PeerTube v5 : the result of 5 years’ handcrafting

Late 2017, we announced our desire to create a free, decentralised and federated alternative to YouTube.

Five years later, we are releasing PeerTube v5, a tool used by hundreds of thousands people on a thousand interconnected platforms to share over 850,000 videos.

« Collectivise Internet / Convivialise Internet 🦆🦆 »
Our new 3-year roadmap is funded by your donations.

You will find a short presentation of this roadmap on our Support Framasoft website.

➡️ Read all blogposts of this campaign (oct. – dĂ©c. 2022, mostly in French)

Illustration PeerTube V5
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Five years of shaping PeerTube by hand

For the past 5 years, our only developer dedicated to PeerTube (and to other tasks in Framasoft) has released one new major version per year:

    • PeerTube v1 (Oct. 2018) allows you to create a video platform with federation, peer-to-peer streaming, redundancy, search tools and multilingual interface.
    • PeerTube v2 (Nov 2019) brings notifications, playlists and plugins.
    • PeerTube v3 (Jan. 2021) adds federated search, live and peer-to-peer streaming.
    • PeerTube v4 (Dec. 2021) allows to customise each platform’s homepage, to sort and filter displayed videos, and to manage them more easily.

Throughout these years, this developer has taken care to improve moderation and federation tools, the video player, the interface, the code and the accessibility and also to fix bugs while answering community questions and needs.

PeerTube ecosytem

PeerTube is an artisanal work, in the noble sense of the word. It is a handcrafted tool that now serves a large alternative ecosystem for online video.

Once again, we would like to remind you that our small non-profit creates and maintains all this with only one developer on the project, helped by:

  • Framasoft employees and volunteers for communication, strategy, administration;
  • PeerTube community which regularly contributes to code, plugins, translations, suggestions, sharing and donations (thanks and lots of datalove to you <3);
  • Service providers in specialized areas (UX or UI design, accessibility, creation of mobile applications, etc.).

However PeerTube is only one of dozens of projects we maintain at Framasoft, even though it is one of the largest.

Like every thing we do, PeerTube is mainly funded by your donations (and donations from foundations like NLnet).

 Support PeerTube by donating to Framasoft

A year of work to make PeerTube easier to use

Since the beginning of 2022, we have been working on PeerTube to make it easier and easier to use for videomakers and their communities.

In February, version 4.1 brings several expected improvements: of the interface, of the video player on mobile devices, of the plugin system, of the search filters or of the instance customization.

In June, version 4.2 introduces two major new features: the Studio, for light video editing directly from PeerTube; and replay publication for « Twitch-like » live streams. Other new features include detailed video statistics, latency management for live streaming and subtitle editing directly from the interface.

In September, with version 4.3, you can now automate video import from a YouTube (or Vimeo) channel. We have also completely reworked the interface for creating a PeerTube account and improved the live streams display on external website.

PeerTube Studio

PeerTube v5: improving and securing to empower yourself better

It’s now December 2022, and PeerTube v5 is now available! This version enhances security in several ways.

The file system has been redesigned to secure internal and private videos. This was a fairly complex work that lays a basis for some much asked future features.

Another very emancipating technical improvement is the possibility of storing live streams in the cloud, with « object storage » system. This means that PeerTube platforms hosted on a server with limited disk storage and bandwidth are no longer limited in their ability to offer live streams.

It is now possible to use two-factor authentication to connect to a PeerTube platform. We use the OTP (One Time Password) method which allows, via an external application, to generate a unique code to validate the connection to its account.

This new version also comes with a lot of bug fixes and improvements. For example, we have added more possibilities to the API, so that PeerTube contributors can develop even more powerful plugins.

Also, the PeerTube interface has received many changes. For example, in the My Videos menu now displays channels, and a mention of the playlist in which a video has been added to.

Finally, we have now a detailed OpenTelemetry documentation (feature released in version 4.2) which brings advanced statistics and observability.

Support, intern, technical challenges and questions on our horizon

Right now, we only have a clear vision for the near future of PeerTube.

Illustration : David Revoy (CC-By)

This year again, we have supported John Livingston‘s work on PeerTube Live Chat plugin, and we can announce that the easy plugin set-up is coming very soon!

In early 2023, we plan to work on a rather technical but very exciting feature, which should reduce the servers’ load and thus to lower the power needed to create a PeerTube platform: we’ll tell you more as soon as we’ve made progress.

Also in 2023, we will welcome a developer intern. We want more and more people to become familiar with PeerTube core code. We want to expermient with temporarily expanding the team working on it.

Finally, the day after this article is published, we will answer all your questions on reddit. Join us on December 14th at 4pm (CEST) on r/opensource for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) about PeerTube and Framasoft!

 Support PeerTube by donating to Framasoft

Share your ideas for PeerTube v6!

These few points aside… we have no idea what the PeerTube roadmap will be in 2023. We need you to help us define it!

Please go to Let’s Improve PeerTube and publish your ideas (and vote for the ones you’re excited about). We want to know what the PeerTube community needs and wants, especially the « non-geek » audience who doesn’ t care about words like « server » or « instance » and just want to watch and share videos.

More than 90 ideas have been already published on Let’s improve Peertube

In early 2023, we will go through the most popular suggestions and select those that fit our vision for PeerTube and our development capabilities, in order to build the PeerTube v6 roadmap.

So it’s up to you to tell us what future you want for PeerTube!

An international tool…

This year, we were lucky enough to have two development contracts that helped us to fund some of our work on PeerTube.

The French Ministry of Education funded the Studio (a tool for editing videos) to be implemented on its platform apps.education.fr (a free-libre service platform provided by the Ministry to all teachers and staff).

Howlround, a Boston-based open platform for theatremakers worldwide, funded detailed video and live stats, but also replay feature for permanent lives.

Finally, we received an exceptional grant from the Dutch foundation NLnet to work on PeerTube v5.

…funded by French-speaking donations

Put together, these amounts represent a small half of our annual budget dedicated to PeerTube (which we estimate at 70 000 €). The other part comes from Framasoft’s budget, i.e. from the donations that our non profit receives from its mainly French-speaking community. To us, it seems almost unfair that it is mainly French speakers who finance a tool that has a truly international scope

But here’s the thing: we’re already not very good at « selling ourselves », promoting our work and getting donations, so if we have to do international marketing, we’re not out of the woods!

We don’t have a marketing department: we only have you.

So we need your help. Spread the word about our donation campaign around you, especially outside the French-speaking world.

Do not hesitate to share the address support.joinpeertube.org around you, on your PeerTube platforms, in your communities that benefit from this alternative.

At the time of publishing, we are still missing 115 000 € to finance our yearly budget and make everything we want to do in 2023 happen.

If you can (especially in these hard times) and if you want to, thanks for supporting our non-profit and our actions.

 🦆 Support Framasoft




PeerTube v5 : le rĂ©sultat de 5 ans de travail artisanal

Fin 2017, nous annoncions notre volonté de créer un outil alternatif à YouTube qui soit libre, décentralisé et fédéré.

Cinq ans plus tard, nous publions la v5 de PeerTube, un outil utilisé par des centaines de milliers de personnes sur un millier de plateformes interconnectées pour partager ensemble plus de 850 000 vidéos.

« Collectivisons Internet / Convivialisons Internet 🦆🦆 »
Les actions de notre nouvelle feuille de route étant financées par vos dons (défiscalisables à 66 %), vous pouvez en trouver un résumé complet sur le site Soutenir Framasoft.

➡️ Lire la sĂ©rie d’articles de cette campagne (oct. – dĂ©c. 2022)

Illustration PeerTube V5
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Cinq années à façonner PeerTube

Depuis 5 ans, notre unique dĂ©veloppeur consacrĂ© Ă  PeerTube (et Ă  d’autres tâches dans Framasoft) a publiĂ© une nouvelle version majeure par an :

  • PeerTube v1 (oct. 2018) permet de crĂ©er une plateforme vidĂ©o avec fĂ©dĂ©ration, diffusion en pair Ă  pair, redondance, outils de recherche et interface multilingue.
  • PeerTube v2 (nov. 2019) apporte les notifications, les playlists, les plugins.
  • PeerTube v3 (jan. 2021) ajoute la recherche fĂ©dĂ©rĂ©e, mais surtout le streaming en direct et en pair Ă  pair.
  • PeerTube v4 (dec. 2021) permet de personnaliser l’accueil de sa plateforme, de trier et filtrer les vidĂ©os affichĂ©es, et de les gĂ©rer plus facilement.

Tout au long de ces annĂ©es, ce dĂ©veloppeur a pris soin d’amĂ©liorer les outils de modĂ©ration et de fĂ©dĂ©ration, le lecteur vidĂ©o, l’interface, le code, l’accessibilitĂ© et de rĂ©parer les bugs tout en rĂ©pondant aux questions et besoins exprimĂ©s par la communautĂ©.

L’Ă©cosystème PeerTube

PeerTube est un travail artisanal, au sens noble du terme. C’est un outil façonnĂ© Ă  la main, qui sert aujourd’hui un vaste Ă©cosystème alternatif pour les vidĂ©os en ligne. En voici les dĂ©tails :

Une fois encore, nous tenons à rappeler que notre petite association crée et maintient tout cela avec un seul développeur sur le projet, aidé :

  • par des salarié·es et bĂ©nĂ©voles de Framasoft pour la communication, la stratĂ©gie, l’administratif ;
  • par la communautĂ© qui contribue rĂ©gulièrement sous forme de code, de plugin, de traductions, de suggestions, de partages et de dons (merci et plein de datalove Ă  vous <3) ;
  • par des prestataires qui vont intervenir sur des domaines spĂ©cialisĂ©s (design UX ou UI, accessibilitĂ©, crĂ©ation d’applications mobiles, etc.).

Pourtant, PeerTube n’est qu’un projet parmi les dizaines que nous maintenons, Ă  Framasoft, mĂŞme si c’est l’un des projets les plus consĂ©quents.

Et comme tout ce que nous faisons, PeerTube est principalement financé par vos dons (et des dons de fondations telles que NLnet).

Soutenir PeerTube par un don Ă  Framasoft

Un an de travail pour faciliter les usages

Depuis le dĂ©but de l’annĂ©e 2022, nous continuons le travail sur PeerTube afin qu’il devienne de plus en plus facile Ă  aborder pour les vidĂ©astes et leurs publics.

En fĂ©vrier, la version 4.1 apporte plusieurs amĂ©liorations attendues : de l’interface, du lecteur vidĂ©o sur les mobiles, du système de plugins, des filtres de recherches, ou de la personnalisation des instances.

En juin, la version 4.2 prĂ©sente deux grandes nouveautĂ©s : le Studio, pour modifier des vidĂ©os directement depuis PeerTube ; et la publication de replay pour les directs « à la Twitch ». Notons aussi les statistiques vidĂ©os dĂ©taillĂ©es, la gestion de la latence pour les directs et l’Ă©dition de sous-titres directement depuis l’interface.

En septembre, avec la version 4.3, on peut enfin automatiser l’import des vidĂ©os depuis une chaĂ®ne YouTube (ou VimĂ©o). Nous avons aussi complètement retravaillĂ© l’interface de crĂ©ation de compte PeerTube et amĂ©liorĂ© l’affichage des directs sur un site externe.

Le studio PeerTube

PeerTube v5 : améliorer et sécuriser pour mieux vous empuissanter

Nous sommes en dĂ©cembre 2022, et la v5 de PeerTube est dĂ©sormais disponible ! C’est une version qui renforce la sĂ©curitĂ© de plusieurs manières.

Le système de fichiers a Ă©tĂ© repensĂ© afin de sĂ©curiser les vidĂ©os internes et privĂ©es. C’Ă©tait un travail de fond assez complexe qui pose les bases pour de futures fonctionnalitĂ©s très demandĂ©es.

Autre amĂ©lioration technique très Ă©mancipatrice : la possibilitĂ© de stocker les directs « sur le cloud », avec le système « object storage ». Ainsi, les plateformes PeerTube hĂ©bergĂ©es sur un serveur avec peu d’espace disque ne sont plus limitĂ©es pour proposer du live.

Il est dĂ©sormais possible d’utiliser l’authentification Ă  deux facteurs afin de se connecter Ă  sa plateforme PeerTube. Nous utilisons ici la mĂ©thode OTP (One Time Password) qui permet, via une application externe, de gĂ©nĂ©rer un code unique pour valider la connexion Ă  son compte.

Cette nouvelle version vient aussi avec son lot de corrections de bugs et d’amĂ©liorations. Ainsi, nous avons ajoutĂ© plus de possibilitĂ©s au niveau de l’API, afin que les contributrices PeerTube puissent dĂ©velopper des plugins toujours plus puissants.

De mĂŞme, l’interface de PeerTube a reçu de nombreuses Ă©volutions, avec par exemple, dans l’espace Mes VidĂ©os, l’apparition des chaĂ®nes, ou la mention de la playlist dans laquelle se trouve une vidĂ©o.

Enfin, nous avons pu dĂ©tailler la documentation d’OpenTelemetry (fonctionnalitĂ© apparue dans la version 4.2) qui permet d’obtenir des statistiques de maintenance et d’observation avancĂ©es.

Soutien, stagiaire, dĂ©fis techniques et questions Ă  l’horizon

Illustration : David Revoy (CC-By)

D’une part nous avons cette annĂ©e encore soutenu le travail de John Livingston sur le plugin PeerTube Live Chat, et on peut vous annoncer que l’installation facilitĂ©e arrive très prochainement !

DĂ©but 2023, nous comptons travailler sur une fonctionnalitĂ© assez technique mais très enthousiasmante, qui devrait permettre d’allĂ©ger la charge sur les serveurs et donc abaisser la puissance nĂ©cessaire pour crĂ©er une plateforme PeerTube : on vous en dĂ©voile plus dès qu’on aura avancĂ© dessus.

Toujours en 2023, nous allons accueillir un stagiaire en dĂ©veloppement. Nous souhaitons en effet que de plus en plus de personnes se familiarisent avec le cĹ“ur du code de PeerTube. Nous allons ainsi expĂ©rimenter d’agrandir, temporairement, l’Ă©quipe qui travaille dessus.

Enfin, dès le lendemain de la parution de cet article, nous rĂ©pondrons, en anglais, Ă  toutes vos questions sur reddit. Rejoignez nous le 14 dĂ©cembre dès 16h (Heure de Paris) sur r/opensource pour une AMA (Ask Me Anything – demandez-nous ce que vous voulez) sur PeerTube et Framasoft !

Soutenir PeerTube par un don Ă  Framasoft

Partagez vos idées pour PeerTube v6 !

Le futur proche de PeerTube est clair Ă  nos yeux, mais pour la suite, ce sont vos suggestions qui vont nous guider. Nous n’avons pas d’idĂ©e de ce que sera la feuille de route de PeerTube en 2023. Pour la dĂ©finir, nous avons besoin de vous !

Allez proposer vos idĂ©es (et voter pour les idĂ©es qui vous enthousiasment) sur Let’s Improve PeerTube (en anglais uniquement). Nous voulons savoir quels sont les besoins, quelles sont les envies du public de PeerTube, et plus particulièrement le public « non-geek », qui se fiche Ă©perdument des mots « serveur » ou « instance », et qui souhaite juste voir et partager des vidĂ©os sur cet outil.

Plus de 90 suggestions sont dĂ©jĂ  prĂ©sentes sur Let’s improve Peertube. ajoutez la vĂ´tre !

Début 2023, nous irons voir les suggestions les plus plébiscitées et nous sélectionnerons celles qui correspondent à notre vision de PeerTube et à nos capacités de développement, afin de construire la feuille de route de PeerTube v6.

C’est donc Ă  vous de nous dire quel avenir vous souhaitez pour PeerTube !

Un outil international…

Cette annĂ©e, nous avons eu la chance d’avoir deux prestations en dĂ©veloppement qui nous ont aidĂ©s Ă  financer une partie de notre travail sur PeerTube.

Le ministère de l’Éducation nationale a financĂ© le Studio (outil pour modifier les vidĂ©os) afin de l’implĂ©menter sur sa plateforme d’outils libre apps.education.fr (si vous dĂ©pendez du MEN, pensez Ă  utiliser et promouvoir cette plateforme !).

Howlround, un média universitaire de Boston autour des arts scéniques, a, quant à lui, financé les statistiques détaillées des vidéos et des directs, ainsi que le replay pour les live permanents.

Enfin, nous avons bĂ©nĂ©ficiĂ© d’une bourse exceptionnelle de la fondation NĂ©erlandaise NLnet pour le travail sur la v5 de PeerTube.

…financĂ© par les dons francophones

Mises bout Ă  bout, ces sommes reprĂ©sentent une petite moitiĂ© de notre budget annuel consacrĂ© Ă  PeerTube (que nous estimons Ă  70 000 €). Le reste de l’argent provient donc du budget de Framasoft, c’est-Ă -dire des dons que notre association reçoit de son public principalement francophone. Cela nous semble presque injuste que ce soit majoritairement les francophones qui financent un outil qui a une vĂ©ritable portĂ©e internationale

Mais voilĂ  : le fait est qu’on n’est dĂ©jĂ  pas hyper douĂ©es pour « se vendre », promouvoir notre travail et aller chercher les dons, alors s’il faut faire du marketing international, on n’est pas rendus !

Nous n’avons pas de service marketing : nous n’avons que vous.

Nous avons donc besoin de votre aide. Faites marcher le bouche-à-oreille pour faire connaître notre campagne de dons autour de vous, spécifiquement hors de la francophonie.

N’hĂ©sitez pas Ă  partager l’adresse soutenir.framasoft.org autour de vous, sur vos plateformes PeerTube, dans vos communautĂ©s qui bĂ©nĂ©ficient de cette alternative.

À l’heure où nous publions ces lignes, nous estimons qu’il nous manque un peu plus de 115 000 € pour boucler notre budget annuel et nous lancer sereinement dans nos actions en 2023.

Si vous le pouvez (eh oui, en ce moment c’est particulièrement compliqué), et si vous le voulez, merci de soutenir les actions de notre association.

Soutenir Framasoft




Framasoft 2022 : a casserole cooked up thanks to you, thanks to your donations

Did you know that 98% of Framasoft’s budget is based on donations (86% of which are from individuals). It is therefore thanks to you and your support (thank you!) that all our actions are possible. So we wanted to give you a summary of what we have done in 2022. A look back at 12 months of popular education on the challenges of digital and cultural commons, which we wanted to be rich in flavours to please your (and our!) taste buds.

« Collectivise Internet / Convivialise Internet🦆🦆 » The actions of our new roadmap are funded by your donations, You will find a short presentation of this roadmap on our Support Framasoft website.

➡️ Read all blogposts of this campaign (oct. – déc. 2022, mostly in French)

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

But who is behind the stove?

Behind this little feast, who is there? A small group of 38 people: 28 volunteers and 10 employees, convinced that a world where digital technology allows us to gain freedom is possible! We tell you here what we did, thought about and moved forward in the kitchens. And the ovens are still hot!

Sharing our values, intentions and actions loud and clear

After 3 years of work, workshops guided by Marie-CĂ©cile Godwin and fine-tuning by the association, we published our manifesto in November. This long work made us think a lot and allowed us to highlight very simply the political dimension of our associative project: we want to change the current world for a better one, where the Commons are favoured, where social justice is a fundamental value and where our liberties are preserved.

The second part of this important work was to make sure that our manifesto intentions are understood as soon as they arrive on framasoft.org. We have therefore completely redesigned our main website to make our associative project clear, fluid and easily understandable.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Collectivise Internet / Convivialise Internet: our new roadmap 2023-2025

After 5 years on course with Contributopia, we needed to refine our compass and review our direction: where do we want to continue our exploration for the next few years? This is how the new roadmap Collectivise Internet / Convivialise Internet (code name: COIN / COIN – quack in french) was created: we want to address more directly the collectives and associations committed to a better world (without putting aside the thousands of people who use our tools!).

4 projects have been unveiled and will be progressively improved as the months go by thanks to the beneficiaries’ feedback, with the idea of creating more links between the tools and the people:

  • Frama.space: offering liberated cloud to small activist collectives
  • Peer.tube: to promote the PeerTube for which we are working
  • Emancip’Asso: to promote the digital emancipation of the associative world
  • ECHO Network: to understand the needs of popular education in different European countries.

We have detailed the actions of this roadmap and why we are undertaking them on the Framablog (in french…!).

Banquet simple, dans une jardin partagé, où des animaux mascottes du libre sont servis par des canards
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Seeing each other again and seeing you again: it’s a real boost!

This year 2022 will also have been marked by a more intense resumption of shared moments, in the flesh (with good airing!): GAs, Framacamp, events, fairs, conferences, festivals, film screenings, round tables… Because as much as we love doing all this, seeing you and us motivates us, boosts us and encourages us to continue testing new, ambitious, wacky and funny projects (Remember Proutify? The extension has just been updated by one of our volunteers)… it’s so important to have fun doing all this!

Dessin d'un Canard qui sourie en très gros plan, de manière comique, tandis que derrière lui des canards font la fête dans une kermesse champêtre
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

 

Without you, everything we do would not be possible: 98% of the association’s resources come from donations. Do you think that our reflections are going in the right direction? If you have the means, if you have the desire, we thank you in advance for your support.

 

Support Framasoft

 

As an appetizer: popular education buffet

For us, popular education is the basis for a better world: everyone can share their knowledge and access it, in all simplicity. We present here the different popular education actions carried out this year.

Sharing knowledge and points of view

To begin with, Framasoft intervened, in person or remotely, in various spaces, to talk about digital emancipation, alternative digital, or how to be free online. Our members have made more than 70 interventions, for different structures, associations or groups, in different regions of France. You can watch some of these interventions on our Framatube channel.

Then, Framasoft keeps the pen active on the Framablog. More than 100 articles have been published this year, between presentations of our different actions, translations of Framalang, weekly press review, guest keyboards, interviews of various emancipatory projects, audio articles… The Framablog is a space where we express ourselves without limits.

We also intervened about twenty times in the media when we were asked to share our points of view on digital issues: video interviews, podcasts, articles… You will find the different links accessible on this page.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Des Livres en Communs: the publishing house that breaks the rules

Our publishing house, Des Livres en Communs (formerly Framabook), is turning the publishing codes upside down by offering a grant to authors upstream of the writing process, as well as the publication of the work under a free licence, in digital form only.

Following the first call for publication launched in January: « Towards a more contributive, more united, more ethical and more free world: how to equip and organise ourselves together », the project « L’amour en Commun », by Margaux Lallemant and TimothĂ© Allanche was selected. The objective of this publication is to question how the commonality of love, as a means of organisation and a motor of commitment, allows us to build an alternative to capitalist society.

The book is currently being created, between fieldwork and immersions, while being accompanied by our publishing committee.

Des Livres en Communs also participated in the co-editing and proofreading of the « Guide du connard professionnel », a work carried out with PtiloukEditions.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

UPLOAD: a free university that is growing

The Free, Open, Autonomous and Decentralised Popular University (UPLOAD: standing for Université Populaire Libre, Ouverte, Autonome, et Décentralisée in french) is a large popular education project initiated and coordinated by Framasoft (for the moment), in a decentralised and networked logic. The objective is to contribute (on our scale) to making society more just and our world more liveable, by focusing on the training of citizens by citizens.

This project is largely formed by the LibreCourses, online courses allowing access to different knowledge and skills. Stéph offered us a conference (in french) to present the topic during the Free Software Days.

This year’s Librecourses will have been punctuated by the theme « Low-tech and digital »: a first session between April and June and a second between November and January 2023. Do you also find the exponential growth of digital technology problematic? Are you interested in reducing the technical footprint of a tool? You can find the videos of the courses here.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Peer.tube: a showcase for PeerTube that looks like us

With Peer.tube, we want to create a showcase for PeerTube, with quality content selected in advance. It’s our answer to a question we’re often asked: « But where do I find interesting content on PeerTube? The Peer.tube site is already available with a first selection of channels and videos, but the project will only really move forward next year.

Sepia, læ poulple mascotte de PeerTube, est au bord de la mer. Iel nous invite sur un ponton menant à une plein de voiliers. Un film est projeté sur chacune des voiles de ces voiliers.
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

 

Has our popular education buffet piqued your curiosity? Do you think our contributions are going in the right direction? Then we’d like to reiterate that all this was made possible thanks to you and your donations – thank you!

I support Framasoft’s popular education actions

 

Main course: digital empowerment frying pan

Enabling citizens to become digitally empowered and free their practices is the core of our actions. But what is this good pan made of? Liberated ingredients, quality, and a good pinch of love. We tell you all about it.

Online services to do without the digital giants

Our online services are often the reason why people know us: more than 9 out of 10 people told us so during our survey « What you think of Framasoft » launched at the end of May. And to tell the truth, we were not very surprised. To give you some figures, we count more than 50 million visits on all our sites since the beginning of the year, more than 350 surveys are created every day on Framadate, nearly 15,000 forms are created every month on Framaforms, nearly 110,000 collaborative writing pads are active on Framapad. We still find this incredible!

Between 2014 and 2019, our little association has made around 40 free and trusted online services available to Internet users (yes, 40!). For many reasons, this was too much, and we have gradually closed, between 2019 and 2022, a part of these services, while proposing alternatives. This period of closure is now over: our 16 online services are available to anyone who wants to use tools that respect our freedoms. We have therefore decided to update and redesign the degooglisons-internet.org website to make it an easily accessible gateway, to make it reflect our image and above all to reassure our users.

Keeping these services up to date, managing the machines that run them or answering your questions about support, is a daily job, and we try to put our best efforts into it!

Illustration « Quittons la planète GAFAM NATU BATX », CC BY David Revoy
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

 

PeerTube: freeing your videos and channels is getting easier

PeerTube is the software we develop (well, one of our employees, yes, one!) to offer an alternative to video platforms. And 2022 will have been a year rich in evolutions, where we now count more than 1000 active PeerTube platforms.

Let’s go to V5!

To begin with, version 4.1 was released in February, bringing interface improvements, new mobile features, an improved plugin system, new search filters and new instance customization possibilities for admins.

In June, we released version 4.2, which brought a great new feature: the Studio, or the possibility to edit videos directly from the web interface. This version also brought more detailed viewing statistics, the possibility to adjust the latency during a broadcast or the direct editing of subtitles (thanks Lutangar!)

In September, version 4.3 was released, allowing the automatic import of videos from a remote channel (thanks to Florent, one of the administrators of the PeerTube Skeptikón instance) and new improvements to the interface and the integration of live videos (a collaborative effort with a designer from la Coopérative des Internets).

And we can already tell you that the new major version, v5, will be released in a few days with (exclusive information!) two-factor authentication or the possibility to send live files to the cloud for admins…

Edit of December 13th : V5 is released ! Find all the information on this article.

Collecting your ideas to enrich the software

Do you create content on PeerTube? Do you enjoy watching videos on PeerTube? In July, we launched the ideas.joinpeertube.org tool (in english) to collect your needs for the software and help us identify new features to develop to make PeerTube more enjoyable to use.

Please feel free to take a look around, to vote for one of the features already proposed or to propose a new one. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to share their opinion!

joinpeertube.org: easier access to PeerTube

joinpeertube.org is THE site that introduces PeerTube, THE gateway to information about this alternative to centralized video platforms, and we want to leave it wide open!

The previous version of joinpeertube.org was mainly focused on the technical features of PeerTube, and therefore addressed to technical profiles. However, now that there are more than 1,000 PeerTube platforms, we felt that it was necessary to promote the software to a wider audience who may be less digitally literate.

After an audit of the site via user tests carried out by La Coopérative des Internets, the web agency proposed improvements to allow a better understanding of PeerTube. You will find all the details of this version on this article of the Framablog: and we hope that this redesign will be useful and will facilitate the use of PeerTube!

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Mobilizon: we make it easy for you to search

Mobilizon is the software that Framasoft is developing (well, one of our employeesâ‹…es and not even full time!) to offer an alternative to Facebook events and groups.

Mobilizon Search Index, a search engine in the fediverse

As we did before with Sepia Search (our search engine for discovering content published on PeerTube), we want to offer a gateway to Mobilizon to show its emancipatory potential.

Mobilizon Search Index references the events and server groups that we have approved on instances.joinmobilizon.org (currently a little over 80 instances, and we hope the list will grow!). The search engine then allows you to explore the events and groups of all these servers, and in different ways: search bar (well, it’s rather classic), by categories (interesting, isn’t it?) or even by geolocating yourself to find events nearby (crazy!).

The source code is free-libre : anyone (with some computer skills, anyway…!) can install a Mobilizon Search Index, and adapt it to their needs.

So, does this make you want to test it?

A v3 focused on research

We released the 3rd major version of Mobilizon in November. The software has reached the maturity we wanted it to have, and that is very motivating!

In the new features: many elements of the software have been modified to avoid accumulating technical debt, the design of the homepage has evolved in design, and the search results page has also been revised (hello Mobilizon Search Index!). Increasing the possibilities of discovering events and groups to make the diversity of content published on Mobilizon more visible was also the goal of this v3.

This v3 was able to evolve thanks to the various contributions (thanks to the community!), was partly financed by a grant from NLNet (thanks to them!), and of course by you, and your donations (again a big thank you).

gros plan sur Rose, la fennec mascotte de Mobilizon, qui tient une loupe à la main. En fond, une carte représentant un village où des chemins mènent à un poitn commun. Au dessus d'elle, le symbole d'un lieu estampillé "v3"
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Frama.space: emancipating small associations and activist collectives

Frama.space is a new service (in french) that we offer to small associations and activist collectives, to allow them to match their strong internal values (of social justice and emancipation) with digital tools in the same direction (free and non-monopolistic tools). We want to empower associations and activist collectives by opening digital spaces for sharing, working and organising (up to 50 accounts per collective, based on the free software Nextcloud with: office suite, 40 GB of storage, synchronisation of diaries and contacts, video tools, etc.).

Announced on 15 October when our roadmap Collectivisons / Convivialisons Internet was released, pre-registration has been open since 18 November. Currently, applications are being reviewed (by realâ‹…es humanâ‹…es!) to open 250 first spaces by the end of the year. Our ultimate goal (a tad ambitious, yes!) being to make 10,000 Frama.space spaces available by the end of 2025.

Do you want to read more about the political aim of the project? We invite you to read this article or to watch this conference, which provides all the important details.

Une licorne déguisée en cosmonaute (avec une passoire sur la tête) marche sur les nuages et souffle des bulles. Dans ces bulles, on retrouve des cubes symbolisant le travail en commun (dossiers, boite à outils, livres, machine à écrire, boulier, etc.).
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

 

Do you find our actions to empower citizens through digital technology interesting? Do you think we are going in the right direction? All this was possible thanks to you and your donations. Thank you!

 

I support Framasoft’s digital empowerment actions

 

For dessert: farandole of a better world (to share!)

Because a good meal is always better when shared. And because it’s by sharing our know-how that we can go further. We act with other structures, which, like independent islands, bathe in the common waters of the same archipelago (can you also imagine floating islands with a good custard?): we keep our independence while sharing values of social justice. Acting together is obvious!

From the kittens’ side

The CHATONS (kittens in french) collective is a bit like a network of online service CSA(Community Supported Agriculture). Where Google, Facebook or Microsoft would represent the agri-food industry, the members of CHATONS would be computer farmers offering organic online services without GMOs, pesticides, aggressive marketing, in short: without a « race for purchasing power ».

At the end of this year, after already 14 litters of kittens, we count 97 members in the collective, i.e. 97 alternative hosts working in the same direction: resisting the gafamisation of the Internet and proposing alternatives respectful of our private lives.

The collective was present on different events during the year (Free Software Days, Digital Accessibility Workshop, Geek Faeries, Freedom Not Fear, FĂŞte de l’Huma, Capitole du Libre), to present its actions. The second CHATONS camp took place this summer, a great time to meet and to relaunch great collective dynamics. Different working groups were created, in particular the group « An association for the CHATONS collective » aiming at an autonomization of the collective with the aim that we (Framasoft) leave little by little the coordination of the collective to the collective itself.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

Emancip’Asso: promoting the digital emancipation of the associative world

The aim of Emancip’Asso is to help associations to find support to help their digital practices evolve towards more ethical practices. Designed in partnership with Animafac, 2022 will have been a year of… paperwork (yes, this is often the beginning of ambitious projects!).

We spent some time putting together a steering committee (20 members) that was varied, heterogeneous and representative of the diversity of the associative world. Then, as the project was intended to be financially independent, the first six months of the year were devoted to fundraising, which bore fruit (hurrah!). We currently have four funders (and we hope that the list will continue to grow!): the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind, the Crédit Coopératif Foundation, the Un monde par Tous Foundation and the Libérons nos ordis Association.

The first funding allowed us to work on the first stage of the project: a training course for ethical hosts to help them accompany associations in their digital transition. Search for speakers, preparation of the programme and logistics: the training (it’s full!) will take place in Paris, from 16 to 20 January 2023 (the programme in detail is here).

Finally, at the end of this year, we applied to different student programs to set up two working groups: one on the graphic identity of Emancip’Asso (in progress!), and a second one on the realization of the emancipasso.org website (to come).

You can find Angie and Anne-Laure presenting the project on video here.

un chaton patissier qui présente un nuage-gateau fait sur commande, tansdi qu'en arrière plan d'autres chatons cuisinent un autre nuage gâteau au millieu de leur village arbre-à-chats
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

ECHO Network: understanding the digital needs of popular education, here and elsewhere

2022 will also have been the year of the development of the European project « Ethical, Commons, Humans, Open-Source Network » (ECHO Network, it’s a bit easier to remember…). Led by the popular education movement CEMÉA France, the project brings together 7 structures from 5 European countries (France, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy). What do they have in common? The support, each at its own level, of the public in their autonomy and emancipation.

The objective of the project is to exchange on the difficulties, opportunities and ways to accompany the public that our associations serve towards a digital transition. And the background: how to accompany this emancipation in (or even by) a digital world centralised by the web giants?

The first meeting of the exchange will take place in Paris from 14 to 17 January 2023. This opening seminar will allow us to unpack the general theme: supporting the digital transition of associations that train citizens. Read more here.

Dessin de cinq iles en cercle, chacune avec des constructions d'une culture différente. Elles communiquent ensemble en s'envoyant des ondes, des échos.
Illustration CC BY David Revoy

And that’s not all!

Knowledge transfer

With Hubikoop (territorial hub of the New Aquitaine region for an inclusive digital environment) we started in September the animation of the course « Accompaniment to the discovery of ethical digital services » : 8 workshops for the actors of the digital mediation in New Aquitaine. This partnership is starting to give rise to new ideas, which we will tell you about next year!

In the framework of the PENSA project with Aix-Marseille University, we intervened in June for a training of trainers on the theme « Free software and services for the digital emancipation of citizens ». The final objective is to enable teachers to develop their skills for a critical use of digital technology in education.

We have also carried out various actions in connection with AFPA and more specifically the people in charge of the training of Digital Mediation Space Managers, to transmit more knowledge on ethical digital.

Framasoft also became a member of the MedNum. Our ambitions behind this? To raise awareness of free tools among digital mediation actors, to train digital mediators in ethical alternatives and to equip the cooperative itself with free tools.

Finally, you will find us in the booklet « Le temps des conquĂŞtes, les nouveaux horizons de l’ESS » published by ESS France.

Important statements taken

The L.A. Coalition (of which Framasoft is a member) took a position in April on the Republican Commitment Contract: the collective denounced it as a potential source of litigation and abusive sanctions by the administration or public authorities to the detriment of associations and foundations.

The first abuses of the republican commitment contract quickly emerged. We signed the tribune «Civil disobedience is part of the freedom of expression and the repertoire of legitimate actions of associations », published in l’HumanitĂ© in September: associative freedoms are essential and currently in danger.

We also signed the tribune « For the digital commons to become a pillar of European digital sovereignty » by Wikimedia France in June. Cultural commons are an integral part of Framasoft’s social purpose, defending them is essential!

Support by conviction

Following the announcement of its very difficult financial situation this summer, we supported the media NextINpact (very qualitative digital watch) by buying « suspended » subscriptions that we drew at random.

We also supported affordance.info (qualitative content on digital and relevant social issues) by migrating its blog from a non-free tool (Typepad) to a free tool (WordPress), all hosted by us.

We proposed a Signal proxy (free messaging) following a call from the structure informing of the blocking of its application by the Iranian regime in the face of the current revolts.

Illustration CC BY David Revoy

 

Did you like our shared dessert? You think that these actions carried out with other islands of our archipelago are to be encouraged? Know that they are also only possible thanks to you and your donations. Thank you again!

 

I support Framasoft’s archipelago actions

 

Framasoft, today, is more than 50 000 € of expenses per month. We closed the 2021 accounting year with a deficit of €60,000 (which donations – more generous during the 2020 confinements – fortunately allowed us to absorb).

At the time of writing, we estimate that we are €127,500 short of our annual budget and can confidently launch our actions in 2023.
If you can (yes, at the moment it is particularly complicated), and if you want to, please support the actions of our association.

I support the actions of Framasoft