“They are not alone in their work for software freedom”

Every year on 14 February we celebrate “I Love Free Software Day”, thanking all who contribute to Free Software. Without all of you we would not have such a great ecosystem today! Our Polish group joined our celebrations on 2025 for the first time, and we wanted to know more about them. So, we talked with Damian, our Poland group coordinator, about the Polish groups’ commitment to Free Software.

The Polish country team of the FSFE, FSFE Poland has existed since 2018. For some time there was a lull in the activities of the groups – but now they are back! Currently there are three local groups, Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław, which are some of the largest cities in Poland. Together they do quite a lot and are actively organising events and campaigns. For a good view of their activity you can of course join their Matrix room (Polish only)

Together they decided to celebrate “I Love Free Software Day 2025”, taking this as the perfect opportunity to restart FSFE Poland. They organised three events to which everyone interested in Free Software was invited. Every event was visited by 20-30 people; there were lots of fun, interesting conversations with a focus on lesser known software, and lots of pizza!

FSFE: Hello Damian, we are glad that you could take the time for this interview. Can you tell us how many local groups there are in Poland? Can everybody who is interested join them?

Damian Fajfer, Coordinator of FSFE Poland: The Polish volunteers happen to be mostly from around Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław so I would say there are three groups overall. Of course anyone can join; these are not strict groups at all and have no membership formalities whatsoever. If your goals align with ours and Free Software is important for you, we invite you to participate in our Matrix rooms, especially if you would be willing to help with our projects and activities.

FSFE: What did you do for I Love Free Software Day 2025?

Damian: This was our first time; we plan to celebrate the event each year. But for the future in a more coordinated manner! For 2025, we managed to make a unified template for all our local activities and helped each other organise the event in three cities: Wrocław, Poznań and Warsaw. Here you can find the code of our website, published by Michał Korczak under the SIC license. The result was meetings of about 20-30+ people in each location. We talked about Free Software projects with emphasis on those that are hidden, lesser-known projects, but important for us for some specific reason.

FSFE: Was there something you liked very much about the celebrations?

Damian: I feel like they helped us unify our standing a little bit. People got to acknowledge that FSFE supports their work and – hopefully – that they are not alone in their work for software freedom. I liked that we made a common template for the event and that we translated Pretalx to Polish - huge kudos to Wiktor Przybylski, Paweł "pomidor" Wiczyński, Kacper from Hackerspace Łódź and others for their excellent work.

FSFE: Why do you think I Love Free Software Day is important and why should everybody be celebrating this day?

Damian: Because it raises awareness in the community about the importance of Free Software. It also shows the importance of work done by volunteers who help with the development of Free Software. “I Love Free Software Day” is one of the few opportunities to meet in person, where Free Software is the leading conversation topic.

FSFE: What are the activities the local groups do and is there something happening where new people are welcome to join and support the effort?

Damian: You could say that each FSFE group is loosely associated around a Hackerspace, which provided a space to host the event in that city this year. People feeling associated with the Free Software movement just naturally gravitate towards these places. We are using Matrix channel as the sole medium of communication and everyone interested in Free Software is encouraged to join. I would say our main activities are promoting the Free Software movement by organising Free Software events in Poland: “Sesja Linuksowa” (“Linux Session”), “Poznańska Impreza Wolnego Oprogramowania” (“Poznań Free Software Party”), “Jesień Linuxowa” (“Linux Autumn”) and many more.

The FSFE volunteers are, in varying proportions, organisers of these events and I think it is now impossible to find a Free Software event without one of us being there. We are timidly trying to get more seriously into translations and have started writing reports regarding Free Software that I hope will appear by the end of the year.

FSFE: Was the celebration in 2025, the first time you celebrated “I Love Free Software Day” and what motivated you to participate?

Damian: Actually, the first “I Love Free Software Day” event I organised was in 2017 at Poznań University of Technology. I was a student and also the Free Software student club president so it felt pretty natural at that time. I had already helped organising Poznańska Impreza Wolnego Oprogramowania (“Poznań Free Software Party”) and Linux Presentation Days before. In 2016 I saw some FSFE stickers on someone’s laptop and the person suggested that we could order stickers from the FSFE website for our conference next time. I wanted to be part of the celebration because I loved the idea the first time and the timing for the event is ideal for a Free Software event because nothing much happens during the winter time.

FSFE: As a coordinator of the Poland group, you managed the communication for all three local groups. How was this from your perspective as coordinator and are there some pitfalls you can share with us that other country coordinators should watch out for?

Damian: I think I had a huge advantage already because I personally know people from the other cities. I have studied in Poznań and the organisers are ex-members of the Free Software student's club. Their friends and I met Michał from Wrocław during “Jesień Linuxowa” (“Linux Autumn”). His being one of the main organisers behind “Sesja Linuxowa” (“Linux Session”) made him an ideal candidate to organise a way smaller event like “I Love Free Software Day”.

In reality I did not have to coordinate much as I had very experienced organisers at hand that I could rely on. If I were to give a piece of advice to people coordinating things on a country level scale, it is that you need to find people with initiative and a sense of responsibility to cooperate with. In any kind of relationship, input from both sides is required. I do not think it would really work in other communities if I tried to force my way onto people that do not feel comfortable in such a role.

FSFE: Do you already have plans for celebrating "I Love Free Software Day 2026"?

Damian: There is a LAN party culture that we inherited from previous organisers of “Poznańska Impreza Wolnego Oprogramowania” (“Poznań Free Software Party”) that I really cherish. I think it would be nice if the “I Love Free Software Day” had some LAN-Party-like online events alongside (like those that these informal communities organise: onFOSS and FOSSGralnia.

There we could promote and raise awareness about this kind of software. Besides, I do not know if the theme is already announced but I hope everyone is aiming to affect more people, listen to more talks and eat more pizza.

FSFE: That sounds like a great party! We cannot wait to see your event and we will keep our community posted about this. Thank you for your time and your work for the Free Software community!

You can find more images in our gallery here!

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Legal Corner: Apple’s “notarisation” – blocking software freedom of developers and users!

The EU’s Digital Markets Act is supposed to shake up the power of tech giants by giving developers and users more choice. Apple’s “notarisation” of mobile apps contradicts these objectives. A civil-society complaint against Apple’s monopolistic control over app distribution aims to change that.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims for a structural reset of power in digital markets, a shift from corporate control toward device neutrality, where users decide what runs on their devices. For Free Software, this legislation can be a unique opportunity by finally opening closed ecosystems - like iOS - to Free Software alternatives. Apple has reacted aggressively against the DMA, litigating against regulators, and unfairly excluding Free Software from iOS and iPadOS by blocking the unfettered installation of software (sideloading), prohibiting alternative app stores, and hindering interoperability.

The FSFE has recently contributed to a complaint initiated by civil-society organisations targeting Apple’s non-compliance with the DMA, urging the European Commission to enforce the DMA’s rules related to interoperability and the app store, giving users and developers effective choice over which apps and app stores they want to use on their devices. This complaint is important for software freedom, contextualising the diverse approaches towards curation of software distribution.

The action taken: calling out the illegality of Apple’s “notarization” of mobile apps

Imagine that you are a Free Software developer willing to make your program available in the iPhone. You want to have your software curated in a non-profit Free Software-friendly app store (like F-Droid for Android). This is important for you because you prefer to not have Apple controlling what your software does and to whom it should be made available.

This all sounds good, until you realise that your plan is not possible in iOS. There is no non-profit Free Software app store available for iPhones and iPads. Apple blocks non-profit app stores with extremely high financial requirements and prohibits unfettered installation of software. Even for the Free Software commercial ones, such as the Alt Store, Apple still applies a complete review and control, through an encryption layer over distributed source code.

On October 22, ARTICLE 19 and Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) filed a complaint against Apple for non-compliance with the DMA to tackle these issues. The complaint highlights the following conduct as illegal under the DMA:

• Apple does not allow the unfettered installation of third-party software (sideloading);
• Apple prevents third-party app stores to effectively running on iOS and iPadOS;

• Apple does not provide effective free-of-charge interoperability with the company’s features controlled via iOS and iPadOS.

The core of the complaint is twofold:

1. Apple’s complete review of apps – known as “notarisation” process - a mandatory step for distributing any software on its platforms, represents the very gatekeeping behaviour the DMA was written to prevent. Notarisation forces all apps, even those distributed outside Apple’s App Store, to be submitted to Apple’s servers for scanning, approval, and cryptographic re-signing before installation. The result is that Apple retains full control over what software users can install and how developers can distribute it. This transforms Apple’s self-appointed “security review” into a choke-point of power, locking in developers and users into the company’s proprietary ecosystem.

2. Apple’s requirements for third-party app stores. Apple has conditioned the provision of a third-party app store as a native app in its iOS and iPadOS on (1) providing a standby letter of credit in the amount of €1,000,000 from a financial institution that is at least A-rated; or (2) being a member of good standing in the Apple Developer Program for two continuous years or more and have an app that had more than 1,000,000 first annual installs on iOS and iPadOS in the EU in the prior calendar year.

Both requirements are extremely unfair and disproportionately affects non-profit Free Software projects, SMEs, startups, and individual developers. This discriminates by size and renders the market inaccessible to smaller new entrants.

The implications of Apple’s notarisation for software freedom

For Free Software developers, the implications are even more severe. Apple’s notarisation regime requires developers to hold a paid Apple Developer account, accept restrictive legal terms, and submit binaries to a closed, opaque process. Once approved, the binaries are re-signed by Apple and distributed under digital restriction management (DRM).

This breaks users’ rights when it comes to Free Software freedoms. Users can no longer verify that the source code they read corresponds to the binary they run, nor can they freely redistribute software that Apple refuses to notarise. What makes this process absurd is that Apple applies this notarisation process to all apps running on iOS, no matter which channel of distribution. This means that a developer of an alternative app store for iOS has actually no control over the apps they can distribute in their store, as Apple still holds gatekeeping power through notarisation.

Under the DMA, gatekeepers must enable the installation of third-party app stores and refrain from imposing unnecessary technical restrictions. Yet Apple’s notarisation enforces the very dependency the DMA prohibits: it reasserts Apple’s role as the mandatory intermediary for every app on its platforms. This undermines competition, discourages independent developers, and excludes non-commercial, community-run projects that cannot afford to submit to Apple’s terms or refuse to submit to them. Allowing this practice to persist would water down the DMA’s promise before it is even tested.

Blocking alternative app stores with extremely high requirements

Apple’s requirements for enabling third-party app stores are very hard to meet. They have effectively prevented non-profit Free Software app stores from working in iOS and iPadOS. The provision of a 1 million euro standby letter of credit or 1 million downloads within a year in the EU overburdens not only non-profits, but also individual developers, startups, and SMEs. When these conditions are put into context, such requirements do not reflect industry standards and expectations. They derive from Apple’s monopolistic behaviour with respect to mobile devices. Such impositions do not exist in Apple’s laptops and desktop computers, where unfettered installation (sideloading) is a reality. The complaint concludes that both requirements go beyond the limits of what is necessary under the DMA. Apple ignores less restrictive alternatives (e.g. insurance and escrow frameworks), and provides no justification for doing so.

The solution: decentralised software curation

The complaint surges the European Commission to impose fines and to find an alternative to Apple’s control over software distribution, including non-profit stakeholders in the process. The alternative to Apple’s notarisation already exists, and it works. Decentralised curation, as practised by repositories like F-Droid, shows that security and software freedom coexist inherently. Instead of concentrating trust in a single private authority, decentralised systems distribute it: through transparent verification pipelines, reproducible builds, and community audits. Users choose whom to trust, and curators are accountable to the public, not to corporate shareholders. This model embodies the DMA’s vision of interoperability and openness far better than Apple’s notarisation.

Such a model aligns with the DMA’s ambitions: interoperability, transparency, and user choice. Decentralised curation can support multiple overlapping trust networks, from individual developers to NGOs, universities, or public institutions, each maintaining their own repository policies. Instead of “millions of apps” buried in opaque ranking algorithms, users could benefit from clearly defined, community-led collections where the emphasis is on transparency, privacy, and respect for user rights. Security is achieved not through corporate secrecy but through diversity, peer review, and verifiable integrity.

What’s next?

If the DMA is to live up to its potential, regulators must treat Apple’s notarisation for what it is: a mechanism of control disguised as a security feature. This civil-society complaint demonstrates that Apple’s understanding of security undermines transparency, competition, and user autonomy - hampering software freedom for everyone. It is not genuine security, it is merely gatekeeping by another name. The European Commission must ensure that compliance with the DMA means genuine openness. The right to install, share, and verify software freely in any device is not merely a technical issue; it is a matter of freedom.

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Join the Free Software conversation at SFSCON 2025!

Under the watchful gaze of the Dolomites, and with the scent of chestnuts in the air, the city of Bolzano welcomes Free Software enthusiasts to the South Tyrol Free Software Conference. Held every November, this event brings together participants from Italy and beyond for two full days of learning, sharing, and discussing the latest in Free Software.

The South Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON) is just around the corner, and our team cannot wait to join a full weekend of Free Software talks, workshops, side events, and fun! We have already checked the programme and it is full of interesting talks, with a track about health, engineering, cybersecurity…, all under the umbrella of this year’s main topic: Ethics.

One of the first talks of the 2025th edition will tackle a compelling ethical question at the intersection of health and technology: have you ever considered how much modern healthcare relies on proprietary products and infrastructure? Take, for example, a fundamental tool, the MRI used for disease detection, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring, and find out what the connection is to Free Software.

Ethical Need for Medical Devices as Commons by Martin Häuer from the Martin-Luther Universität (Halle)and a supporter of the FSFE - Friday 7 November, 11:00 h.

Of course next to all those amazing and inspiring talks our team will also be on stage! Below, you can find our scheduled sessions for Friday and Saturday. We will also be around throughout the event, eager to say hello, engage in inspiring discussions, answer your questions about our work, and learn more about your passion for Free Software. And do not forget to visit us at our booth, where you will find the latest FSFE hoodies, stickers, and much more!

Still wondering what to do in Bolzano? In addition to the talks and workshops, SFSCON is packed with pre-events and side events taking place throughout the conference. And of course, we cannot forget the European SFS Award 2025, which celebrates developers whose work has significantly advanced the accessibility and impact of Free Software in Europe. Last year, this recognition was awarded posthumously to Bram Moolenaar, creator of the widely used Vim text editor. Who will be this year’s winner?

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The FSFE’s presence at SFSCON 2025

Day 1 (Friday 7 November 2025)

• 11:40 h. - Ethics and software freedom (panel) Panel discussion with Matthias Kirschner (Free Software Foundation Europe), Zoë Kooyman (Free Software Foundation), Simon Phipps (Open Source Initiative), and Karen Sandler (Software Freedom Conservancy)
• 12:20 h. - Running on Non-Free Software Florian Snow will share his personal story of relying on medical devices whose software is proprietary and opaque, and frames the consequences when vital life-supporting systems aren’t under one’s control. The talk will clarify why software freedom in medicine is not just about transparency or policy, but about dignity, autonomy, and safety in contexts where code has real bodily consequences
• 13.30 h. - Router Freedom in Italy: latest development The talk will present the latest development regarding router freedom in Italy. In particular, he will highlight the FSFE’s latest contribution to the consultation opened by Italy’s telecommunications regulator, AGCOM, regarding freedom of terminal equipment in fiber networks.
• 14:40 h. - Why Interoperability is Key for Software Freedom As the EU enforces interoperability for fair competition under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), large tech gatekeepers are creating obstacles for developers. This talk will present the work of the FSFE to make sure the DMA is implemented and enforced in a developer-friendly way. We’ll look at what the DMA means for developers building alternative app stores, emulators, browsers, and other tools empowering user choice and freedom.
• 15:00 h. - Fediverse: Beyond text in the stream An expedition into the Fediverse to discover uncharted services The Fediverse is a growing decentralized social network that began in 2008 and was initially dominated by text-based platforms like Mastodon and Friendica. This session explores the wider network beyond text, highlighting video, image, and creative platforms such as Peertube and Pixelfed, along with opportunities for podcasters, streamers, and 3D artists. For newcomers, the presentation from last year “about:Fediverse” offers an introduction to the concept.
• 16:00 h. - Why Free Software needs secured long-term funding The presentation argues for a stable, long-term EU funding program dedicated to Free Software, highlighting that current initiatives like NGI are temporary and vulnerable to budget cuts. It will outline clear goals, necessary steps, and legislative proposals to ensure sustainable financial support for software freedom in Europe.
• 16:20 h.- More Lessons from the EU’s Next Generation Internet Initiatives How the past year of upheaval has impacted perspectives of NGI participants This talk will speak about shifts in perspectives among Free Software developers within the NGI framework that the FSFE has observed in the past year, and the impacts these shifts have on the Free Software ecosystem.
• 18:40 h. - Refund4Freedom: Freedom to Choose, Right to a Refund Refund4Freedom is the campaign by FSFE and the Italian Linux Society to defend the right to purchase computers without imposed software and to obtain a refund for unwanted pre-installed operating systems. In this talk, we will explain the key demands of the campaign, the legal references, and the first signs of change — such as the Lenovo case.

Before wrapping up for the day, don’t forget to stop by the FSFE booth! As tradition has it, we’ll be enjoying some pizza together to end the first day with great food and even better conversations.

Day 2 (Saturday 8 November 2025)

From Ada workshop: readings, workshop and best practices: Ada is keeping busy in Italy! And SFSCON will be no exception! In addition to a reading session for children on 8 November, there will be a talk by an Italian volunteer on how to engage kids with Ada using a dedicated Moodle course and other available resources. The program will also include two coding workshops for children,one in Italian (09:30–12:00) and one in German (14:00–16:30), where kids can discover programming through play and creativity.

• 09:20 h. - FSFE Italian Community Meeting Annual Meeting of the FSFE Italian Community Join us for the annual gathering, our moment to celebrate the people who make our community alive, all of us who give our free time to carry forward the culture of Free Software. We’ll gather to share our stories, cheer for our achievements, and enjoy the joy of being together.
• 10:00 h. - The future is (also) female Reflecting on the barriers for an inclusive future This workshop invites participants to explore how diverse and inclusive teams can shape an open, digital, and sovereign future in IT. It focuses on addressing the barriers faced by women and other under-represented groups, sharing experiences and strategies to foster inclusion, visibility, and recognition within the Free Software community.
• 10:40 h.- Procurement Update How to use public tenders strategically to prevent openwashing while fostering Free Software This talk will highlight how public procurement can drive technological sovereignty in Europe through a “Free Software First” approach. It will address the risks of openwashing and unfair competition in tenders and proposes fair, effective criteria to ensure genuine Free Software development is supported. The session will also examine how upcoming EU procurement reforms can strengthen these goals under the “Public Money? Public Code!” principle.
• 13:40 h. - I Love Free Software Day Embracing the power of a thank you This talk celebrates the importance of expressing ongoing gratitude to Free Software contributors, using “I Love Free Software Day” as a starting point. It will showcase past successes, share ideas for future celebrations, and emphasize the need to make appreciation a year-round effort through advocacy, contributions, and recognition. The goal is to foster a lasting culture of appreciation and support within the Free Software community.

Whether you’re joining for the talks, workshops, or side events, we invite you to take part in the discussions, to stop at our booth and to, in general, participate in this festival! See you in Bolzano!

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2025 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom: winners unveiled!

The six winning projects, created by participants aged 14 to 18 and presented at the 2025 awards ceremony in Brussels, are: a language learning platform, a custom ROM page, a scroll wheel, a smart watering robot, a hyperbolic rendering engine, and a version control system.

There is a hype about starting a new project, about creating something from scratch, to see how something that was once just an idea becomes a reality. The sense of pride you feel after hours of working sovling a problem and, finally, getting it to work is invaluable. It’s even more rewarding when you’re working toward a clear goal and a finish line to cross. In this case, the Youth Hacking 4 Freedom (YH4F) awards ceremony in Brussels, the finish line for our six 2025 winning projects.

For one more time, young Europeans had the chance to tackle their own projects, making their ideas a reality with Youth Hacking 4 Freedom, the programming competition for Europeans between 14 and 18 year old. YH4F gives teenagers the chance to showcase their Free Software skills and creativity. During six months, starting January 2025, YH4F participants worked on their own ideas, alone or as a team, submitted their projects and presented them in front of a diverse jury.

The six winners are awarded cash prizes ranging from €4,096 to €1,024.

Now it is the time to reveal the winners of the 2025 edition and their projects:

• Ultimate Hacker Award: Marius & Jonas with OpenLingu, a flexible, Free Software language learning platform that allows users to learn languages through interactive lessons while providing tools for content creators to build and share educational content.
• Elite Hacker Award: Pingu & Tuxilio with custom rom list, a project that automatically fetches Custom ROM devices and versions and displays it on a page. If you're a developer, a file devices.json is generated.
• Awesome Hacker Award:Mario with Scroll Wheel, a big high resolution scroll wheel inspired by Engineer Bo.
• Green Robot Award: Vinicius with Smart Plant Watering Robot, a robot that can water your plants at home.
• Beautiful Math Award:Corentin with Hyper – A Hyperbolic Rendering Engine for visualizing non-Euclidean geometry. It renders an infinite world, offering an Educational, interactive view of hyperbolic tilings and maze algorithms.
• Thinking Out of the Box Award: Augustin with dcg which aims at being a fast distributed revision control system analysing files syntactically rather than linearly.

Find out more about the projects

“Each edition brings new and inspiring projects that continue to exceed our expectations, and those of the jury! The creativity, technical skill, and drive to solve real, everyday problems demonstrated by this year’s winners. Their work reminds us how Free Software and open collaboration empowers young developers to transform ideas into meaningful software that benefits both themselves and their communities. We remain continually inspired by their achievements and deeply grateful to our sponsors, whose support makes this competition possible”, states Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant and YH4F project manager.

For more pictures about the award ceremony and the winning projects, please contact us!

Empowering Europe’s next generation of developers

The Youth Hacking 4 Freedom competition has just concluded its fourth edition attracting young people passionate about programming. United by an interest in Free Software and a desire to control their technology, these participants represent a generation that understands the importance of creating, modifying, using, and sharing the software they depend on. By empowering young developers to contribute to Free Software, YH4F fosters a culture of openness, transparency, and software freedom.

This initiative is made possible through the generous financial support of our donor, Reinhard Wiesemann, and the sponsorship of OpenSSF, Proxmox, and SUSE Open Source Network.

If you want to join YH4F 2026 edition you can already sign up by registering here. The programming period is from 01.01.20265 to 30.06.2026. Details for the next edition will be shared soon on both, fsfe.org and yh4f.org.

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SFP#40: How to tackle Openwashing?

It took us some time but we are finally there: The Software Freedom Podcast episode is releasing its 40th episode! In this one Johannes and Bonnie talk about Openwashing.

Openwashing is a misleading practice of pretending that some software is Free Software even though it is not. Discover together with Johannes and Bonnie what Openwashing actually is, which strategies are used by openwashers, and – most importantly – how to counteract it. Find out more about how to support "Public Money? Public Code!" and help everybody to spot cases of Openwashing.

In our 40th episode, you can learn more about the FSFE's policy work and how we as a charity advocate for software freedom. You can support our work by donating.

Show notes

• Support our work for Free Software
• CLT25: Openwashing ans Licht! (DE only)
• SFSCON24 - Johannes Näder - Tackling Openwashers, Freeloaders and Cuckoos
• Zentrum Digitale Souveränität (ZenDiS)
• openDesk
• Survey: Openwashing - Please share your views and experiences!
• "Public Money? Public Code": Read all about PMPC
• Stay up-to-date and join our Newsletter

We are happy to receive your feedback on the Software Freedom Podcast and especially on the transcript of the episode. Please, send us an email to: podcast@fsfe.org. If you liked this episode and want to support our continuous work for software freedom, please help us with a donation.

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