Nyhetsarkiv

07 December 2023
Pupils all over the world are learning about the story of "Ada &
Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards and Raspberry Ice Cream": it
is encouraging to see how new generations are inspired to start coding,
and to write to Zangemann about his behaviour. Below a message from our
president Matthias Kirschner to our readers.

05 December 2023
Last month YH4F 2024 kicked off, the German Parliament received the Upcycling Android Open Letter, we discovered that the ambitious plan of the Interoperable Europe Act turned out to be watered down, we celebrated Belgium’s commitment to router freedom, and much more interesting news was out.

01 December 2023
The Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and
Telecommunications, RTR, has decided not to regulate the network
operators with regard to Router Freedom, allowing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to impose their
equipment on consumers. For RTR, routers configured in “bridge mode” is
synonymous with terminal equipment freedom. The FSFE laments this
decision as a missed opportunity for Net Neutrality in Austria.

30 November 2023
In our 22nd Software Freedom Podcast episode, we talk with Johannes Näder, Senior Policy Project Manager at the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), about "Public Money? Public Code!".

16 November 2023
Registration is now open for the 2024 edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom, the coding competition for young Europeans. This competition gives teenagers the opportunity to code their own projects – alone or in a team –, make new friends across Europe, and win up to €4,096!

15 November 2023
On 14 November, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) handed
over the Open Letter “The right to install any software on any device"
to Tabea Rößner, Chair of the Digital Affairs Committee at the German
Bundestag. The letter aims to enable a more sustainable use of
electronic products and devices in the European Union.

14 November 2023
Our yearly report, Software Freedom in Europe 2023, is out. At the YH4F award ceremony, we learned about the awesome projects from this edition's winners, our team went to Bolzano to SFSCON, and we are happy to find out how the REUSE specification keeps on helping developers, such as the ones at the German Aerospace Center. Find these and other stories in our November issue!

13 November 2023
Decision makers are meeting to agree on the final text of the
Interoperable Europe Act (IEA). There is a concerning wording related to
giving priority to Free Software when implementing interoperable
solutions and confusing criteria to do so. Overall, what could have
been a very ambitious initiative turned out to be another regulation
with ambiguous and problematic wording.

13 November 2023
The Belgian telecom regulator BIPT formally introduced Router Freedom. The decision encompasses all network types including fiber (FTTx) and the decision sets a deadline of twelve months for becoming compliant. The FSFE acknowledges this decision as a major win for consumer rights, and will monitor further implementation.

10 November 2023
The founder of Nextcloud received the European SFS Award at SFSCON.
This recognition which was presented for the first time jointly by the
Linux User Group Bolzano and the Free Software Foundation Europe, went to "a tireless advocate of digital freedom as universal
right".

08 November 2023
We cannot wait to be in Bolzano for the South Tyrol Free Software
Conference (SFSCON) on 10 and 11 November. This two-day conference
brings together Free Software advocates, decision makers and the
general public at the gateway to the Dolomites. Our team will be there
with talks, side events and a booth. We are ready to talk to you, so
just drop by and say hello!

06 November 2023
The FSFE is back for the Chaos Communication Congress! Come and join us at the end of December in the "Bits & Bäume" habitat and end the year in a fun and chaos way attending interesting talks and making new friends! The Call for Participation ends on 11 November so hurry up!

02 November 2023
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has adopted the REUSE
specification in some of its projects. We have talked to Tobias
Schlauch, research software engineer at the DLR, about the role of Free
Software for research and innovation, and the importance of clear
understanding and displaying of the legal information of software
projects. He highlights the special contributions that REUSE has to
offer for software development but also for research.

25 October 2023
More than 70 people came together, in Cologne on 22 September, to
get an insight into the Fediverse and to discuss the importance of
decentralised social networks for our society. If you were not able to
join our Fediverse Symposium or want to re-watch
the talks, we now have the German-language recordings on our PeerTube
instance for you!

20 October 2023
In 2023, Software Freedom has been back on stage, while we have boosted
our activities for the coming generations with our children's book and
the coding competition for young Europeans. We have also continued to
bring our demands to lawmakers, helped projects to become REUSE
compliant, and shared many great moments with our community.

17 October 2023
A real-time plotter for microcontrollers; a classroom quiz platform; a
radio tool; a device that provides bags to pick up your dog's poo; a game
engine to help non-programmers develop their ideas; and a program to
search for a file on your computer by its hash. These are the six
projects that won the 2023 edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom.

11 October 2023
Both Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and Software Freedom
Conservancy (SFC) are committed to defending and expanding software freedom
and the rights of people to use, understand, share and improve their software.

04 October 2023
October starts after celebrating the 40th anniversary of the GNU
project, that marked the beginning of our Free Software movement. The
new political season has started, both at the EU and the national
levels. Thanks for contributing to make our What is Free Software video
available in more languages… and we had the first Ada reading in
Italian!

26 September 2023
For four decades the Free Software community has been working to empower users to
control technology and to help our society understand how Free Software contributes to
freedom, transparency and self-determination.

21 September 2023
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and the public IT
service provider Dataport are working on administrative workspaces to
enable digital sovereignty. But are both products Free Software? How
are they related? We asked the BMI and publish the answers here.

20 September 2023
Speaking about Digital Public Infrastructures last week, EU
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that "the trick
is to build public digital infrastructure that is interoperable, open
to all and trusted". What exactly does this mean? What is required to
achieve such an accessible digital infrastructure that can help foster
innovation and allow cooperation on a global scale? What role does Free
Software play in such ambition?

15 September 2023
German network operators have requested the national regulator
Bundesnetzagentur to start procedures to exclude Router Freedom from
fiber networks. In a consultation, the FSFE picks apart all the telcos’
arguments and calls on the regulator to respect consumer rights.

07 September 2023
Join the first reading of the book 'Ada & Zangemann' in Italian! Celebrate with
us the Software Freedom Day 16 September listening to the story of Ada
while eating homemade ice cream.

06 September 2023
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is committed to empower
users to control technolgy to digital civil rights, transparency and
control over technology. It does this by promoting Free Software (also
known as Open Source Software). In addition, Free Software promotes
innovation and prevents vendor lock-in. Digital sovereignty is only
possible with Free Software.

05 September 2023
September brings the resumption of EU politics and the middle of the term of the
current German government, and we look at them from a Free Software
perspective. 'Ada & Zangemann' can now be ordered internationally,
and you can help us translate our 'What is Free Software' video into
more EU languages. And remember - rooting your device does not void its
warranty.

31 August 2023
From 29 August the English version of the book "Ada & Zangemann - A
Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream" is available
internationally. The book tells the story of the famous inventor
Zangemann and the girl Ada, a curious tinkerer. Ada begins to
experiment with hardware and software and realises how important it is
for her and others to control technology.

29 August 2023
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), together with an
alliance of civil society and the Free Software industry, calls on the
German government to implement a sustainable digital policy and to
provide the necessary funds in the federal budget now.

25 August 2023
One of our favourite events was back this summer: Chaos Communication Camp 2023! This event brings together technologists, activists, and enthusiasts to discuss, share, and celebrate technology, privacy, and freedom in Brandenburg, Germany. This year, the Free Software Foundation Europe joined the campers as part of the 'Bits und Bäume' village.

24 August 2023
After the summer recess, EU institutions are resuming their
activities at the end of August. In the coming months, we expect to see
the adoption of legislation that could have an impact on Free
Software: the Cyber Resilience Act, the Product Liability Directive, the AI
Act, and the Interoperable Europe Act. What does all this legislation
mean for Free Software and its community?

15 August 2023
Have you heard about Free Software and you want to know more about
it? Are you already a Free Software advocate and do you want to help to bring
software freedom to our society? Then our paid internships are for you!
Learn by doing and gain knowledge and technical skills through an
internship with us.

07 August 2023
As users we sometimes face the issue of rooting our devices. We may
want to regain control of our
device or we may want to keep using a
device with an outdated operating system. But we are afraid of losing
our legal warranty. Let’s be clear: Just rooting your device and
installing new software will not void the statutory warranty.

01 August 2023
Our August issue comes with the latest updates of the CRA and the
IAE, a new episode of our Software Freedom podcast exploring Software
Freedom in EU policy, and the announcement of our symposium about
decentralised social networks. YH4F participants -and we too- are
waiting for the jury feedback on their projects.

28 July 2023
Listen to our new Software Freedom Podcast episode with Lina Ceballos. Lina and Bonnie talk about everything related to Free Software in European Politics. Learn more about Lina's work at the Free Software Foundation Europe and how political decisions come to pass in the EU. Discover how best to advocate for Free Software, and especially, what the Interoperable Europe Act is all about and why the Free Software communities need to be on the lookout for the protection of software freedom.

24 July 2023
The second edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom, the hacking
competition for young Europeans, has just ended. For the last six
months, the participants have worked on developing their own personal
Free Software projects.

19 July 2023
The European Parliament today voted on its position on the Cyber
Resilience Act (CRA). While the position improves on the Commission's
exemption to protect Free Software, it fails to introduce
a proper protection . We call on the institutions to put the burden of
liability only on those who significantly financially benefit from the
market, while protecting developers and non-profit work.

19 July 2023
Today the EU Parliament’s Committee responsible for the
Interoperable Europe Act has adopted its final position. It is a step
forward towards a more inclusive Interoperable Europe Board while it
introduces clearer indicators and statistics to monitor the progress of
the Act. This position must now be upheld during the upcoming
trilogue.

12 July 2023
Join our symposium in Cologne on September 22 to discuss the role of decentralised social media platforms in our society!

04 July 2023
July is here and so is our newsletter! In this issue we have some
updates on the latest status of the Interoperable Europe Act, the Cyber
Resilience Act, and the Artificial Intelligence Act. The competition
YH4F has just ended.

29 June 2023
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) today launched a landmark decision to protect Free Software developers in the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

29 June 2023
The two EP Committees for opinion, IMCO and LIBE, have today
adopted their texts on the Interoperable Europe Act. While both
recognise the importance of Free Software for this regulation, the
inclusion of the Free Software community in the Board remains
uncertain. The wording on proper monitoring and evaluation goes in the
right direction.

23 June 2023
The current draft from the Council on the Interoperable Europe Act
is limiting the Interoperable Europe Board, and with this excluding
relevant stakeholders from contributing to a more interoperable and
innovative Europe. There is also a lack of improved wording in the
area of monitoring and budgeting.

14 June 2023
The European Parliament today voted in favour of the AI Act with 499
votes in favour, 28 against, and 93 abstentions. Free Software is given
safeguards; these rules must now be defended in the trilogue and
transferred to the Cyber Resilience Act and the Product Liability
Directive.

06 June 2023
A Free Software office and collaboration suite for the public sector is
one of the projects with which the German government aims to fulfil the
goals of the coalition agreement. But a closer look at the project
raises questions: Where is the source code? Who is responsible? What
happens to the public money involved? We asked the relevant ministry.

06 June 2023
The June issue brings updates on the Interoperable Europe Act and
the AI Regulation, and the publication of the conclusions of our
European Router Freedom survey. We were invited to two podcast episodes
and were the focus of Edri's 'Member in the spotlight'. Check out a
study on net neutrality regulation and read a lovely story about Ada
arriving in rural India.

24 May 2023
The Committee of the Regions approved its opinion on the
Interoperable Europe Act. The EU representative body has failed to recognise
the importance that Free Software has for interoperability and thus for
digitalisation and innovation. This underlines the relevance of the Free
Software Community's participation in the planned
Interoperable Board.

15 May 2023
A pan-European survey, run by the Free Software Foundation Europe,
has collected information from more than 1600 end-users and highlighted
several obstacles to Router Freedom, such as lack of freedom of choice,
provider lock-in and promotion of equipment running exclusively
proprietary software.

15 May 2023
In a comprehensive survey, end-users from all over Europe shared their experience about ISPs’ commercial
practices regarding terminal equipment and how Router Freedom is affected.

11 May 2023
Today the European Parliament's responsible committees voted by a large majority to protect Free Software in the AI regulation. The plenary is called upon to uphold the idea. Likewise, this principle must be anchored in the ongoing Cyber Resilience Act and Product Liability Directive and their upcoming votes.

11 May 2023
Youth Hacking 4 Freedom inspires European youth to use their skills for
change. Konrad's learning platform for the amateur radio service exam is
one example. Let's break down his project and see how YH4F helped him
bring his vision to life. Join us in the exciting world of YH4F!

09 May 2023
The 2023 edition of foss-north took place in Gothenburg on 24 and 25 April 2023. It was a great occasion to meet again in person with the Nordic Free Software community. Over 180 participants had the opportunity to learn about and discuss Free Software in more than 20 sessions.

08 May 2023
After four years of waiting and many online conferences – probably too
many –, the Chaos Communication Camp is finally back! Come and camp
with us in the 'Bits & Bäume' village from 15th to 19th August 2023.
The Free Software Foundation Europe is part of this year's 'Bits &
Bäume' village.

03 May 2023
In this issue, you can read about the EU project NGI Zero, LLW, the
FOSS-North conference, and the struggle of Lithuanian students to avoid
using proprietary 2FA. Don't miss our new SFP episode on Device
Neutrality; deepen your knowledge with two interesting articles; enjoy
the latest ‘Ada & Zangemann’ readings; and discover two YH4F projects.

28 April 2023
The Swedish city of Gothenburg hosted the 2023 edition of the Free
Software Legal & Licensing Workshop (LLW), the annual conference for
the Legal Network community. It was great to see so many old and new
faces in person after two years online, and to learn, share and network
about the legal and licensing issues facing current technology
developments.

25 April 2023
The Free Software Foundation Europe is a partner of the Next Generation
Internet Zero consortium, which aims to build a more resilient,
trustworthy and open Internet that empowers end users to control
technology. The FSFE team provides support to NGI0 grantee projects on
legal and licensing issues, as well as helping them to become REUSE
compliant.

21 April 2023
Join us for the 20th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, where
Bonnie Mehring and Lucas Lasota discuss Device Neutrality and Router
Freedom. They cover the concepts and fundamentals of these
initiatives and explain why end-users should have control over their
devices.

18 April 2023
Vilnius Tech officials attempted to enforce the use of proprietary
two factor identification (2FA) methods. Some students were concerned
the methods would compromise privacy and could not be run in their
devices, and proposed an alternative way to get the authentication.
Finally, the university reversed its decision.

13 April 2023
While we wait for the projects developed by the participants of the second edition of the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom contest, let's go back to last year's edition to learn about two of the projects submitted.

12 April 2023
The FSFE is organising a track covering political and legal aspects
of Free Software at foss-north, the conference in Gothenburg that
brings together Nordic Free Software communities. It will take place on
April 24 and 25 preceded by the community day that will take place on
April 23. It is time to register and get your tickets!

04 April 2023
In April’s newsletter we discuss EU proposals affecting Free Software: the introduction of liability rules for software and the Interoperable Europe Act. Greece secures Router Freedom but excludes fiber connections.

23 March 2023
The EU is currently debating the introduction of liability rules for
software, including Free Software. The relevant proposals are the AI
Act, Product Liability Directive (PLD), and Cyber Resilience Act
(CRA). The way they are, all proposals will harm the Free Software
ecosystem and thus the society and the economy.

23 March 2023
The Interoperable Europe Act (IEA) aims to assist public
administration to share, reuse and integrate information technology
and data across borders. Clear rules with concrete activities and
budget are missing. The role of civil society is overlooked, and
there are not yet clear definitions of Free Software and Open
Standards.

21 March 2023
The coding period of the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom hacking contest has
been running for almost three months now. The
competition continues to be a fun contest for young hackers to
test and develop their skills. The previous edition
ended with 35 great projects submitted with inspiring stories
behind them. Read about Andrei's and David's projects.

13 March 2023
The Greek regulator has adopted new rules introducing Router Freedom
in the country. Since 2021, the FSFE has been working with policymakers
to protect the interests of end-users. Supporting civil society and
industry organisations backed the FSFE and contributed positively to
this new law.

08 March 2023
Today we are celebrating Women’s Day. Thank you to everyone who is
making the tech sector more inclusive! Let’s continue working
together to achieve gender parity and embrace equity. There might be
problems coming our way, but we also have each other. Join us and
meet the FSFE Women team.

07 March 2023
In this issue we have a podcast episode about the need that medical
devices have Free Software. Watch our talks from FOSDEM and videos
about legal issues when developing. Participants of YH4F are already
coding. Thanks to all your contributions, our fundraising ended
successfully. We bring community news from 9 countries.

01 March 2023
On the 14th of February Free Software enthusiasts celebrated the 13th edition of the “I ❤️ Free Software Day”! Hundreds of people and numerous organisations shared their love for Free Software and reached out to the ones behind these projects. Thank you for taking part in the celebration of our favourite type of software: Free Software.

27 February 2023
Whether you missed FOSDEM or didn't have time to attend all of
our sessions, don't worry! Have a look at all our sessions from
the last edition and learn, deepen your knowledge, and improve your
Free Software skills.

22 February 2023
foss-north is a Free Software conference in Gothenburg that brings
together Nordic Free Software communities. This year, the Free Software
Foundation Europe is organising a track covering political and legal
aspects of Free Software, as well as best practices from Scandinavia.
We're looking forward to your contribution by March 5!

20 February 2023
Youth Hacking 4 Freedom, FSFE's coding competition for young
Europeans, has just started. The kick-off event took place on the 26th
of January with an online meeting for the participants of this year's
competition. There they got the most important information about the
contest while starting to get to know each other.

15 February 2023
Thanks to your valuable contributions, we have reached our
fundraising target*. Thank you for your confidence and support, even in
these difficult times. These funds will help us run our campaigns and
organise events and talks to spread the word about our work, while
continuing to promote software freedom.

14 February 2023
For this episode Bonnie Mehring met with Karen Sandler to talk about
her relationship with Free Software. Karen depends on a medical device
to keep her heart working. This led her to become an advocate for
Free Software in medical devices.

08 February 2023
In this issue we invite public institutions to join free,
decentralised social networks. Watch our info-session on German
municipalities using Free Software. An FSFE volunteer doubts the
reliability of AI-generated text. I Love Free Software Day is just
around the corner. Celebrate with us!

26 January 2023
On the 14th of February the FSFE community meets up in diverse cities
around Europe to celebrate ‘I Love Free Software Day’. Join our
events in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Spain.

23 January 2023
FOSDEM 2023 is taking place in Brussels the first weekend of
February. The FSFE team will be participating at the main Free
Software convention in Europe with a booth and giving some keynotes.
Are you going to be there? Come to our booth and do not miss our
talks!

19 January 2023
Dortmund is opening a new chapter in Free Software Governance and
inspiring municipalities all over Germany. The recording of our event
on 11 January 2023 is now online. Are you interested in Free Software
and working in a municipal administration or in politics? Join our
new mailing list to exchange information on Free Software in
municipalities!

13 January 2023
Are you a motivated person who wants to support FSFE's activities as an intern? If your background is in computer science, law, political science or another social science field, apply to become part of our team in our Berlin office, working 35 hours per week for a period of 6 months. Join us in empowering people to take control of technology!.

10 January 2023
In January’s Newsletter: Dortmund embraces Free
Software, and Belgium is working to ensure Router Freedom. A
cryptographer analyzes IT security. A digital health ecosystem
licenses files with the REUSE tool. We are looking for an office
coordinator. We look forward to seeing you in FOSDEM and I Love Free
Software events.

09 January 2023
The FSFE Swiss local group launches an initiative with GNU/Linux.ch to encourage public institutions to use federated free software solutions to communicate with their people. FediGov is the name of this campaign that is encouraging people to ask their governments to adopt ethical communications.

04 January 2023
Every February 14 the Free Software community around the world comes together to celebrate the “I Love Free Software Day”. On this special day we show our gratitude for every Free Software contributor. Join us in celebrating our love for Free Software and thank all the supporters of software freedom.

22 December 2022
A cryptographer and privacy specialist Amandine Jambert, a.k.a. Cryptie, is our guest in the 18th Software Freedom Podcast episode.
With her experience, Cryptie is the perfect person to tackle some basics about Security in Free Software.


20 December 2022
We are looking for an office coordinator for an open-ended 25-35 hours per week position in our
Berlin office. As part of our office management team you will be the
administrative backbone of our operations. Our ideal candidate has experience
as an office administrator, secretary, event organiser, or another relevant
administrative role.

19 December 2022
In the framework of the REUSE Booster initiative, the FSFE provides
individual assessments and direct assistance to Free Software projects
in the implementation of the REUSE best practices. GNU Health, a
project that combines social medicine with technology, has recently
become REUSE compliant. We have talked with Dr. Luis Falcón, its
founder.

15 December 2022
The Belgian regulator BIPT has decided to safeguard Router Freedom
for all connection types, including optical fiber (FTTx). The FSFE
engaged in the public consultation urging policy makers to make this
right a reality, and to improve monitoring over ISP practices.

15 December 2022
The City of Dortmund, together with Berlin and Munich, is initialising
the "Open Source Big 3" and setting up a "Coordination
Office for Digital Sovereignty and Open Source". The Free
Software Foundation Europe, the Do-FOSS initiative, and the Offene
Kommunen.NRW association will provide information about these current
developments in an online event on 11 January 2023.

14 December 2022
The 2nd Legal Education Day (LED), organized by the FSFE, took place in Bolzano to help Free Software developers understand legal topics on a basic level, so that they can avoid common pitfalls, allowing their software projects to reach full potential. The LED track featured sessions on the basics of copyright law, licenses, and other legal topics.

13 December 2022
In this issue we note the shift of the EU Digital Rights Declaration
to an unclear, ambiguous text. Free Software chess engine wins its
legal battle. Your contribution can help software freedom. YH4F
registration. The Greek team meets after a long time.

12 December 2022
Copyleft ensures that Free Software remains Free. Stockfish filed a
lawsuit when ChessBase distributed parts of Stockfish work under a
proprietary license, violating GNU GPL obligations. Checkmate!
Copyleft won. Stockfish secured numerous concessions from ChessBase
to respect the GPL.

09 December 2022
Are you thinking about registering for the second edition of Youth
Hacking 4 Freedom? But you are not yet sure? Two participants from
the last edition, Héctor and Leonardo, talked with us about the
projects they developed and their journey throughout the Free
Software world! Discover their experiences during the first edition
of YH4F.

06 December 2022
Member states, the European Parliament, and the Commission have reached
a consensus on the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Although it aims to serve as a reference point for the digital
transformation of Europe, it instead descends into murky waters,
causing ambiguity. Its wording is unclear and it overlooks existing
good proposals.

05 December 2022
Your support and contribution for the promotion of Free Software are important for securing our continuous work, ensuring our independence, strengthening our democratic society, promoting and implementing concrete steps towards software freedom, and making it easier to use and develop Free Software.

22 November 2022
More than 100 civil society organisations across sectors have already
signed our open letter about “The universal right to install any
software on any device”. Now, in the European Week for Waste
Reduction, we open up the letter to be signed by individuals. Join
our cause and make your voice heard!


15 November 2022
FSFE’s ‘TEDective’, a program helping to analyse public spending,
wins first prize in the EU Datathon and our very own Youth Hacking
4 Freedom contest starts again. An EU draft law might end secure
chats. Citizens in Sweden have a say with the Free Software Decidim
and the FSFE Switzerland asks administrations to join federated
social media.

04 November 2022
The registration for the second edition of “Youth Hacking 4 Freedom”, the FSFE’s hacking competition for teenagers from all over Europe, has started. This contest offers young people aged between 14 and 18 the opportunity to challenge themselves, meet like-minded people and win cash prizes.

04 November 2022
The first edition of the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom contest has ended.
After 5 months of coding, over 35 young people came up with
outstanding projects. Three of them will be introduced to you in this
interview. Ekaterina, the mind behind Music Companion, Miquel who
developed Smart Table Assistant and Alexia, the creator of a basic
password manager.

27 October 2022
In this 17th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast Matthias Kirschner and Petter Joelson uncover how Free Software can be a tool for citizens to actively participate in their local community. Petter invites you into the world of Decidim and explains what citizen participation should look like.

26 October 2022
The sixth edition of EU Datathon, the
EU’s open data competition, came to a close last week with the awards
ceremony. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) won the first
prize in the challenge ‘transparency in public procurement’ with a
program that helps analyse how public administrations in the European
Union spend their money.

26 October 2022
Surely you have already heard about the controversial EU draft law on
mandatory chat control with the supposed aim to effectively tackle
child sexual abuse. This law implies the monitoring and scanning of
the communications of citizens – even the securely encrypted
end-to-end one.

04 October 2022
After a year of coding and evaluation the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom
competition comes to an end, giving us amazing projects. Who won? The
six winning programs offer sign language transcription, a smart table
robot, a personal assistant, a music tutorial, file sharing, and a
homework manager. All Free Software.

04 October 2022
In this issue, we discuss the rising awareness for Free Software in
France. We share our plans for monitoring the implementation of
Device Neutrality principles. A hackerspace in Albania shares the
‘Public Money! Public Code’ demand. We are looking for a working
student to be our next system administrator assistant.

28 September 2022
We continuously work to promote Free Software in Europe. In 2022
we addressed technological sustainability, advocated in the DMA and
AI act on European level, and defended Router Freedom in
Europe – among other activities. To reach younger
people, we organised a coding competition for
teenagers and published a children's book on software
freedom.

15 September 2022
We are looking for a working student to support our work in
empowering people to control technology. The person will support the
FSFE's technical infrastructure by working with our system
administrators. The work is 10 hours per week in the Berlin office
and home office is possible at a later stage.

09 September 2022
In this episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Bonnie Mehring speaks with Hugo Roy about his long involvement with the FSFE. Hugo is also very active in the French Free Software community and gives us an overview of the standing of Free Software in France.

06 September 2022
In this issue we look into the software development of Librem 5 phone
and of Phosh, the popular graphical environment for Linux phones. And
booths are back! We are happy to discuss Free Software in person
again.

05 September 2022
A broad alliance of 13 organisations from the fields of environmental
protection, digital policy, development cooperation and academia
publishes a catalog of demands to show political solutions towards a
more sustainable digital society. This as a prelude to the upcoming
conference for digitization and sustainability "Bits &
Bäume".

23 August 2022
Since the launch of the “Public Money? Public Code!” initiative, it has grown a lot and experienced an increase of support. Now there is a new and fun way of showing your support for “Public Money? Public Code!”. With the new SharePic-Template, everybody can show their support of the campaign.

14 July 2022
We are looking for a reliable and driven intern to support the
FSFE's policy activities and contribute to our work to empower people
to control technology. The person will work 35 hours per week with our
team in the FSFE Berlin office for a six month period.

12 July 2022
Librem 5 runs the fully convergent PureOS, which means you can take
your desktop with you within your phone. Its dedicated graphical
environment, Phosh, is becoming a popular option for Linux phones.
Guido Günther, one of Purism’s main developers, reveals details of
Librem’s software development in this interview.

05 July 2022
In this issue we share an uplifting podcast episode on the progress
of the Upcycling Android campaign. We have a work position in the
FSFE staff. Greece is about to secure Router Freedom except for fiber
connections. Community news comes from Aarhus, Barcelona, Berlin,
Hamburg, Vienna, Zurich, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Translators,
and Women.

28 June 2022
Greece is one step closer to securing Router Freedom, but regulators
are excluding fiber (FTTH) connections from the legislation. A
coalition of organisations, allies of the FSFE, is now requesting
that lawmakers reconsider this and thus safeguard the freedom of all
users.

17 June 2022
In November 2021 the FSFE has launched the new campaign "Upcycling Android". If you haven't already upcycled your phone or you are curious to learn more about the campaign listen to our new Software Freedom Podcast episode with the campaigns manager Erik Albers.

15 June 2022
We are looking for a Senior Project Manager Communication for 20-25
hours per week in our Berlin office. This is a great opportunity to
help amplify the importance of software freedom, so that every human
can use, study, share, and improve software and thereby support other
fundamental rights like freedom of speech, press, and privacy.

07 June 2022
In this issue, read about nine administrations innovating and
saving money with Free Software, a Dutch coalition calling for fair
digital education, and how a sustainable telecom sector is
attainable with Free Software. Volunteers organise ‘Public Money?
Public code!’ tour in Italy.

02 June 2022
A network of nine cities in Germany shows the benefits of ‚Public
Money? Public Code!‘

31 May 2022
Code paid by the people should be available to the people!
Volunteers will present the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ campaign
in Trento, Bologna, and Caltanissetta. If you live in Italy, now you
have a perfect chance to learn more about the initiative and
support it.

20 May 2022
Students should not have to use proprietary software to participate in the
educational process. The FSFE joins the Dutch ‘Coalition Fair Digital
Education’ supporting privacy-respecting solutions involving Free Software in
schools.

16 May 2022
Together with the Alliance of Telecommunication Terminal Equipment
Manufacturers (VTKE), the FSFE organised the online event "The Future of
Router Freedom in Austria" where decision makers could debate with
industry and civil society stakeholders on the future developments
regarding the free choice of terminal equipment in Austria.

10 May 2022
As a contribution to a consultation organised by the European telecom regulator, BEREC, the FSFE calls for increasing the level of digital sustainability in the telecommunications sector by safeguarding device neutrality and establishing the right to install any software on any device.

10 May 2022
In this Issue: an alliance of 46 entities - and counting - supports the
universal right to install any software on any device. Free Software
is being considered for inclusion in the EU Declaration of Digital
Rights. FSFE's transparency in public procurement app gets to EU
Datathon finals. Italian FSFE volunteers prepare tour.

04 May 2022
Early this year, the Commission proposed a draft for an EU
Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles that aims to guide the
digital transformation in the EU. Now the European Parliament has
agreed on a text and Free Software makes part of it.

03 May 2022
Today the European Parliament passed a resolution on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with a huge majority of 495 votes in favor, 34 against
and 102 abstentions. There are many references to the advantages of Free
Software included in the text - the FSFE now urges the Parliament to
transfer its own position into the AI regulation.

27 April 2022
The FSFE publishes an open letter, co-signed by 38 organisations and companies, to ask EU legislators for the right to install any software on any device, including full access to hardware. These rights support reusability and longevity of our devices. The alliance is composed of entities from environmental, economic, and technological sectors.

25 April 2022
Technology experts and ecologists join forces in the Bits & Bäume
('Bits and Trees') conference in October 2022 in Berlin. This year
the FSFE is part of its organising committee. We look for exciting
talks and insights about how Free Software can help realising a
sustainable digital society. Share your expertise and apply until 7
June.

20 April 2022
Austria has introduced a reform law for the telecommunications sector which will affect the ability of consumers to choose and use their own routers and modems. Together with the Alliance of Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Manufacturers (VTKE) the FSFE is organising a session on "The Future of Router Freedom in Austria".

14 April 2022
On 26 January 2022, the European Commission presented its proposal for
the EU Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles which will serve
as a reference point in the future and as a common EU vision of our
digital rights. The declaration is now being discussed in the European
Parliament and Council, and Free Software should become part of it.

05 April 2022
In our April Newsletter, we welcome the promising developments on
AI in the EU. We address the German Government to demand a clear
budget for Free Software. We interview Plasma Mobile developer
Bhushan Shah, and talk with Elektra Wagenrad in a podcast episode
about Mesh Networking. We congratulate KDE on the world's first
eco-certified software.

30 March 2022
In the effort of adopting digital policies aligned with
people's fundamental rights, the European Parliament is in the
process of finding a position on the legal framework for the
development and use of AI technologies. The FSFE is following this
process so Free Software is included, innovation is fostered,
control enhanced, and trust strengthened.

28 March 2022
The traffic light coalition must anchor its goals for the digitisation of Germany, based on Free Software, as set out in
the coalition agreement in the 2022 federal budget. Otherwise, there is a risk of cementing dependencies on individual
vendors and losing sovereignty and innovative power.

23 March 2022
What are my options if I want to run my phone with Free Software?
For our Upcycling Android campaign we interviewed Plasma Mobile
developer Bhushan Shah about running a privacy-respecting and
secure GNU/Linux phone ecosystem on your phone.

22 March 2022
With this episode the Software Freedom Podcast opens the door to the fascinating and sometimes complex world of mesh networking. And who better than Elektra Wagenrad can take us on this journey? Elektra is one of the original developers of the B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol and of the Mesh Potato project.

16 March 2022
KDE's universal document viewer Okular is the first software to be awarded the Blue Angel ecolabel. The FSFE congratulates Okular to this milestone that confirms more environmental benefits of using and developing Free Software. Together with our Upcycling Android initiative we campaign for universal user freedoms in the EU in the upcoming months.

15 March 2022
At the end of the week, the new German government will have been in office for 100 days.
The coalition agreement contains ambitious statements on the use of Free Software (also known as Open Source), but so far
nothing has been implemented. On the contrary: dependencies are to be further cemented.

10 March 2022
Since 2010 the Free Software Foundation Europe has been
organising the yearly "I Love Free Software Day". Together
with hundreds of Free Software enthusiasts we celebrated our love for
Free Software on the 14th of February. To all of you who took part
and celebrated the "I Love Free Software Day", we would
like to thank you so much.

09 March 2022
In our March Newsletter, we share some much needed good news: people donated 60 children's books about software freedom to public libraries. The FSFE calls for the right to install Free Software. The first Upcycling Android workshop is happening in Berlin. The local group in Aarhus, Denmark, meets after a long time.

25 February 2022
At the Free Software Foundation Europe, we advocate for the universal right to
install and de-install any operating system and software on any device. The update
of the European ecodesign gives a historical chance to make this right part of
European legislation. Our Upcycling Android campaign marks the beginning of our
activities.

24 February 2022
At the prominent annual conference for Free Software, FOSDEM, we exchanged opinions and chatted with people from the
Free Software community. We raised awareness on wider issues that impact our movement in the Legal and Policy Devroom,
co-hosted by the FSFE. Enjoy the videos from the talks and stay in touch via Matrix until the next FOSDEM.

08 February 2022
In our February Newsletter, we invite you to our Games Event to celebrate the "I Love Free Software" Day on February 14th. Listen to our podcast episode with Stanislas Dolcini from the game '0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant'. FOSDEM was just concluded and the FSFE was there! We complete our celebrations for 20 years FSFE in an interview with past interns.

02 February 2022
The FSFE is eager to support its community with diverse Free Software
communication channels. We are happy to announce that we have recently added
Matrix to this list. After successful beta tests, every FSFE supporter and
volunteer can now create their own Matrix account. We will also use our
instance for the FSFE’s virtual booth during FOSDEM!

01 February 2022
Every 14th of February, people around the world celebrate the
“I Love Free Software Day”. On this day we show our love for Free
Software and thank all the people contributing to software freedom.
This year, we are organising a whole event dedicated to Free
Software games.

27 January 2022
As in 2021, this year's FOSDEM will take place online. But this is neither stopping
us from once again co-hosting the Legal and Policy Issues Devroom nor from being present
with a digital booth. We are excited and look forward to presenting you an interesting
programme throughout the whole weekend.

27 January 2022
The upcoming "I Love Free Software Day" will focus on Free Software Games. One of the most famous Free Software games is "0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant". In this episode Bonnie Mehring talks with Stanislas Dolcini, the project leader of 0 A.D., about the game itself, the project, and how the game became Free Software.

21 January 2022
In the final publication about 20 Years FSFE, we want to thank
everyone who has worked for the organisation in an internship
position. We contacted eight former interns and asked them about
their time at the FSFE and their current involvement with Free
Software.

12 January 2022
A large part of our work is possible thanks to the contribution of
our volunteers. This was not the exception. Our Public Money?
Public Code! brochure is now translated into Spanish, and we
hosted an event to share this great news with our community.
GNUHealth, Pica Pica HackLab, Lliurex, Linkat, and KDE took
part in our event.

11 January 2022
In our January Newsletter, we recognise the importance of the
Digital Markets Act as a mostly positive development for software
freedom. Read how the lack of public code cost Stockholm €100
million. Our System Hackers team unravel what lies behind the FSFE
infrastructure. Vincent Lequertier stresses that AI needs
transparency. FOSDEM is coming up.

22 September 2021
With our 12th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we dig into the
history and the beginning of enforcing Free Software licences, especially
the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL). Together with Till Jaeger, who has
been working alongside Harald Welte for enforcing the GNU GPL in the first
court cases in Germany, we talk about the long way we have come since those
early days.

02 July 2021
Max Mehl and Bonnie Mehring talk about the REUSE initiative and the newly launched REUSE Booster programme. This 11th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast is the perfect match for you if you are interested in Free Software licensing and curious about how REUSE and its tools make that easier for developers and users.

07 April 2021
In our 10th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Elisa Lindinger from Superrr Lab. Together we discuss problems faced by Free Software projects and how to tackle them. In a broader frame we discover what would be needed for a more sustainable digital infrastructure and talk about the work Elisa does for this aim.

11 February 2021
For this episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we talk about the background of the "I Love Free Software Day" and how it all began 11 years ago. Discover together with Bonnie Mehring why Free Software developers, advocates, activists and contributors think this special day is so important for Free Software.

04 December 2020
In this Software Freedom Podcast episode Bonnie Mehring and Matthias Kirschner talk about the monetary costs of Free Software. On the example of a conversation Bonnie had with her mother, both discover ways of explaining the world of Free Software and how to answer common questions and misunderstandings about software freedom.

25 September 2020
For the seventh episode of our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with Vincent Lequertier about transparency, fairness, and accessibility as crucial criteria for artificial intelligence (AI) and why it is important for our society to release AI software under a Free Software license.

03 July 2020
We invited Miriam Ballhausen to talk with us about copyright enforcement. She is a German lawyer who focuses on software, data protection, copyright law and specifically Free Software copyright. This is the sixth regular episode of the Software Freedom Podcast for which we invite experts from our community.

24 April 2020
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this special episode, we talk with Dr. Luis Falcón and Dr. Axel Braun about the Free health and hospital information system GNU Health.

09 April 2020
For our Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, about regulation of society, offline as well as online, about the different means of regulation, and shed light on regulations through code.

21 January 2020
In the monthly Software Freedom Podcast we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Carmen Bianca Bakker about the REUSE project. By this we are covering the very broad topic of software licensing and the problems there, which REUSE is able to solve with three simple steps.

20 December 2019
Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In this third episode, our guest is Harald Welte, Free Software programmer and activist. Harald discusses with us his current projects regarding mobile phone communication and the general status of Free Software in this area.

12 November 2019
We are back with the second episode of our Software Freedom Podcast!
Once a month, we talk with people who have inspiring ideas about
software freedom. In this episode, we talk with Lydia Pintscher from
KDE about the development of the KDE community, the different KDE projects
and the issues they will be tackling over the next two years.

12 October 2019
We have a Podcast! Starting with this episode, we will talk once a
month with people who have inspiring ideas about software freedom. In
our first episode of our Software Freedom Podcast, we address the
issue of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) together with Cory
Doctorow, a British-Canadian writer, political activist, and
co-editor of the blog boingboing.net. Cory Doctorow is a prominent
supporter of software freedom and a less restrictive copyright law.
His books are published under Creative Commons licenses.