A strong close to 2025 at 39C3; a promising start to 2026 thanks to your support
As 2026 begins, we are excited to see the projects from the new
edition of YH4F, kicking off this month, and to start preparing for
FOSDEM! At the same time, we are looking back at the last month of
2025: from 39c3 in Hamburg to our two latest Software Freedom Podcast
episodes, and our updates on the Cyber Resilience Act and our work in
the Apple v. European Commission litigation.
Wrapping up the year at the 39C3
Like many of you, we ended 2025 at 39c3! A fantastic way to end the
year with high spirits and a shared hope for the future we all aspire
to see in 2048. During our days in Hamburg, we participated in the
Bits&Bäume habitat with a booth, talks, and workshops, engaging in
deep, inspiring discussions with the community that often stretched
late into the night. We also attended outstanding talks that reinforced
how, together as a community, we can actively work toward this vision.
This vision includes a future where all regulatory frameworks actively
support the use and development of Free Software, such as the Cyber
Resilience Act (CRA).
“The door is open a crack, the wind is blowing, the
post-American internet is upon us. It’s a new, good internet that
delivers the technological self-determination of the old good internet
and the easy of use of the Web 2.0 that let's our “normie” friends to
use to. And I can't wait for us all to get to hang out there because
it's going to be great. ”,Cory Doctorow,
at 39c3, during the final moments of his talk in which he also asked people to donate to different organisations, such as the FSFE
The role of the CRA for Free Software, our intervention at the Apple case,
and digital sovereignty
Before the holiday festivities, we took, once again, one in-depth
look at this European law, sharing the insights and implications we
gathered through our workstream within the BSI project Dialogue for
Cybersecurity’: several questions remain open, especially regarding its
implications for the Free Software landscape. The relationship between
Free Software projects, potential stewards, and manufacturers hangs only
partially defined, and official guidance will help.
In 2025 we were also busy defending another EU law, the DMA and
intervening in the Apple
v. European Commission (T-1080/23) hearing before the Court of
Justice of the European Union. A couple of weeks ago we sent you a
mailing about the status
of this case with our achievements, which will have not been
possible without your support and donations.
Another hot topic in Europe at the end of 2025 has been digital
sovereignty and Bonnie and Alex tackle it in one of our Software Freedom
podcast episodes in December. The answer is clear: digital
sovereignty is only possible by empowering people and, therefore public
institutions, to control their technology and own infrastructure. In
this context, we also participated in a consultation on the Digital
Decade Policy Programme of the European Commission. In Germany, we were
invited by the Digital Ministry to participate in a workshop on the
“Germany Stack”, giving us the opportunity to underline
that digital sovereignty needs Free Software.
New Year, next stops: YH4F, FOSDEM, Ada translations...
Meanwhile, 2026 is already underway and with it, the programming
period for the fifth edition of Youth Hacking 4 Freedom!
Registration is still open, so if you know any European teenager eager
to showcase their skills and creativity with Free Software, now it is
the time to get them involved. Participants will have fun, meet
like-minded peers, and even have the chance to win cash prizes! Find out all
the insights in our dedicated podcast episode about it!
While YH4F kicks off, we’re also busy preparing for our participation
at FOSDEM 2026,our first opportunity this year to see
many of you in person! One more time we will be there co-organizing the
popular Legal & Policy issues DevRoom as well as involved in the
Funding the FOSS and FOSS mobile ones. Besides some other talks and
workshops, we we’ve got some exciting new merchandise: fresh T-shirts, a
new design for our Free Software socks, and a brand-new sticker to help
spread the word about Device Neutrality and push back
against the big tech companies threatening interoperability.
But that is not all: “I Love Free Software Day” is also around the
corner and we cannot wait to celebrate it in different cities across
Europe, as well as to get our hands on the latest published translation
of Ada
& Zangemann: a Dutch edition is coming! Pre-order it now and get
it at FOSDEM!
Your support helps us move our work forward. Thank you!
With our winter fundraising wrapped up, we want to send a huge
THANK YOU to everyone supporting us, including our
amazing donors! We may be behind the wheel, but you’re the ones keeping
us moving forward. 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! Maybe you have already noticed we kicked off the year
with a little game in Mastodon:
a poll full of questions (and answers!) about Legal and Licensing topics
in Free Software! You can also follow the FSFE news in your RSS Reader.
Your editor,
Ana
Support FSFE
Anmelden
Im Debian Umfeld deutet sich ein großer Schritt an. Das GNOME Team hat angekündigt, GTK2 aus dem aktuellen Entwicklungszweig zu entfernen. Die Änderung soll vor der Veröffentlichung von Debian 14 erfolgen, die für Mitte 2027 vorgesehen ist. Damit endet für das betagte Toolkit eine lange Übergangsphase. GTK2 erhält seit Jahren keine Pflege mehr. Die Entwicklung […]
Das GNOME Projekt hat eine neue Ausgabe der Bengaluru Serie veröffentlicht. GNOME 48.8 konzentriert sich auf Pflege, die den Desktop im Alltag spürbar robuster machen. Viele kleine Korrekturen sorgen für ein runderes Erlebnis ohne große Neuerungen. Im Kontrollzentrum wurden mehrere lang bekannte Probleme behoben. Die Verwaltung einzelner WLAN Geräte reagiert nun zuverlässiger. Eine kleine Speicherleckage […]
In den 25 Jahren ihres Bestehens hat sich die Wikipedia als Bastion des globalen Wissens etabliert. Wie kann sie künftig gegen mächtige KI-Tools bestehen? (
Budgie läutet mit Version 10.10 eine neue Ära ein. Nach vielen Jahren unter X11 wechselt der Desktop nun endlich zu Wayland. Damit endet ein langer Entwicklungsabschnitt und Budgie 10 tritt in die reine Pflegephase ein. Die Zukunft des Projekts richtet sich klar auf Budgie 11. Trotz des tiefen Wechsels bleibt das vertraute Gefühl erhalten. Panels […]
Der WoW64-Modus gilt in Wine 11 als vollständig unterstützt und macht sowohl 32-Bit- als auch 16-Bit-Anwendungen lauffähig. (
Heinlein-Co-CEO Jutta Horstmann hat vier konkrete Forderungen für mehr digitale Souveränität - nachzulesen im aktuellen Chefs-von-Devs-Newsletter. (
