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09 October 2024
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!
02 October 2024
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.
20 September 2024
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.
11 September 2024
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.
11 September 2024
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.
03 September 2024
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 *****OM project
ended.
28 August 2024
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.
13 August 2024
The FSFE’s hacking competition for ***** 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.
12 August 2024
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.
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09 August 2024
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.
08 August 2024
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.
06 August 2024
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.
26 July 2024
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.
19 July 2024
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.
15 July 2024
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.
09 July 2024
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.
04 July 2024
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.
02 July 2024
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...
01 July 2024
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.
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28 June 2024
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.
27 June 2024
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.
20 June 2024
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.
10 June 2024
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).
04 June 2024
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.
30 May 2024
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.
15 May 2024
What do a Prime Minister, an MIT professor, and a ***** from Rajasthan
have in common? They, along with other public figures and thousands of
*****ren, 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 *****! Help us make a film of this story to spark more
*****’ interest in coding and tinkering!
08 May 2024
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?
06 May 2024
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.
30 April 2024
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.
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17 April 2024
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.
02 April 2024
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!
21 March 2024
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!
18 March 2024
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!
18 March 2024
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.
12 March 2024
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.
07 March 2024
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.
05 March 2024
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!
01 March 2024
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!
26 February 2024
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" ❤️❤️❤️!
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14 February 2024
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.
13 February 2024
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!
08 February 2024
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!
06 February 2024
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.
30 January 2024
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!
26 January 2024
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.
22 January 2024
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.
17 January 2024
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.
16 January 2024
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!
11 January 2024
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!
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09 January 2024
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.
25 December 2023
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!
20 December 2023
Companies increasingly aim to control how users interact with their
content online, threatening user freedom. As more companies crack down
on browser extensions and other third-party software used by internet
users to customise their experiences, two recent German court cases on
adblockers could strengthen the legal case for user control over
technology.
14 December 2023
In recent years we have focused on the policy and legal aspects of Router Freedom. Now, with the help of our Netherlands volunteer team, we are publishing the Router Freedom tech wiki, which provides information on the necessary steps you need to use and connect your own router. We need your help to get it printed!
11 December 2023
We are looking for a motivated 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 period of six months.
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 ***** Europeans. This competition gives *****agers the opportunity to code their own projects – alone or in a team –, make new friends across Europe, and win up to €4,096!
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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 *****ren's book and
the coding competition for ***** 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.
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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.
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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 ***** 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.
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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.
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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.
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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 ***** 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.
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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 *****
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!
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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