Kernel 6.8 hat mehr zu bieten: etwa den ersten funktionsfähigen Treiber in Rust, ein optimierter Realtime-Scheduler und aufgepeppte TCP-Performance.

Looking back: Software freedom discussion @FOSDEM

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!

The Legal and Policy Issues Devroom took place on the first day of FOSDEM in one of the main rooms, which was packed throughout the track. In fact, this was the 12th edition and FSFE’s fourth year of co-organising in this devroom.

Together with our co-hosts this devroom once again focused on current political and legal challenges we face in the world of software freedom. These included discussions on recent licencing practices around RHEL and CentOS, questions on how to deal with with trademark issues, GPL termination under German law, discussion around GPLv3/AGPLv3 Section 7 and the new Swiss law on the procurement of Free Software.

id you miss the talks or do you want to watch them again? We have complied all the talks from this devroom in this video

As always the dev room ended with a discussion that brought all the organisers on stage: Karen Sandler and Bradley Kuhn from the Software Freedom Conservancy, Tom Marble, and Alexander Sander and Matthias Kirschner from FSFE talked about the most important issues for software freedom, touching on the Liability discussion in Europe around the Cyber Resilience Act, Product Liability Directive but also the AI Act, as well as discussing current cases and campaigns.

“Once again, we were able to bring exciting and pressing issues related to the law and politics of software freedom to the stage and discuss them with the FOSDEM community, raising awareness of how these issues intersect strongly with technological advances, and therefore why it is important to address and debate them”.

Alexander Sander, FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant and one of the devroom organizers

Last but not least, we want to thank you to everyone who take part of this devroom, from the amazing speakers to the participants who engaged in fruitful discussions to the FOSDEM organizers. We cannot wait to see you next year! And if you have any suggestion about topics and speakers, please do not hesitate to contact us!

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EU policy meets Free Software in FOSDEM

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.

During the last edition of FOSDEM, an EU policy devroom was organised and FSFE helped to co-organise it! On the second day of the conference, some of our staff and volunteers took part in this devroom, which was packed, and where the community had the opportunity to discuss current policy topics together with European lawmakers.

The devroom kicked off the day with a discussion on the new liability rules for Free Software. This turned into a broader debate on how the Free Software community can and should engage in the decision making process. Alexander Sander, FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant, moderated the session on "FOSS Policy Engagement", including a panel and a fishbowl discussion. After that, Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager, opened the session on “Public Services interoperability” and the Interoperable Europe Act, followed by a discussion between decision makers and the Community on the challenges and opportunities that the Interoperable Europe Act means for the Free Software community. Finally, Lucas Lasota, FSFE Programme Manager, together with our Netherlands Coordinator Niko Rikken, highlighted the main challenges for Router Freedom and Device Neutrality in Europe.

As this was the first time that we co organised this devroom, we are particularly interested in your feedback when it comes to the idea itself but also on the different format which was used to discuss those topics. We also want to thanks to the other devroom organizers: Simon Phipps, Enzo Ribagnac, Maarten Aertsen, Axel Thévernet, Deb Bryant, and Gijs Hillenius.

EU policy devroom

CRA & PLD: Free Software in the European legislative landscape Free Software policy engagement: Free Software in the European legislative landscape Public Services Interoperability : Free Software in the European legislative landscape Digital Services Interoperability: Free Software in the European legislative landscape

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Die KI-Plattform Hugging Face ruft ein Open-Source-Robotikprojekt ins Leben. Leiten soll es der zuvor bei Tesla angestellte Wissenschaflter Remi Cadene.

Das Raspberry-Pi-Projekt hat das Betriebssystem aktualisiert. Neben Fehlerkorrekturen kommen ein neuer Kernel und neue Firmware mit.

Die Einführung von Manifest v3 hatte aufgrund von Einschränkungen viel Kritik hervorgerufen. Mozilla hatte Ende 2022 MV3 übernommen, unterstützt aber weiterhin auch MV2.

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Das anonymisierende Tor hat will mit Webtunneln Zensurmaßnahmen etwas entgegensetzen.

Raspberry Pi OS, die Standard-Distribution der Raspberry Pi Foundation hat ein Update erhalten, bei dem unter anderem Kernel und Browser aktualisiert wurden.

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Mit openDesk will der Bund bis 2025 eine quelloffene Office- und Kommunikations-Suite für die Verwaltung bieten. Personell ist das Projekt aber knapp besetzt.

Der Einsatz von Observability-Tools und -Methoden nimmt weiter zu. Laut einer Grafana-Umfrage bereiten Anwendern aber die Kosten zunehmend Sorgen.​

Proxmox VE ist Open Source und nutzt bewährte Linux-Techniken. Es kann oft eine Alternative zu vSphere und vCenter sein, erfordert aber Umgewöhnung.

Auf Arduino Pro Micro Basis mit 3D-gedrucktem Gehäuse eine eigene Maus bauen. Dieses Open-Source-Projekt bietet den Startpunkt.

Als erste Distribution bietet KaOS eine Veröffentlichung auf der stabilen Ausgabe von Plasma 6. Zudem konnte endlich der Code von GTK2 entfernt werden, da keine Anwendung diesen mehr benötigt.

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Linus Torvalds hat den Linux-Kernel 6.8 freigegeben. Der Änderungsumfang sei durchschnittlich, stellt Torvalds fest.

CRA & PLD: Liability rules with large exemptions for Free Software are introduced

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.

On Tuesday, March 12, the two votes in the plenary of the European Parliament on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the Product Liability Directive (PLD) marked the provisional end of a long debate on the introduction of liability rules for software - with a broad exemption for Free Software.

Already at an early stage, the FSFE argued in a hearing in the EU Parliament, for the inclusion of clear and precise exemptions for Free Software development in the legislation and for liability to be transferred to those who significantly financially benefit from it on the market.

The co-legislators have largely complied with our demands and following intensive debates, have significantly improved the Commission’s proposal, by introducing an exemption for Free Software and including it in the articles of the regulation. In the future, individual developers and non-profit development of Free Software will be exempt from the CRA and the PLD. Nevertheless, the wording in both the regulations are different and a standardisation processes and guidelines are still being drawn up. We will therefore closely monitor the implementation and whether Software Freedom is protected accordingly. The efforts of Free Software advocates have also helped to ensure that decision maker in EU institutions now have a better understanding of Free Software and its various stakeholders, which will be useful in future debates.

"In the debate about liability rules for Free Software, it has become clear how important Free Software is for our economic and social development. On the other hand, it has also become clear what needs to be taken into account in the Regulation when it comes to software freedom. This has shown the immense importance of working together with the various stakeholders in Free Software development and distribution and as well as to understand and accommodate the different interests of these players," concludes Alexander Sander, FSFE`s Senior Policy Consultant.

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Grok, der Chatbot, den Elon Musks xAI herausbringt, soll Open-Source werden und noch in dieser Woche frei verfügbar sein.

Der Open-Source-Passwortmanager KeepassXC 2.7.7 führt Passkeys ein, verbessert den Import und vereinfacht das Entsperren der Datenbank.

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Linus Torvalds gab am Wochenende die nächste Kernel-Version Linux 6.8 frei. Unter anderem können sich die Nutzer des Raspberry Pi 5 über Support für Broadcoms V3D DRM-Treiber freuen.

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LXQt wird mit Version 2.0 im April als Basis auf Qt 6 setzen. Gerade meldet das Projekt, dass der Desktop mit PCManFM-Qt jetzt bereit für Wayland ist.

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Volla kündigt für April ein Crowdfunding für das erste Volla Tablet an. Starke Hardware und ein auf dem Papier gute Konzept mit Dualboot lassen auf ein brauchbares Tablet abseits vom Mainstream hoffen.

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Nutzer verlören zunehmend die Kontrolle über ihren wachsenden digitalen Gerätepark, warnen Befürworter freier Software. Sie müssten wieder ermächtigt werden.

openSUSE Leap 15.6 liegt in einer Beta-Version mit den Desktop-Umgebungen Plasma 5.27 LTS und GNOME 45 vor. Die stabile Freigabe soll Mitte Juni erfolgen.

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Mit Fedora Workstation 41 werden die Ausgaben mit GNOME und KDE Plasma beide ohne X11-Session ausgeliefert, was die Rückkehr zu X11 ein wenig erschwert.

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Die mobile Distribution postmarketOS tauscht das Initsystem OpenRC geben systemd aus. Die Gründe liegen in der besseren Handhabung von Oberflächen basierend auf KDE und GNOME.

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Let’s make Device Neutrality a reality in Europe!

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.

Digital devices are becoming increasingly important tools in our daily tasks, with more and more of us using them in different areas of our lives. However, we, as end-users, are losing control over them – especially the ability to run Free Software – due to unfair practices by device manufacturers, vendors, and platforms.

Device Neutrality aims to restore end-user control over devices by ensuring software freedom in devices, protecting users from lock-ins and promoting their control over data in devices. It seeks to enable end-users to run the software of their choice and use services independently of the control exercised by hardware manufacturers, vendors, and platforms, known as gatekeepers.

Some aspects of Device Neutrality are imposed on large tech companies by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a recent EU law that enters into force on 7 March, to reestablish higher degrees of competition in digital markets. Therefore, the DMA will be applicable to six gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Bytedance, Meta, and Microsoft.

The FSFE has been involved with the DMA throughout the legislative process, and welcomes its entry into force, which makes several elements of Device Neutrality legally enforceable. However, while the DMA represents a very important step in holding gatekeepers accountable for their negative disruptions and distortions in digital markets, the law alone is not enough to promote Device Neutrality to the extent necessary to re-empower end-user control over devices.

The Digital Markets Act: only a first step towards Device Neutrality

Initially, the enforcement of the DMA will be challenging, as the law addresses diverse aspects of devices including the (un)installation of software, the use of third-party apps stores and payment systems, interoperability obligations for operating systems and messaging apps, and some degree of real-time data portability. Imposing legal obligations on such elements will require considerable enforcement efforts and proper monitoring of the technical solutions implemented by the gatekeepers.

Besides, similarly to Router Freedom where network operators create various barriers and hurdles for end-users to exercise that right, gatekeepers may try hard to avoid implementing solutions that will fully benefit end-users, but rather may use the law in ways that can hinder end-users’ rights related to Device Neutrality. For instance, the tech company Apple – one of the gatekeepers – has already gone to court to avoid the DMA obligations, and decided to implement an absurd strategy against third-party apps stores (PDF) that will negatively impact the ability of alternatives such as F-Droid to enter iOS environments.

For these reasons, the FSFE will collaborate with the European Commission and other regulators to monitor compliance with the DMA, so that the DMA will act as a catalyst for Device Neutrality rather than an additional barrier to it.

“DMA represents a bold step from the EU to regulate large companies acting as gatekeepers over devices. However, proper implementation of the law will be challenging, and it will require strict monitoring from civil society to safeguard Device Neutrality. Open Internet needs Device Neutrality. Free Software is key to achieve that”.

-Lucas Lasota, FSFE’s Legal Programme Manager -

Going beyond very large platforms

The DMA is limited to big tech companies. The law only applies to enterprises providing services to at least 45 million monthly active end-users established or located in the EU on a yearly basis. Taking into account other quantitative restrictions, Device Neutrality is safeguarded by the law against only a handful of gatekeepers. Smaller companies may also engage in predatory behavior against Device Neutrality, negatively impacting end-users' rights. However, they are not covered by the DMA.

That’s why the FSFE is promoting Device Neutrality in a much broader context to include not only large companies but any device manufacturer, vendor, or platform. We strongly believe that software freedom should be the default standard and end-users should not be imprisoned into lock-ins. Tech companies should not trap users into walled gardens that limit what they can do with their devices.

Check the new webpage for Device Neutrality and help spread the word with our poster!

In parallel to its involvement with the DMA, the FSFE is launching a new website for Device Neutrality to raise public awareness of topics concerning Device Neutrality. This site points to in-depth insights about Device Neutrality and Free Software, downloadable promotional material, and ways to spread the word. Check it out!

Supporting the work on Device Neutrality

Higher degrees of openness and equality in digital markets can only be achieved when end-users can enjoy software freedom with their devices. The DMA is the first step, and the FSFE will continue to work for Device Neutrality in different areas: monitoring DMA implementation, overseeing compliance, collaborating with regulators and policy makers, promoting public awareness, and expanding the agenda beyond gatekeepers. For that, we count on your support for our work with a donation. Get active and help us empower you to regain control over your devices!

I want to donate for Device Neutrality!

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