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Gabriel, a software tester on our team, shares our company’s desire to help. Gabriel devotes his free time to organizing RPG sessions for children at the Topory Association in his hometown of Rawa Mazowiecka. And we financially support two non-profit projects every month. In January, we joined forces with Gabriel to donate to initiatives of his choice: the Rawa for Animals Association, and Elementary OS.

Elementary OS

Elementary OS is a free and open-source operating system based on the Linux kernel. Its characteristic feature is a minimalist and aesthetic interface, making navigation and everyday work easier for new users.

Gabriel, having used this distribution for a long time, appreciated its simplicity. “This system makes it easier to switch to Linux for those who use MacOS or Windows on a daily basis. It is intuitive and does not require the use of a text-based terminal, which is a godsend for beginners.”

In addition to its accessibility, Elementary OS stands out for its well-thought-out native applications and AppCenter, from which users can easily download and update additional tools. All apps in AppCenter are reviewed for quality and security.

Rawa for Animals Association

The Rawa for Animals Association is an organization that actively helps homeless animals. It organizes numerous collections for pet food and publishes adoption advertisements, enabling the “lesser brothers” to quickly find a new home.

Gabriel, being a long-time supporter of the association, chose it as a beneficiary of our January campaign, supporting them in their difficult work. “Together with my fiancée, we try to help animals. The Association has supported us many times in various matters, even financing treatment,” emphasizes Gabriel.

Every month is an opportunity to make a difference. While in December, inspired by the festive atmosphere, we are more eager to support those in need, it’s worthwhile to turn a one-time act of kindness into a habit and contribute regularly. We have been operating this way for years, and this month, following the wish of Katarzyna Bownik, a junior project manager in our company, we are providing financial support to the “Świetlik” association and the open-source project GIMP.

GIMP

GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a powerful and versatile tool for photo and graphic editing, effectively replacing commercial software. As emphasized by Katarzyna, it is a “free alternative for those who would like to edit graphics and photos legally and professionally in the comfort of their homes, on any operating system. It is a competitive program for both beginners and more experienced users, serving as an alternative to Photoshop.”

One of the key features of GIMP is its accessibility. It can be successfully installed on various operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. GIMP allows the community to report bugs, suggest improvements, and create add-ons, making the program continuously evolve and adapt to users’ needs.

Like many open-source projects, GIMP relies on the financial support of its community and a broad user base.

The Association for the Development and Support of People with Disabilities “Świetlik” in Matczyn

“Świetlik” is an association supporting the Social Welfare Home in Bełżyce, in the Lublin Voivodeship, focused on aiding young people and adults with intellectual disabilities. The association provides rehabilitation, 24-hour nursing care, access to specialist doctors, and special education. For the residents of the Social Welfare Home, a Daytime Activity Center has also been established, offering occupational therapy, including art, theater, and culinary workshops.

How will our company’s December support be allocated? “It will be used to prepare seasonal gifts for the residents of the Social Welfare Home, ensuring they experience this time joyfully and creating pleasant memories they can cherish even after the holiday season,” says Katarzyna.

In the November edition of our donations initiative, Szymon Gdula – Full-Stack Developer, who recently celebrated his first anniversary in our team – makes his debut as the selector. What projects will receive our support this month, following Szymon’s choice?

TypeORM

Szymon’s first choice is TypeORM, a programming library for working with databases in applications written in JavaScript and TypeScript. As often happens with the selections, Szymon chose software that he uses regularly, justifying his decision as follows: “It’s a backend library that makes working with databases easier and faster. I use it every day in Node.js.”

TypeORM, like many other ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) solutions, allows developers to work with data from the database in the form of objects. This technique not only increases productivity but also improves the quality of the code written and often helps to avoid errors occurring with direct access to databases.

The TypeORM project can be developed thanks to the financial support of the engaged community. Together with Szymon, we join them as part of this month’s edition of our initiative.

Forest Forever Foundation

The second organization Szymon chose to support is the Las Na Zawsze (Forest Forever) Foundation, which focuses on forest protection. „The foundation protects mature, rich forest ecosystems and plants young, biodiverse forests. I believe that in times of progressive degradation of the natural environment, the foundation’s activities are a noble and right thing,” says Szymon.

The Foundation not only plants new trees and protects existing forests from logging, but also conducts educational activities to increase society’s ecological awareness. The foundation’s employees and volunteers educate communities about forest protection, in accordance with the principle that prevention is better than cure.

As we do this month, you can support the foundation in its activities. Thanks to the joint effort, nearly 1,300,000 m² of forests all over Poland are now under the foundation’s care.

Summer holidays are slowly coming to an end, but we continue to help. In August, it is Emil, a Python and Golang Developer who has been part of our remote team for over three years, chooses the initiatives as part of the monthly #SidnetDonations action.

What open-source and non-profit projects will we support according to our developer’s wishes?

The Mozilla Foundation

The Mozilla Foundation has been working for an open and accessible Internet for 20 years. The list of its numerous projects and ventures includes, among others, the development and maintenance of the Firefox browser, of which Emil is a faithful user. Primarily, for this reason, he chose the Foundation.

“The browser market is dominated by large corporations, especially Google with its Chrome and Apple with Safari. For me, using Firefox is not only an alternative but a choice of freedom from monopoly,” – says Emil.

“I use Firefox in both desktop and mobile versions. I especially appreciate the feature of synchronizing browsing history between devices, and the ability to easily transfer an open page to another device,” – adds our programmer.

Thanks to the organizational and financial support of the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox not only does not lag behind the rival browsers of the powerful competition but also often blazes new trails and is the first to introduce innovative features and technical solutions.

The Legal Protection of Animals Lex Nova Foundation

The Foundation was established over a decade ago in order to disseminate knowledge of the principles contained in the World Declaration of Animal Rights announced by UNESCO in Paris in 1978 and other provisions regarding the legal protection of animals in Poland.

The organization supports activities in the field of animal and environmental protection, in particular:

• Counteracting all forms of cruelty and violence against animals
• Activities for the humane treatment of animals, their protection, and care
• Shaping pro–ecological attitudes in society through educational activities
• Taking action to build and strengthen a civic control system in the field of animal and environmental protection.

Emil adds that “the goal of the foundation is also educational activity in the direction of counteracting the phenomena of violence and aggression, also directed at people”.