Jean-Baptiste Kempf receives the European SFS Award 2025 at SFSCON
The FSFE and LUGBZ have recognized VLC president and core developer with a European award for his long-term dedication to the project. What began as a student initiative has, through his continuous effort, evolved into one of the most widely used media players, with billion of users worldwide.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), together with the Linux User Group Bolzano‑Bozen (LUGBZ), is proud to recognize Jean-Baptiste Kempf with the European SFS Award 2025, in recognition of his outstanding and lasting contributions to the Free Software movement and his long-term dedication to the VLC project.
Born as a student project in 1996, this software has evolved into an essential, all-in-one media player that plays almost anything effortlessly. Originally a simple network streaming client, it has grown into a powerful universal media player that continues to evolve and impress.
“For many people running non-free operating systems, it was the very first Free Software they ever installed. For many people running Free Software, it saved them from installing and booting into a proprietary operating system”, declared Matthias Kirschner, president of the FSFE during the Award ceremony.
Jean-Baptiste Kempf joined the project as a student, and when it faced the risk of dying after the graduation of its original developers, he took the reins. With the help of other core developers, he transformed it into the indispensable media player we rely on today.
Over the years, Kempf has become not only the president of the VideoLAN non-profit but also one of the lead developers of VLC Media Player and the founder of VideoLabs. “It’s small, fast, friendly, and seems to "understand everything you throw at it. I have always thought of it as "the program that eats everything", said Raphael Barbieri, a member of LUGBZ, during the winner’s announcement.
"I am extremely honoured to receive the European SFS Award. The Free Software multimedia community is quite niche and unknown, but we work hard so that video content can be free, can be played and processed. The work done around the VideoLAN community has been tremendous, despite its little resources. I want to thank the whole VideoLAN and FFmpeg teams, who spend their time on those projects, often with little recognition", declares Jean-Baptiste Kemp.
The European SFS Award
The European SFS Award recognizes individuals whose work has made a significant and sustained difference in advancing Free Software across Europe. Originating in South Tyrol with LUGBZ, and now presented jointly with FSFE since 2023, the award honours those whose efforts strengthen software freedom, community building, and the ethical foundations of technology.
In previous years, the award was given to Frank Karlitschek (2023) for his leadership with Nextcloud, and posthumously to Bram Moolenaar (2024) for creating the Vim editor.
2025 Laudatio
Raphael: There’s a program most of us have used - on laptops, phones, tablets or desktops computers. It might have run on screens in supermarkets or shops. It’s small, fast, friendly, and seems to "understand everything you throw at it". I have always thought of it as "the program that eats everything."
Matthias: This amazing software did not come from a giant technology company with a huge budget. It began more than twenty years ago - as a modest experiment by a few students at an engineering school. They wanted to solve a problem they identified. Nothing fancy - just a student project to tinker, experiment, share, and have fun. No one knew that those first lines of code written for “network 2000” would one day reach billions of users.
Raphael: Like many student projects, it almost faded away when graduation came and the contributors had other priorities. But one young engineer, who had joined the group in 2000, refused to let it die. He reorganised the code, inspired new contributors, and slowly turned a university experiment into a world-class piece of software.
Matthias: He built a healthy community fostering the software. Hundreds of volunteers joined. They contributed by programming, testing, auditing, helping others, with translations, improving the design, or promoting the software. Thereby the community grew and people started using the software on every platform – GNU/Linux and other Unix like operating systems, Windows, Android, or MacOS and iOS. For many people running non-free operating systems, it was the very first Free Software they ever installed. For many people running Free Software, it saved them from installing and booting into a proprietary operating system.
Raphael: With this success our winner was offered tempting deals - big money, advertising, corporate buyouts. Every time, he gently said no. Because it was not about maximising profit. It was about maximising freedom for computer users.
Matthias: To protect that freedom, he later founded a non-profit organisation - so the software would always belong to its community. He also founded a company to support the technical side - keeping development professional while staying true to the values of software freedom. Under his leadership, the initiative has reached billions of downloads, maintained and added amazing features - all without losing its soul.
Raphael: And there’s another thing this community is famous for - its sense of humour. Their symbol? A bright orange-and-white traffic cone. Legend has it that the original students used to collect these cones after late nights out. When it came time to pick a logo, they chose it proudly - a playful symbol of creativity, chaos, and collaboration.
Matthias: Nowadays, that little cone has become an icon you find on a huge amount of computers worldwide. At conferences their contributors wear the cones on their heads with pride as a clear sign of who they are and what they stand for.
Raphael: And the person behind it? He’s not just a brilliant engineer. He’s a leader, a mentor, and a true advocate for software freedom. In 2018, his contributions were honoured with the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite - the first Free Software developer ever to receive that distinction. Yes - a real knight of software freedom.
Matthias: His “Holy Grail” was not fame or fortune - it’s freedom: the freedom for billions of people to watch, listen, and share multimedia files without restrictions or surveillance. He has shown the world that integrity, community, and a bit of humour can change how we experience digital media.
Raphael: Today, we celebrate someone who has made it possible for all of us to enjoy open, universal access to media - and who continues to prove that Free Software is powerful, beautiful, and fun.
Matthias: It is our great pleasure to present the European SFS Award 2025 to the president of the VideoLAN non-profit, one of the lead developers of VLC media player, the founder of VideoLabs, the bearer of the traffic cone, and a true knight of Free Software....
Matthias & Raphael: Jean-Baptiste Kempf!