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The FSFE empowers users to control technology with its diverse activities and concrete engagement for software freedom. Follow us and make sure to receive regular updates and deeper insights on our various channels.
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The Free Software Foundation Europe, along with over sixteen thousand attendees, took part in the 38th Chaos Communication Congress with a booth, several talks and a lot of stickers. It was a great pleasure to join, once again, the Chaos family for another impressive four-day congress. Thank you all for coming!
The fourth round of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom (YH4F) is officially underway, with its opening event on 9 January. Sofía, one of the 2024 winners, gives us an insight into her project, how she came up with her idea, and her experience of the competition in general. Find out more! And do not forget to register for this edition!
"What will happen in the movement for software freedom in 2025? It is hard for me to make such predictions. What the past 20 years working for the Free Software Foundation Europe have taught me is to be prepared for the things you cannot predict." - Below a message from our president Matthias Kirschner to our readers.
The ZOOOM (3Os) Initiative promotes innovation based on freedom of software, hardware, and data. With its recent conclusion, the FSFE hopes to inspire broader use and effective application of Free Software by business, academia, and the public sector.
The 38th Chaos Communication Congress (38C3), taking place in Hamburg from December 27 to 30, 2024. And we couldn’t miss it! Once again, the FSFE will be at the congress with an assembly and different activities in the Bits & Bäume Habitat. Do not forget to stop by!
Alexander Sander, the FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant, and Bonnie Mehring meet for their monthly update on the current policy topics. In this episode they talk about the Free Software hearing in the German Bundestag.
The 3rd edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom (YH4F) has officially concluded, celebrating the impressive talents of young European developers. Two of the participants in the 2024 edition are sharing insights about their projects and experiences: Vinícius developed an automatic telescope while Simon worked on bringing Free Software on the SHC devices.
As the last month of the year rolls in, thoughts of 2025 are already taking shape. But before we dive into the new year, December is packed with news! We are participating in a hearing at the German Parliament, we keep pushing for long-term funding for Free Software, new versions of REUSE Specification and REUSE tools were released, and more!
We are excited to announce that the Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom will be returning for FOSDEM 2025! Join this DevRoom at the biggest annual Free Software event in Europe. This is your opportunity to submit proposals for a talk or a panel about Free Software legal and policy topics.
Join this new episode of our Software Freedom podcast in which Bonnie Mehring and Alexander Sander discussing current topics affecting Free Software in the European Union. In this episode we focus on the 27 million euros cut of funding of the Next Generation Internet initiative (known as NGI). Alex and Bonnie shed some light on the history of this European project and share the newest developments in this case.
REUSE Specification 3.3 and REUSE tool 5.0.0 are released today, making it even easier to license your code as Free Software. REUSE provides all the tools and documentation that developers need to apply standards-compliant and comprehensive licensing information to their projects, without needing to be a legal expert.
The FSFE called on the community to participate in a consultation on the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme and demanded long-term sustainable funding for Free Software after recent budget cuts. Results show its success.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and Linux User Group Bolzano-Bozen (LUGBZ) posthumously honored Bram Moolenaar, creator of the widely used Vim text editor, with the European SFS Award at SFSCON 2024. This award celebrates Moolenaar’s invaluable contributions to the Free Software community.
It's November and our team heads to Bolzano for SFSCON, still thrilled by the inspiring 2024 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom award ceremony! Last weeks we’ve also launched a new page to keep you updated on the latest developments in our involvement with the Apple vs. EC litigation. Find out the latest updates on Router Freedom, REUSE and more!
We are excited to be back for the South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON) on 8 and 9 November with talks, workshops and a booth! SFSCON is the place to be if you’re passionate about Free Software and want to dive into discussions on key topics, including the need for sustainable, long-term funding for Free Software projects. Come to Bolzano to learn, connect, and be inspired!.
The six winning projects, developed by young people aged between 14 and 18 and presented at the 2024 award ceremony are: a federated social network, an app to help dementia patients, software for finding events and connecting with people in your area, a unique rhythm game, and a WebApp for sharing sheets of music and lyrics.
In 2018 Italy implemented Router Freedom. However regulatory decisions in 2019 and 2023 introduced exceptions for fiber networks. The Free Software Foundation Europe has now urged Italy’s telecom regulator, AGCOM, to remove these restrictions and fully restore users' rights to choose their own equipment to connect to fiber networks.
The story of Ada & Zangemann is now available as an animated movie! We’d also like to thank everyone who contributed feedback to the EC consultation, urging European policymakers to establish long-term sustainable funding for Free Software Additionally, we’ve submitted our arguments in the ongoing Apple litigation. And great news, our hoodies are back!
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is celebrating Ada Lovelace Day on October 8 with a special event for its supporters: the global English premiere of the animated film 'Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream'. Originally a highly successful illustrated book, now available in 10 languages and counting, the story has been adapted into a film and is licensed as an open educational resource.
In 2024, we continued to promote software freedom through our presence at conferences and events across Europe, as well as through our various activities and initiatives. Despite our ongoing financial challenges, we have actively raised our voice in defence of Device Neutrality and are advocating for a dedicated Free Software budget in Europe.
In the wake of the recent €27 million cut in the NGI funding, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is responding to growing concern by participating in a public consultation of the European Commission. The FSFE is stressing the urgent need for sustainable, long-term financial support for Free Software to ensure Europe's technological independence.
The European Commission has cut important funds for Free Software. The non-transparent decision shows the need for sustainable long-term funding to allow the EU to control its own technology. Raise your voice and take part in an ongoing consultation to ask for sustainable long-term funds for software freedom. We explain why and how.
September is here, along with our newsletter. We have continued advocating for a Free Software budget in Europe, following the European Commission's decision to stop NGI funding, and we are intervening in Apple's lawsuit against the European Commission. YH4F got a new sponsor and its 2024 edition is in the final stage, and the ZOOOM project ended.
Are you also worried and concerned about the European Commission decision to cut the funding for Free Software projects? Besides contacting European representatives you can also write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to make their readers aware of the importance of funding Free Software solutions with a long term sustainable funding.
The FSFE’s hacking competition for young Europeans successfully concluded its six-month programming period on 30 June, with the submission of the participants’ projects. Now, it's the jury's turn to evaluate the work of the participants. We are also happy to announce a new sponsor for the contest, OpenSSF.
The Free Software Foundation Europe is intervening in litigation brought by Apple against the European Commission before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Apple is seeking to avoid DMA obligations related to its App Store and the interoperability of its operating system. The FSFE aims to protect Free Software against monopolistic corporate control.
The Free Software Foundation Europe is intervening in a litigation brought by Apple against the European Commission before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case relates to Digital Markets Act, with Apple seeking to avoid obligations related to its App Store and the interoperability of its operating systems. The FSFE aims to hold Apple accountable under the DMA to protect Free Software against monopolistic corporate control.
After the recent news that funding for the Next Generation Internet initiative would be cut for the next phase of Horizon Europe, the European Commission has expressed vague support for Free Software. Unfortunately it is failing to provide concrete examples on how to do so. This has highlighted the fragility of funding for Software Freedom and the need for change in the long-term.
The EC is planning to cut its funding to NGI projects, while in Belgium a court has supported end-users’ Router Freedom rights. We also submitted feedback on the NIS2 implementation; learnt about Linqa, a Free Software platform developed with public money; and gathered with volunteers at the Summer Meeting. Listen to our new SFP episode.
Linqa is a bilingual collaboration platform whose code is Free Software and developed using public money. It helps the daily work of the Franco-German Forum for the Future, a public institution that fosters collaboration among actors in France and Germany. We dive into the roots of Linqa with the people behind it.
The Next Generation Internet initiative has supported Free Software projects with funding and technical assistance since 2018. Despite its proven success, the European Commission made the decision to cut this funding in the current draft for the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme. This decision highlights the larger problem of the lack of motivated and sustainable public funding for Free Software projects.
Together with NLnet Labs and the Open Source Security Foundation, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) submitted feedback on the NIS2 implementation act, pointing to the need of protecting the European Free Software ecosystem.
In an historic ruling within the EU, a Belgian court has upheld the decision of the country’s regulator to introduce Router Freedom for fiber networks. The objections, raised by a local internet service provider, were deemed unfounded. This landmark decision represents a significant victory for consumer rights, and we urge other national regulators to follow this example.
For our 25th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast we are happy to welcome Hannes Mehnert, one of the MirageOS core developer. Matthias Kirschner, president of the FSFE, and Hannes talk about MirageOS. This episode gives an overview of everything from the basics to the future of MirageOS.
The July issue is full of news! We continue to monitor and raise our concerns about DMA compliance. We call upon the EU to use Free Software for its digital infrastructure and are asking for your experiences with openwashing. And we also bring you updates on REUSE, YH4F, Ada & Zangemann...
The FSFE calls upon the European Commission to use Free Software to ensure a secure and resilient digital infrastructure. Software freedom will also benefit the economy, civil society and democracy.
After six months of programming there are only a few days left until the end of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom 2024. We are very excited to see this year's projects and to learn more about the participants and their work during the past months. Before we dive into the new projects, let us take a deeper look at last year's winner, Davide Rorato.
Together with nine stakeholders organisations, the FSFE has submitted a joint position paper to the European Commission, with whom we are working on the implementation of the Digital Markets Act. This paper, supported by legal and data-backed arguments, addresses Apple’s non-compliance with the law, particularly concerning software freedom, alternative Free Software app stores and interoperability obligations.
REUSE helps make a project's licensing and copyright status more transparent, ensure that third-party code is properly attributed, and make the project's code easily reusable. This tool is currently used worldwide and its specification has been adopted by several corporate and institutional projects. We spoke to Matija Šuklje of Liferay International, one of the companies that has adopted REUSE.
We got an email, a few weeks ago, that caught our attention. It came with a donation explaining that it was made in the name of an employee network at SUSE. We decided to investigate, asked the people responsible, and today we want to share this awesome story with you. (Note - this is also a great idea for an initiative to ask your company about).
In this issue, we explain our plans to make a movie of the story of Ada & Zangemann and we are asking for your support. A new REUSE version released; read the FSFE opinion to the European Commission on Apple’s new strategy to comply with DMA and its impact on Free Software.
EU elections debate: FSFE Netherlands coordinator adds voice for Free Software to Amsterdam's digital city debate. Now it's your chance to highlight the importance of Free Software in the lead-up to the upcoming European Elections next week.
What do a Prime Minister, an MIT professor, and a child from Rajasthan have in common? They, along with other public figures and thousands of children, love the illustrated book 'Ada & Zangemann: A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream'. Ada has already made it into homes and libraries around the world, and now she needs your help to reach even more kids! Help us make a film of this story to spark more kids’ interest in coding and tinkering!
May comes with legal news such as the Legal & Licensing Workshop and the Bitcoin lawsuit regarding the liability of Free Software developers. We also talked to two 2023 YH4F participants and our Danish local group sent an Open Letter to their parliament. Did you see that Ada & Zangemann won a prize and that the French ebook version is now available?
For the second year in a row, the Swedish city of Gothenburg hosted an edition of the Free Software Legal & Licensing Workshop (LLW), the annual conference for Legal Network members. The 2024 edition brought new faces and great discussions and presentations on current legal and licensing issues related to technological developments such as AI.
Find out more about the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom participants of the 2023 edition. We are continuing this series talking with Antoni and Tobias: Antoni developed a dictionary to preserve endangered languages, and Tobias conceived a rich featured calendar.
Free Software is everywhere, with studies estimating that it is present in about 96% of the applications that we use. But what are the responsibilities and liabilities of the Free Software developers? A potential threat to Free Software developers looms in the form of an ongoing lawsuit in the UK involving Bitcoin and its core developers.
Last month, the DMA came into force and we launched a website about Device Neutrality, the EU parliament voted the CRA and the PLD, and we released a guide to get active for the upcoming EU elections. Check out the videos from the devrooms we joined at FOSDEM!
European citizens will hit the ballot boxes from 6 to 9 June 2024 to choose their next representatives in the European Parliament. As the campaign heats up, it is important to get active and ensure Software Freedom is part of the larger political debate. How can you do this? Find practical advice on how to advocate for Free Software in the coming months!
Once again we co-organised our now well-known Legal & Policy Issues Devroom during FOSDEM 2024. The discussions in this track covered important issues for Software Freedom, such as CRA, RHEL, GPL termination, where discussed. Thanks to everyone who participated in it!
The FSFE helped to organise a FOSDEM devroom about Free Software in the European legislative landscape. It was the first time that this devroom was held and got a lot of interest from the community, that engaged in fruitful discussions about current EU policy topics.
With today's votes on CRA and PLD on the introduction of liability rules for software, a broad exception for Free Software was made, so that after long and intense debates individual developers and non for profit work are safeguarded.
As the Digital Markets Act comes into effect today, Device Neutrality starts to become a tangible reality in the European Union. While acknowledging the new law, the FSFE alerts that this is only the first step and further commitment is necessary.
Our March newsletter is here! Last month took us to FOSDEM, while ‘I Love Free Software Day’ was celebrated all over Europe. We also launched a new SFP episode on the state of Free Software and a discussion on banking and Software Freedom. Check out some interesting reading and event recommendations!
At the beginning of February, FSFE volunteers and staffers went back to Brussels to take part in FOSDEM 2024 with a booth and talks. While for some of us this has become an awesome yearly experience, it was the first time for others. Thanks to everyone who came to FOSDEM, visited our booth for a nice chat, and joined us during our social events!
Together with hundreds of people and several organisations, we have celebrated another "I Love Free Software Day" on 14 February! On this day, we reached out to Free Software contributors to say Thank you! To all who joined us this time: Thank you for participating in this 14th edition of the "I Love Free Software Day" ❤️❤️❤️!
Have there been any changes for Free Software in Europe or the USA in the last year? How is Free Software viewed by legislators? What can we do to support software freedom? Karen Sandler and Alexander Sander are active in the Free Software movement and share their views on the current status of Free Software in our society.
Once again, FOSDEM did not disappoint! Meeting the Free Software community in Brussels is always one of the best moments of the year! And just before we meet again to celebrate I Love Free Software Day with the news of the Interoperable Europe Act being adopted! This newsletter also includes our first interviews with 2023 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom participants… and more!
On 14 February, Free Software communities around the world gather to celebrate developers, maintainers, and contributors of Free Software projects. Take part in one of the many events across Europe that celebrate this day!
Today the Interoperable Europe Act has been adopted in plenary with 524 votes in favour, 18 against and 97 abstentions. Although some of the potential of the regulation got undermined, the Act as a whole is an important opportunity for Free Software and its community to contribute to an interoperable Europe. The FSFE will closely monitor its implementation.
It is that time of the year again. FOSDEM will take place in Brussels on 3 and 4 February 2024. The Free Software Foundation Europe will be there with most of its staff and some of our volunteers! Are you planning to attend? If so, come meet us at our booth!
Find out more about the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom participants of the 2023 edition. We are starting this series talking with Jannes and Aaron: both worked on projects related to school education, and it is particularly interesting to see how these two projects approached different aspects with a similar spirit.
In the framework of the ITS Academy LAST project, the Free Software Foundation Europe and the Edulife Foundation, the operational partner of ITS Academy LAST, have developed a two-year agreement to deliver educational content to students about Free Software legal aspects, policy and public awareness.
The Next Generation Internet (NGI) Zero consortium, of which the FSFE is a partner, has just unveiled the NGI0 Commons Fund. This new public fund will award 21.6 million euro to small and medium R&D projects developing Free Software technologies that can improve the Internet.
We are starting 2024 with a lot of energy, looking for a policy intern and with great news: two new SFP episodes, the Router Freedom tech wiki, the ‘Ada & Zangemann’ ebook is free of charge in French, and we are looking forward to celebrating ‘I Love Free Software Day’ on 14 February!
The Free Software Foundation Europe, along with more than 10.000 hackers, took part in the 37th Chaos Communication Congress. It was a great pleasure to be back in Hamburg and to join the Chaos family for another amazing four-day congress. Thank you all for coming and participating in the Chaos!
Every year, on 14 February, the FSFE, together with Free Software organisations around the globe, celebrates “I Love Free Software Day”: a special day of appreciation to all the contributors to Free Software projects, large or small.
These days are quite special, right? So is our Christmas Software Freedom Podcast episode! In this 23rd episode, the FSFE goes crazy and has fun playing a guessing game with terms related to Free Software. This is the perfect episode for you to learn more about your favourite type of software: Free Software!
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!".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.