Refund4Freedom +++ Legal Corner +++ SFP

May kept us quite busy attending conferences and with the kick-off of the Refund4Freedom initiative. We also went through the issue of the threshold of originality for copyrightable source code and talked in our latest episode of the Software Freedom Podcast about the tech sovereignty debate in the EU.

Table of contents

• Quote of the Month
• Refund4Freedom project: Kick off in Italy!
• SFP#34: Policy and EU: Tech sovereignty debate in the EU
• Legal Corner: The threshold of originality for copyrightable source code
• At the stages: participating in conferences around Europe
• Share your thoughts: why are you supporting Software Freedom?
• Contribute to our Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“It was love at first sight with Ada & Zangemann: stickers on my laptop, and a spark in my classroom. The real magic happens when my high school students enter primary schools and I tell the younger kids: ‘Go on, adopt a big kid.’ You can see their eyes light up with wonder as they whisper to each other, connected by curiosity and joy"

Giacomo Alessandroni, engineer and teacher. Organizer of Ada & Zangemann readings in Italy with a focus on robotics.

Refund4Freedom project: Kick off in Italy!

Refund4Freedom, a new initiative by the Italian Linux Society (ILS) and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) launched on 29 May. This project wants to make it easier for computer users to claim refunds for unused pre-installed software. By demanding refunds for unwanted pre-installed software, Refund4Freedom helps users avoid unnecessary costs while encouraging device neutrality and user-controlled choices. Refund4Freedom is one of a broader set of activities promoting end-users' rights such as the End of 10 campaign, which encourages users to keep using their current hardware by switching to Free Software operating systems. The FSFE is supporting this initiative that offers an alternative to buying a new device when support for Windows 10 ends on 14 October 2025.

More about it

SFP#34: Policy and EU: Tech sovereignty debate in the EU

Dive with us into the inner workings of the European Parliament and learn about their approach on technological sovereignty. In this 34th episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Alex and Bonnie discuss the current debate in the European Union and pay special attention to the current European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure INI.

Legal Corner: The threshold of originality for copyrightable source code

As a general rule, software source code is by default protected by copyright. Copyright holders create Free Software by applying a Free Software license to their code. Creative works, such as source code, nevertheless must be sufficiently original in nature before they can be protected by copyright. Exactly what is this “threshold of originality”, and are there types of code that are not automatically protected by copyright?

Read more

At the stages: participating in conferences around Europe

We have been busy in May as we have participated in several conferences around Europe: Salmorejo Tech in Córdoba (Spain), DORS/CLUC in Zagreb (Croatia), re:publica in Berlin (Germany), Hackmeeting HackIT in Cagliari (Italy), and T-DOSE 2025 in Eindhoven (The Netherlands).

Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Programme Manager, gave a talk online on 27 May about how the Digital Markets Act (DMA) relies on interoperability as one of its regulatory tool in Art. 6(7).

Gabriel Ku Wei Bin, FSFE Legal Programme Manager, participated in a panel discussion on software freedom and machine learning in Warsaw, during the local celebrations of 40 years of software freedom.

We will be also busy in June attending events such as DevConf, openSuse, and many more... Find out more on events.fsfe.org!

Share your thoughts: why are you supporting Software Freedom?

This year, we are celebrating 40 years of software freedom, and we want to hear from you about why this is important to you! Send us a brief quote to contact@fsfe.org. Tell us why you support it and what it means to you! We will use the best ones to update our testimonials page and other communication channels!

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

Support FSFE

Drei Forscher von der TU München haben mit TPDE ein eigenes Compiler Back-End Framework vorgestellt, das deutlich schneller arbeiten soll als LLVM.

Drei Forscher von der TU München haben mit TPDE ein eigenes Compiler Back-End Framework vorgestellt, das deutlich schneller arbeiten soll als LLVM.

Neben Fehlerkorrekturen stecken in der aktualisierten Libvirt nur eine Handvoll Neuerungen, die sich aber als durchweg nützlich entpuppen.

Neben Fehlerkorrekturen stecken in der aktualisierten Libvirt nur eine Handvoll Neuerungen, die sich aber als durchweg nützlich entpuppen.

Mit Agama 15 veröffentlichen die (open)SUSE – Entwickler gleich zwei neue Versionen auf einmal – auch Agama 14 hatte längst das Licht der Welt erblickt, blieb aber ohne offiziellen Blogeintrag. Nun werden die Neuerungen beider Releases in einem Rutsch vorgestellt, und die haben es in sich. Besonders im Fokus stehen Verbesserungen der Benutzerfreundlichkeit. So wurde […]

Der Beitrag Agama 15 bringt neue Features für SUSE-Installationen erschien zuerst auf fosstopia.

Die auf Slackware basierende Distribution PorteuX aktualisiert in ihrer neuen Version den Unterbau. Der damit zum Einsatz kommende Kernel 6.15 führt allerdings zu Verstimmungen mit VirtualBox.

Die auf Slackware basierende Distribution PorteuX aktualisiert in ihrer neuen Version den Unterbau. Der damit zum Einsatz kommende Kernel 6.15 führt allerdings zu Verstimmungen mit VirtualBox.

Hinter dem Angriff der Ukraine auf Russlands strategische Bomber steckt Open-Source-Software. Wir zeigen, was Ardupilot für Drohnen so attraktiv macht. (Drohne, Open Source)

Das Network Security Toolkit (NST) richtet sich mit seinen vorinstallierten Werkzeugen an Sicherheitsexperten und Pentester. Die neue Version nutzt Fedora 42 als Unterbau und den Kernel 6.14.8.

Das Network Security Toolkit (NST) richtet sich mit seinen vorinstallierten Werkzeugen an Sicherheitsexperten und Pentester. Die neue Version nutzt Fedora 42 als Unterbau und den Kernel 6.14.8.

Wie häufig kommt Linux als Desktop-Betriebssystem zum Einsatz? Das versuchen gleich mehrere Statistiken zu ermitteln.

Wie häufig kommt Linux als Desktop-Betriebssystem zum Einsatz? Das versuchen gleich mehrere Statistiken zu ermitteln.

Themis AI, eine Ausgründung aus dem MIT, hat Software entwickelt, die es beliebigen Sprachmodellen ermöglichen soll, zu erkennen, was sie nicht wissen oder wo sie zumindest unsicher sind.

Google muss bei seinem Chrome-Browser Sicherheitslücken schließen. Eine mit hohem Risiko eingestufte wird bereits aktiv ausgenutzt.

Industry Committee vote: Technology sovereignty is only possible with Free Software

Industry committee of the European Parliament shows necessity and benefits of “open-source first” policy but report lacks concrete measures.

Today, the Industry committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament voted on an own-initiative report on European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure, touching several fields from chips to undersea-cables to software. Free Software, also known as Open Source, plays an important role.

In light of strong dependencies and vendor lock-ins, the Committee sees “Open Source first” policies as a solution, following the “Public Money? Public Code!” demand of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). The committee wants procurement to focus on interoperable solutions, and is pointing to the benefits of Free Software in fostering competitiveness and innovation thanks to its global character.

“Gaining control over technology is one of the pressing topics for the European Union. Reducing dependencies and removing vendor lock-ins is key to achieving this, and only the four freedoms of Free Software to use, study, share, and improve the code allow it. A Free Software first policy must facilitate easy procurement of Free Software solutions while fostering collaboration between Member States. Implementation also needs to be well-executed. Furthermore, reliable long-term funding for Free Software core infrastructure and security is needed to ensure digital and technological sovereignty. Unfortunately the report lacks concrete measures and requirements that need to be improved before the plenary vote.” states Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant.

Free Software and “Public Money? Public Code!”

Free Software gives everyone the right to use, study, share and improve applications for any purpose. These freedoms ensure that similar applications do not have to be programmed from scratch every time and, thanks to transparent processes, others do not have to reinvent the wheel. In large projects, expertise and costs can be shared and applications paid for by the general public are available to all. This promotes innovation and saves taxpayers’ money in the medium to long term. Dependencies on vendors are minimised and security issues can be fixed more easily. The Free Software Foundation Europe, together with over 200 organisations and administrations, is therefore calling for “Public Money? Public Code!” - If it is public money, it should be public code as well.

More information on the initiative on the “Public Money? Public Code!” website.

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Mit einem Klick hat man die Mindmap-App zu seiner Nextcloud hinzugefügt. Die läuft recht flott und lässt sich auch gemeinsam mit anderen nutzen.

Hugging Face stellt einen humanoiden Roboter für 3000 US-Dollar vor, der gehen und mit Objekten interagieren können soll.

Die Distribution Gnome OS soll nicht mehr nur in virtuellen Maschinen, sondern auch auf echter Hardware laufen.

Die Distribution Gnome OS soll nicht mehr nur in virtuellen Maschinen, sondern auch auf echter Hardware laufen.

Wenn Datenpipelines wachsen, wird es schnell konfus. Mit Design Patterns und Python lassen sich Probleme in der Datenverarbeitung aber elegant lösen. (Datenbank, Python)

Google hat jetzt im Stillen ein Tool namens Google AI Edge Gallery  auf GitHub veröffentlicht, das Sprachmodelle lokal auf Handys oder Tablets unter Android starten kann.

Wie sind die Server im Fediverse eigentlich miteinander verbunden? Und wie kann mein Server mit mehr anderen Servern interagieren? Um diese Fragen geht es in diesem Beitrag.

In diesem Teil unserer Artikel-Serie über Joplin Notes stellen wir Euch die Synchronisation mit Nextcloud vor

Canonicals Launchpad Software-Kollaborationsplattform, die für die Ubuntu-Entwicklung verwendet wird, schaltet seine gehosteten Mailinglisten Ende Oktober ab.