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+# Free Software Camp 2020 Launches On Software Freedom Day
+
+The world celebrates Software Freedom Day today with the aim of increasing
+awareness of Free Software and its virtues, and it is in the same spirit and
+excitement that we announce today the Free Software Camp.
+
+The Free Software Camp is an online mentorship camp on free software organized
+by Free Software Foundation of India and Free Software Community of India. It
+will start in October and run till end of February.
+
+The Free Software Camp will be a valuable opportunity for anyone who wishes to
+become a contributor to free software projects but feels like they need
+structured mentorship and a learning environment to get started. It will also be
+an opportunity for existing free software contributors to get new contributors
+to their project and facilitate their entry into the free software community.
+
+Application links for learners and mentors are open now on the [camp
+website][camp-site] and will be so till October 15.
+
+[camp-site]: https://camp.fsf.org.in
+
+The camp promises to be a safe space for learners to acquaint themselves with
+the philosophy of free software while also getting equipped to become free
+software contributors. In the first phase of the camp, learners will go through
+a series of assignments, interactions, movie screenings, and other activities
+that introduces them to the social benefits of free software and exposes them to
+the free software culture. They will get help in using free software on their
+own devices. At the end of this phase, they will get a chance to explore various
+free software projects and working with mentors they will be asked to create
+working proposals for contributing to these projects. The camp will match each
+learner to a mentor based on their proposal. In the second phase, each learner
+starts their free software contribution as per their accepted proposal, closely
+working with their mentor. There will be periodic review meetings to address the
+needs of the learners and help them stay on track.
+
+Any free software contributor who can meet mentor expectations listed on the
+camp site can apply to become a mentor. They can also add their ideas to the
+list of ideas from which the learners can find starting points for writing their
+proposals. The mentors will work closely with the camp organizers in evaluation
+and selection of proposals, and with learners to facilitate the success of the
+selected proposals.
+
+The camp encourages all kinds of contributions and contribution pathways -
+programming, system administration, packaging, UI/UX, forensics, localization,
+artworks, documentation, publicity, event organizing, etc. - as long as there is
+alignment with the free software philosophy. The camp is conducted online using
+free software communication tools like Big Blue Button, Matrix, etc. There is no
+fee for participation.
+
+For more details and applying visit [https://camp.fsf.org.in][camp-site]