Newsletter

Legal Corner+++ FOSDEM recap+++ Ada movie in Spanish

In the last few weeks we published our first Legal Corner article and the recordings of our talks at FOSDEM. We were happy to see pictures from the I Love Free Software Day celebrations and can't wait to meet you at CLT 2025! We are organising an online Q&A session about the DMA and Free Software. The Ada movie is finally available in Spanish!

Quote of the Month

“In Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution we are committed to the development of STEM careers for the new generations. Diversity is especially important because it will ensure that the development of software has a more inclusive perspective and in this regard, "Ada & Zangemann" is a very inspirational book because it is completely aligned with the purpose of our company”

Ricardo Bacchini, People & Organization Director from Volkswagen Group Spain

Digital Markets Act and Free Software: FOSDEM keynote, Software Freedom podcast and online Q&A session

On 24 March 2025, the FSFE is organizing the ‘Online Q&A session – Digital Markets Act and Free Software: everything the Free Software community needs to know’. There we will present our efforts to ensure effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act, with space for questions from the Free Software community. More info will be published soon, stay tuned!

Meanwhile, you can watch our colleague Lucas Lasota's keynote speech on this topic at FOSDEM 2025 under the title “How we are defending Software Freedom against Apple at the EU's highest court”. Apple is attempting to avoid obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and in this talk, we explained why this case is pivotal for Free Software in Europe and why we should all care.

If you want to know more about Free Software and the DMA, we suggest that you listen to episode 30 of our Software Freedom Podcast, where Bonnie Mehring talks with Marc Prud'hommeaux about the App Fair Project: an alternative iOS marketplace that exclusively distributes Free Software applications. The project's goal is to promote a more accessible and inclusive Free Software ecosystem in iOS.

Public Money, Public Code! symposium

On 8 April 2025, the FSFE is hosting a symposium on ‘Public Money? Public Code' in the practical work of public administrations. One focus will be on the use of Free Software in municipalities: What can best practices look like and where are local administrations already leading the way? What opportunities for collaboration are opened up by Free Software? What challenges arise when awarding contracts? What opportunities does the use of Free Software bring for public administrations?

The event will take place in Essen.

Legal Corner: MIA or Dead Contributors - Does It Matter For Your Software Project?

If your software project has multiple contributions, and a contributor becomes uncontactable or passes away, this can become an issue in certain situations. Here we discuss when a missing or deceased contributor affects your software project, and what options you have.

Check out our article on this topic!

This is the first article in a new series, "Legal Corner".

From Ada’s Workshop: The Latest on Ada & Zangemann

The movie Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream is now available in Spanish! Thanks to our donors, and especially Volkswagen Spain, you can now organize screenings of this inspiring animated story in your community also in Spanish. Help us to spread the word about the movie so in the future young people have the opportunity to tinker, experiment, and code with Free Software as the default.

Prefer a reading instead? The Spanish version of the story is also available in our Git repository.

I Love Free Software Day 2025 celebrations

Hidden projects was the topic of I Love Free Software Day 2025, a day to say thank you to Free Software contributors but also to celebrate, together, our awesome community and appreciate the work of developers, system administrators, translators, community moderators…

This year we had 19 meetings around Europe in our local communities in Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK! Check out some pictures of the different events!

The hashtag #ilovefs was also a trend on the Fediverse! Thanks to everyone who participated in this day and also those who sent messages thanking Free Software projects!

FOSDEM 2025: Check out the videos from our talks and listen to our new podcast episode

Some occasions are too special to miss, like our February trip to FOSDEM, where we connected with the Free Software community. Even when things didn’t go as planned, it was an energizing boost against the winter blues. Thanks to everyone who joined our DevRooms, attended our talks including our keynote on the Apple litigation, came to our women breakfast, and stopped at the booth.

In our 31st episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring discuss the highlights of the two Devrooms that the FSFE co-organized during FOSDEM 2025: the 'Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom' and the 'Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoom'. Find out more about the topics discussed there and tips about what to re-watch.

Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2025: we will be there!

Once again, we are participating in the Chemnitzer Linux - Tage that will take place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 March.

On Saturday at 12:00h., the FSFE's Technical Advisor Florian Snow will talk about "Open system, closed doors: Freedom in Banking" (room V5). At 15:00h., Tobias Diekershoff (FSFE System Administrator, Friendica developer) will explore the non-textual areas of the Fediverse (V5). On Sunday at 11:00h., Johannes Näder (FSFE Senior Policy Project Manager) will shed a light on openwashing, the practice of misleading consumers and public authorities by disguising proprietary software products as Free Software (V7).

"Ada & Zangemann", the story about the girl Ada who loves to tinker and bravely stands up to the mighty inventor Zangemann, will play a prominent role at this year's CLT: The new animated film will be shown on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00 (W1), and a reading will take place on Saturday at 11:00 (Kinderparadies).

We will also host a community meeting at the FSFE booth on Saturday at 12:30. If you're attending the CLT, be sure to stop by to learn about FSFE's current activities, get your copy of the Ada & Zangemann book, or get a new hoodie or shirt!

Edulife partnership: one more year teaching Italian students about Free Software

As part of the FSFE partnership with the Edulife Foundation, Italian students in the ITS Academy LAST project had the opportunity to learn about Free Software. During January and February the FSFE provided educational content covering legal aspects, policy, and public awareness, helping students gain a deeper understanding of Free Software and its significance.

From our community

• There is no cloud, just other people's computers. The Dutch parliament realized this last year and expressed concern over the reliance on foreign IT services. In a recent report the Court of Audit concluded that the Dutch central government started using cloud services without thoroughly considering the implications and risks. The Netherlands local team, who contributed to the discussion participating in several meetings as a stakeholder, is closely following this topic

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

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