It's all about our community
Our March newsletter brings you the energy of 22 I Love Free Software Day celebrations across Europe, the Norwegian release of Ada & Zangemann, updates on the Cyber Resilience Act and Router Freedom, and two fresh Software Freedom Podcast episodes.
Spring is just around the corner, and we are feeling re-energised, not only thanks to the sunshine, but also because of the inspiring days we spent celebrating I Love Free Software Day across Europe. This year, 22 gatherings took place in 12 European countries!
I Love Free Software Day 2026
Every year on 14 February and in the days around it, we come together, online and in person, to express our appreciation to everyone who is part of the Free Software communities. Whether through local meet-ups, talks, workshops, postcards, blog posts, social media messages, or simple words of gratitude, the message is clear: Free Software exists and thrives because of the people who build, maintain, document, translate, test, and support it.
For the 2026 celebration, and under the motto "Maintainers Matter", our communities organised 22 events across 12 different European countries, reaching more than 300 people offline. And many more people celebrated it online. Hundreds of individuals and organisations joined the celebration on the Fediverse, sharing appreciation posts and gratitude messages. For the first time, the celebration also reached the front page of Hacker News, thanks to a "Thank You" blog post by Matthias Kirschner, the President of the FSFE, who shared his appreciation for Arch Linux and the extensive ArchWiki.
Besides, we had a special Software Freedom Podcast episode to mark this special day with something nice. For our I Love Free Software Day podcast episode we spoke with Lorenz Kästle from the monitoring plugins.
DMA, CRA and Router Freedom
That was not the only podcast episode published in recent weeks. Remember FOSDEM? Our 46th episode, recorded there, is now out! In it, Lucas Lasota and Bonnie Mehring discuss interoperability compliance under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) and mobile phones. The episode dives deeper into compliance changes in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
During FOSDEM 2026, we also held a Q&A session on the Cyber Resilience Act, together with a representative of the German market surveillance authority and the European Commission, as there are still uncertainties and recurring questions. There, we talked about the role of the steward as people are still unsure whether and under what circumstances they should or might want to become a steward. One part of the question is relatively easy to answer: no one has to become a steward.
Besides the option of becoming a steward, there is also the option of attestation (Art. 25 CRA). In order to facilitate the due diligence obligation, voluntary security attestation programmes could be established. As uncertainty around attestation remains, we launched a survey to gather input from the community. The survey closed at the end of February, and we are currently evaluating the results. We will share the findings with decision-makers and relevant stakeholders, incorporating them into the ongoing process. As always, our focus is on ensuring that Free Software contributors and small projects are protected and supported.
The protection of Router Freedom in Europe is another topic that has kept us busy in recent weeks. The European Union is about to reform the telecom sector with the proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA). The position of the FSFE is that the Digital Networks Act must move beyond fragmented national rules and establish a clear, operational framework ensuring effective and uniform protection of Router Freedom. This requires setting a harmonised default across the EU that properly reflects the interests of end-users and consumers. Any deviation due to network topology should remain the exception, not the rule, and must be transparently justified.
Keep Android Open
Together with other civil society organisations, the FSFE signed an open letter addressed to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, regarding Google's announced policy requiring all Android app developers to register centrally with Google to be allowed to distribute applications outside the Google Play Store. Google's plan would mean that all personal data of Free Software app developers on Android would end up with Google, even apps distributed outside the Play Store, by forcing developers to register and hand over ID. It raises barriers for small and volunteer projects, like F-Droid, and increases the risk of surveillance, censorship, and arbitrary bans against privacy‑protecting and critical apps. The letter asks Google to rescind the mandatory developer registration for all third-party distribution, engage in transparent dialogue with civil society, Free Software communities, and regulators on improving security without sacrificing openness, and commit to platform neutrality so that Google's role as Android steward does not conflict with its commercial interests.
To help us, you can read and share the open letter: https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/. If you are part of an organisation, join the signatories from across civil society, Free Software communities, and industry.
Please help so that Google also understands it is not in its interest to jeopardise its own success in mobile by making Android unfriendly to developers who care about software freedom
From Ada's workshop
All these efforts, from policy and surveys to community celebrations and our podcast, share a common goal: empowering people to understand, use, share, and improve technology. This is exactly why stories like Ada & Zangemann matter so much. When Petter discovered the book, he immediately felt that Norwegian-speaking readers should have access to its inspiring message. Now, Ada og Zangemann – En fortelling om programvare, rullebrett og bringebæris has been published and was presented during the Norwegian I Love Free Software Day celebrations.
Meanwhile, our community continues to organise events for children to learn about Free Software with the help of Ada. At the beginning of February, at the Kids Village Open Source event in Brussels, an Ada & Zangemann reading session in French took place alongside a small Ada-themed game.
Last but not least, if you are in Germany and coming to Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2026, come by to say "Hi!" We will be there with a booth full of info material and merchandise as well as giving some talks!
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Your editor,
Ana