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Newsletter

Hearing at the Bundestag +++ Ada Premiere in German +++ REUSE and NGI updates4

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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!

Collage with a picture from the Ada premiere in Germany, showing a cinema roon with a screen showing Ada; REUSE logo; and an image from SFSCON

Table of contents

Quote of the Month

“Bram was not just VIM's lead maintainer but a true champion of open source values, collaboration, and innovation of VIM. He showed so much passion and dedication over more than 30 years to build and improve the original VI, making it a highly configurable and popular editor in the UNIX, hacker, and node culture. But he wasn't only a developer and benevolent dictator for life, he built up a community that continues to grow, and support each other, and strive for excellence. We know that none of this would be possible without the great work that Bram created.”

Vim maintainer Christian Brabandt

German Bundestag hearing on “Open Source”

On Wednesday, 4 December at 14:15, Alexander Sander will participate in the hearing on "Open Source" at the German parliament in Berlin. Alex will present the position of the FSFE, answering the questions of the Members of the German Bundestag.

Follow the hearing live (in German)

Policy and EU: the need of long-term funding

Last September, 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 the success of the call: they show that the FSFE’s call to action, based on our answers, was heard. Nearly 800 answers were received, an unusually high number for such consultations.

This is also the topic of our latest Software Freedom podcast episode. On SFP 26, we focus on the 27 million euros cut from funding of the Next Generation Internet initiative (known as NGI). Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring shed some light on the history of this European project and share the newest developments in this case.

REUSE makes software licensing as easy as one-two-three

REUSE Specification 3.3 and REUSE tool 5.0.0 were released in November, 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 legal experts.

Ada & Zangemann German premiere and more!

On 27 November, 800 guests, most of them children, enjoyed the German premiere of our animated film “Ada & Zangemann - A fairy tale about software, skateboards and raspberry ice cream”, screened in the biggest cinema in Germany. Check out some pictures from the premiere.

The movie is now available, together with the English version, in ada.fsfe.org/movie.

This month we have also released, thanks to our Italian volunteers, this story as an audio book in Italian. And we have continued with the readings, in Italy, rural Germany, and even in Sri Lanka!

More great news! And Ada made it into the Wikimedia Commons media of the day on 10 November! The story of Ada also was promoted in the Autumn edition (number 23) [DE] of the Evangelical parents' magazine "Zehn14".

Book review in German from the Zehn14 magazine printed edition

SFSCON ‘24

At the beginning of November, the FSFE team travelled to Bolzano to take part in SFSCON. It was a really nice few days full of interesting talks and discussions. We also had the chance to go on a sunny hike with our volunteers the day after SFSCON!

During SFSCON, the 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.

Besides our booth there, with really nice and cool merchandise such as our new Ada cookie cutters or our temporary FSFE tattoos, our team was also involved giving talks and organizing workshops.

Matthias Kirschner with Raphael Barbieri posing in the SFSCON main room full of attendees

We prepared a playlist with our talks for you to learn first hand about topics such as openwashing, CRA and PLD liability rules, the EU NGI initiatives and the need of long-term funding, our experience with the Italian community, and introduction to the fediverse ... and more.

FSFE Booth at Campus du Libre: a table with FSFE posters, stickers, postcards, and some balloons. A man is examining a postcard. A volunteer in an FSFE t-shirt is standing on the other side of the table
On Saturday, 23 November, the FSFE participated in Campus du Libre with a booth, engaging with attendees and sharing insights on Free Software. This event, held at Université Jean Moulin Lyon, is organized by members of the academic community and focuses on promoting Free Software.

Humboldt Prize for a Free Software Master’s Thesis

The Humboldt University of Berlin has granted the Humboldt Prize - Research for Innovation 2024" to Linda Novobilska for her master's thesis on "Free and Open Source Software Licensing Requirements and Copyright Infringement Involving Artificial Intelligence Technologies". The thesis was co-advised by Dr Lucas Lasota, FSFE’s Legal Programme Manager.

This master’s thesis represents a successful attempt to systematically analyse the licensing requirements of open source software in relation to AI technologies. The thesis has shed light on the latest developments in copyright law and provides deep insights into recent litigation in the USA.

The Humboldt Innovation Prize is a prestigious award for outstanding academic work by students and junior researchers. The winners are granted 1000 EUR and coaching sessions from the Humboldt Start-Up Innovation Management.

Linda Novobilska and Lucas Lasota posing and holding the Prize certificate

Hacker train to FOSDEM

Are you planning to participate in FOSDEM 2025? What about making the most of this experience and joining a HackerTrain? That is the suggestion of a group of Free Software enthusiasts!

The plan? To go together to Brussels on the night train from Prague to Brussels on 28 January. There will be an informal social gathering and a small unconference.

Interested? Check out all the details here.

38c3: the place to be between Christmas and NYE

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, the FSFE will be at the 38th Chaos Communication Congress (38c3)—Europe’s largest hacker and tech community gathering. Join us for engaging talks, a booth full of Free Software insights, and plenty of opportunities to connect as we close out the year with exciting discussions!

Follow all our events at events.fsfe.org.

Contribute to our Newsletter

We would love to hear from you. If you have any thoughts, pictures, or news to share, please send them to us at newsletter@fsfe.org. You can also support us, contribute to our work, and join our community. We would like to thank our community and all the volunteers, supporters, and donors who make our work possible, with a special mention to our translators who make it possible for you to read this newsletter in your mother tongue.

Your editor,
Ana