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