list of projects, or suggest one of their own. We have plenty of opportunities, from updating our video streaming toolkit, to improving our data management systems.

Schedule :

Each position lasts for one twelve-week term. There are three terms: summer, fall, and spring. There can be some flexibility with start and end dates if necessary. Any of the terms can be worked as either full time (forty hours per week) or part-time (twenty hours per week) positions. We will prefer candidates able to work full time, particularly during the summer term. From time to time, remote internships are possible, but we prefer in-person internships.

Application:

How to apply:

Send a letter of interest and resume with two references by email to hiring@fsf.org. Make sure that your materials are in free software friendly formats (PDF and plain text work well) and include "Internship" in your subject line. If you can, please include links to sites you've made (personal blogs are okay!) designs or code you've done, and relevant writing. Please include these as URLs, though email attachments in free formats are acceptable, too.

Their application form contains very simple questions, please refer the screenshot below taken from their official site. This is for Campaigns Intern Team.

FSF Application File

Their basic qualifications are very minimal. All applicants must be:

• open-minded and tolerant of others,

• able to work as part of a team, and

• interested in the ethical ramifications of computing.

But there are a few key points which an applicant should keep in their mind while applying:

• FSF strongly prefer applicants able to work in-person at the FSF headquarters in downtown Boston, but applicants based elsewhere may also be considered.

• Unfortunately, due to the complexities of US immigration law, applicants who are not US citizens or permanent residents and do not have a visa allowing them to work in the US must work remotely from outside the US.

Always apply to internships or open-source mentorship programs regardless your experience as these programs are seeking new minds and they are willing to give an opportunity to new comers. Good luck with your applications, Happy Coding :)

Note : The FSF office is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so all internships will be remote until the office is formally reopened. Keep an eye out on their site for more info.