Sailmates - Förderverein für Open Source Software auf Mobilgeräten
In the Community News from February the 9th, @rainemak wrote about the upcoming unveiling of the Sailmates association. Well, today is the day!
But first, a little history on how we came here. Read 'till the end, there is a surprise.
Founding Sailmates
The first mention of a cooperative creation was made on March 3rd 2022, in the “Jolla urgently looking for new ownership” thread. Following this thread and the thread by @coderus “looking for a job in Europe” I remember the community getting active, both on the forum and by telegram, about creating a legal structure between users.
Very quickly, at the end of March 2022, @pherjung created the thread “Interest to create a cooperative” where 89% of the 76 users who voted, expressed their interest in creating a cooperative. I hope all of them and many more will join the association!
In this thread users shared their ideas and knowledge about where, why and which legal structure would be most suitable. But also about what the legal structure would do (Interest to create a cooperative - #47 by poetaster, Interest to create a cooperative - #50 by hildon, Interest to create a cooperative - #53 by dcaliste). Fast forward to September 2022, firstly, the legal structure of an Austrian association is proposed, secondly, the first draft of the association statutes is online for users to edit. The association has to be built for the users by the users. Mid-September, a poll on the proposed names for the future association showed the name “Sailmates” was the most popular association name. End of September, yes, it was an intense month, the draft is finished and translated into German by the community. It was important to do all of this before October, when the Austrian community meeting takes place. At the meeting the founding members could meet and sign the legal documents.
The foundation of an Austrian association requires at least two founding members. So I’ve been talking to the users who’ve told me they want to be founding members: @fridlmue and @vlagged. We met online before the Austrian community meeting, and at the community meeting we signed the official documents
Along the way, new ideas have been suggested for the association to develop: Rephone made in Germany - #13 by fridlmue, Funding new development with EU grants, deadlines soon - #2 by hildon, Paying for mapping services and I hope more will come.
The association is officially created November the 07th.
Creating Sailmates
Having the association recognized by the Austrian government is one thing, now we needed to build the environment around it:
- a website
- a bank account
- welcoming new members
It looks easy if you’re a private person, but it’s not when you are a legal one… In order to have a domain name, we needed to have an association bank account to buy it. I had only found two Austrian banks that do bank accounts for associations, and for the main one, the members had to come physically to the only office they have in Vienna… So we chose a foreign bank.
Now the website, to avoid hosting costs, we started by using codeberg.org’s “pages” feature, git hosting and a static generated site using hugo’s Cactus theme.
For the email, we’ve seen that some email companies give free or almost free emails to associations, that’s the case of Tutanota for example. But we have to be “validated” by a third party… and that takes 6 weeks… So @sebix came along the way as an early member, representing the association: Institute for Common Good Technology - gemeinnütziger Kulturverein, provided us with an email alias we could use and hosting the website, as Codeberg could not resole the certificate issue. Other early members joined us: @yajo10 and @poetaster who volunteered to host the association’s Matrix server! Thank again to you three!
Joining Sailmates
Now the part you are all waiting for: How do I become a member?
First things first, please do not use the forum.sailfishos.org as a place to ask questions or talk about the association. Keep it on this thread. Also, @poetaster has done a great job in getting a working Matrix server so members can talk there. If you have any other questions ask us at: contact@sailmates.net
Here is the association’s website: https://sailmates.net - all the information can be found in the “Membership” tab or the FAQ, but regardless, I’ll give some information here as a duplicate.
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How much is the membership?
42€/year. Why ? Easily remembered and falls into the suggestions of users, when talking about paying for services (Paid subscription to updates - #38 by Seven.of.nine, Security from Spying - #15 by Speedy-10) -
What benefits do I get when joining the association?
That’s for the members to decide at the general assembly. -
When is the next meeting ?
April 2023 -
How is the association tied to Jolla Oy?
There are no bonds, contracts, benefits, fast tracks with Jolla Oy. But we would love to have Sami (and all other Sailors) as members! -
I don’t want to participate, can I still donate to the association?
Yes of course, go to the Membership | Sailmates page. Again, any donation to Sailmates will not go to Jolla Oy. -
Why can’t i create a Matrix account on the Sailmates Matrix server?
To avoid user management on our side (forgot my password, setting email, etc), GDPR and image issues. -
I want to volunteer for some task at the association, what is there to do ?
That will depend on the projects voted in the assembly. But do not worry, we will need as many volunteers as possible. Such as looking out for funding opportunities, wrtting funding applications and planning projects, adminitrative help, discussing ideas, etc. -
I don’t have a Matrix account how do i do ?
You can either create an account on ther server of the Matrix foundation: Try Matrix Now | Matrix.org or join another public server for example from this list: List of Public Matrix Homeservers | Join Matrix!. Add your username on the membership form (@username:server.com) or send it to us by email if you chose the wire transfer with a proof of payment. -
Is there a Matrix client for SFOS ?
Yes ! Sailtrix and Hydrogen (both support E2EE)
The Story Challenge
To make February intensive for the users (new SFOS version + association reveal) we decided to organize a challenge: Write a story about you and Sailfish OS.
How does the challenge work?
Any association member can write a short story about a personal relationship with SFOS (see examples here: Testimonials | Sailmates). It could be about buying the phone, your first app, meeting other users, tutorials you wrote, etc. Write this story in your preferred language (it can be in your local dialect) and also an English translation and then share it with us.
We will post the stories and their translations on the Sailmates website for everyone to read. Members will vote for their favourite story on the Matrix server (so be sure to join) and the winner will receive a Sailfish OS 3D printed phone case, in this style.
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How can I send my story and its translation?
By mail to contact@sailmates.net or on Matrix by private message to fridlmue vlad or jojo. -
How long do I have do write it?
Until end of this month, so everyone gets the time to read it and vote in March. -
How long should the text be?
Keep it short, around 20/25 lines maximum (around 75 characters per line).
Hopefully I answered all your questions, if I didn’t, you can read the Frequently Asked Questions page on the Sailmates website or ask them bellow.
. It is a reference to this magazine cover, but drawn by an engineer.