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!
Your support helps us move our work forward.
We may be
behind the wheel, but you are the ones keeping us moving forward. 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.You can also support us, contribute to our work, and join our community. Are you using social
media? If so, do not forget to follow us there! You can also follow the
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Your editor,
Ana
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