DMA & Free Software: what Free Software organisations need to know

On 24 March the FSFE will conduct an online Q&A session about the Digital Markets Act and its importance for representatives of Free Software organisations. The DMA was designed to limit the power of the "gatekeepers" and boost fairer digital markets. But what does its enforcement mean for Free Software? Join us for this strategic discussion.

Understanding the DMA’s impact on Free Software

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the European Union’s regulation to promote fair competition in the digital markets. The law applies to large tech companies exercising “gatekeeper control” in the EU. The DMA imposes on such companies several obligations, like allowing the right to install and uninstall software in devices, prohibition of non-removable pre-installed software, enabling third-party app stores, and access rights via interoperability with software and hardware functions.

This event is specifically designed for members and representatives of Free Software organizations to discuss the opportunities the DMA creates for Free Software, such as enabling alternative app stores, side-loading of applications, and improved interoperability policies.

Additionally, the event will serve as a platform for discussing FSFE’s legal efforts, specifically regarding its litigation against Apple at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage directly with FSFE experts, ask questions, and explore how their organizations can support and benefit from the DMA’s implementation.

Speakers:

• Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Programme Manager
• Jithendra Palepu, Independent Researcher. Volunteer in the FSFE’s legal area

Details:

• When: 24 March 2025, 17:30 (CET)
• Where: FSFE’s online instance

To attend this online event, registration is required. Please fill this form out to register.

Device Neutrality

Although digital devices are ubiquitous today, the number of devices on which users cannot run Free Software is exponentially increasing. The consequence is a growing loss of control over users' technology. Device Neutrality aims to enable end-users to bypass gatekeepers to have a non-discriminatory use of Free Software on their devices.

In 2022, several components, part of the Device Neutrality concept, were included in the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Union's largest initiative to regulate gatekeepers in digital markets. Although the law contains the principles for making Device Neutrality a reality, its regulations concern only very large platforms. The DMA establishes obligations for gatekeepers - “dos” and “don'ts” they must comply with - and prescribes fines and penalties for infringements. The DMA encompasses several rules concerning Device Neutrality, including safeguarding the right to uninstall pre-installed software and several measures for preventing lock-in, as well as fostering interoperability and end-user control over personal data.

Support FSFE

Legal Corner+++ FOSDEM recap+++ Ada movie in Spanish

In the last few weeks we published our first Legal Corner article and the recordings of our talks at FOSDEM. We were happy to see pictures from the I Love Free Software Day celebrations and can't wait to meet you at CLT 2025! We are organising an online Q&A session about the DMA and Free Software. The Ada movie is finally available in Spanish!

Table of contents

• Quote of the Month
• Digital Markets Act and Free Software: FOSDEM keynote, Software Freedom podcast and online Q&A session
• Public Money, Public Code! symposium
• Legal Corner: MIA or Dead Contributors - Does It Matter For Your Software Project?
• From Ada’s Workshop: The Latest on Ada & Zangemann
• I Love Free Software Day 2025 celebrations
• FOSDEM 2025: Check out the videos from our talks and listen to our new podcast episode
• Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2025: we will be there!
• Edulife partnership: one more year teaching Italian students about Free Software
• From our community!
• Contribute to our Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“In Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution we are committed to the development of STEM careers for the new generations. Diversity is especially important because it will ensure that the development of software has a more inclusive perspective and in this regard, "Ada & Zangemann" is a very inspirational book because it is completely aligned with the purpose of our company”

Ricardo Bacchini, People & Organization Director from Volkswagen Group Spain

Digital Markets Act and Free Software: FOSDEM keynote, Software Freedom podcast and online Q&A session

On 24 March 2025, the FSFE is organizing the ‘Online Q&A session – Digital Markets Act and Free Software: everything the Free Software community needs to know’. There we will present our efforts to ensure effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act, with space for questions from the Free Software community. More info will be published soon, stay tuned!

Meanwhile, you can watch our colleague Lucas Lasota's keynote speech on this topic at FOSDEM 2025 under the title “How we are defending Software Freedom against Apple at the EU's highest court”. Apple is attempting to avoid obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and in this talk, we explained why this case is pivotal for Free Software in Europe and why we should all care.

If you want to know more about Free Software and the DMA, we suggest that you listen to episode 30 of our Software Freedom Podcast, where Bonnie Mehring talks with Marc Prud'hommeaux about the App Fair Project: an alternative iOS marketplace that exclusively distributes Free Software applications. The project's goal is to promote a more accessible and inclusive Free Software ecosystem in iOS.

Public Money, Public Code! symposium

On 8 April 2025, the FSFE is hosting a symposium on ‘Public Money? Public Code' in the practical work of public administrations. One focus will be on the use of Free Software in municipalities: What can best practices look like and where are local administrations already leading the way? What opportunities for collaboration are opened up by Free Software? What challenges arise when awarding contracts? What opportunities does the use of Free Software bring for public administrations?

The event will take place in Essen.

Legal Corner: MIA or Dead Contributors - Does It Matter For Your Software Project?

If your software project has multiple contributions, and a contributor becomes uncontactable or passes away, this can become an issue in certain situations. Here we discuss when a missing or deceased contributor affects your software project, and what options you have.

Check out our article on this topic!

This is the first article in a new series, "Legal Corner".

From Ada’s Workshop: The Latest on Ada & Zangemann

The movie Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream is now available in Spanish! Thanks to our donors, and especially Volkswagen Spain, you can now organize screenings of this inspiring animated story in your community also in Spanish. Help us to spread the word about the movie so in the future young people have the opportunity to tinker, experiment, and code with Free Software as the default.

Prefer a reading instead? The Spanish version of the story is also available in our Git repository.

I Love Free Software Day 2025 celebrations

Hidden projects was the topic of I Love Free Software Day 2025, a day to say thank you to Free Software contributors but also to celebrate, together, our awesome community and appreciate the work of developers, system administrators, translators, community moderators…

This year we had 19 meetings around Europe in our local communities in Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK! Check out some pictures of the different events!

The hashtag #ilovefs was also a trend on the Fediverse! Thanks to everyone who participated in this day and also those who sent messages thanking Free Software projects!

FOSDEM 2025: Check out the videos from our talks and listen to our new podcast episode

Some occasions are too special to miss, like our February trip to FOSDEM, where we connected with the Free Software community. Even when things didn’t go as planned, it was an energizing boost against the winter blues. Thanks to everyone who joined our DevRooms, attended our talks including our keynote on the Apple litigation, came to our women breakfast, and stopped at the booth.

In our 31st episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring discuss the highlights of the two Devrooms that the FSFE co-organized during FOSDEM 2025: the 'Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom' and the 'Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoom'. Find out more about the topics discussed there and tips about what to re-watch.

Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2025: we will be there!

Once again, we are participating in the Chemnitzer Linux - Tage that will take place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 March.

On Saturday at 12:00h., the FSFE's Technical Advisor Florian Snow will talk about "Open system, closed doors: Freedom in Banking" (room V5). At 15:00h., Tobias Diekershoff (FSFE System Administrator, Friendica developer) will explore the non-textual areas of the Fediverse (V5). On Sunday at 11:00h., Johannes Näder (FSFE Senior Policy Project Manager) will shed a light on openwashing, the practice of misleading consumers and public authorities by disguising proprietary software products as Free Software (V7)."Ada & Zangemann", the story about the girl Ada who loves to tinker and bravely stands up to the mighty inventor Zangemann, will play a prominent role at this year's CLT: The new animated film will be shown on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00 (W1), and a reading will take place on Saturday at 11:00 (Kinderparadies).We will also host a community meeting at the FSFE booth on Saturday at 12:30. If you're attending the CLT, be sure to stop by to learn about FSFE's current activities, get your copy of the Ada & Zangemann book, or get a new hoodie or shirt!

Edulife partnership: one more year teaching Italian students about Free Software

As part of the FSFE partnership with the Edulife Foundation, Italian students in the ITS Academy LAST project had the opportunity to learn about Free Software. During January and February the FSFE provided educational content covering legal aspects, policy, and public awareness, helping students gain a deeper understanding of Free Software and its significance.

Known as the “IT Free Software Knowledge Project”, this two-year partnership started in November 2023. As part of this academic program, the FSFE delivered educational content about Free Software, with a focus on Free Software legal issues, policy aspects and public awareness in the form of lectures. Besides, the students attended Free Software conferences, such as the SFSCon.

From our community

• There is no cloud, just other people's computers. The Dutch parliament realized this last year and expressed concern over the reliance on foreign IT services. In a recent report the Court of Audit concluded that the Dutch central government started using cloud services without thoroughly considering the implications and risks. The Netherlands local team, who contributed to the discussion participating in several meetings as a stakeholder, is closely following this topic

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

Legal Corner+++ FOSDEM recap+++ Ada movie in Spanish

In the last few weeks we published our first Legal Corner article and the recordings of our talks at FOSDEM. We were happy to see pictures from the I Love Free Software Day celebrations and can't wait to meet you at CLT 2025! We are organising an online Q&A session about the DMA and Free Software. The Ada movie is finally available in Spanish!

Table of contents

• Quote of the Month
• Digital Markets Act and Free Software: FOSDEM keynote, Software Freedom podcast and online Q&A session
• Public Money, Public Code! symposium
• Legal Corner: MIA or Dead Contributors - Does It Matter For Your Software Project?
• From Ada’s Workshop: The Latest on Ada & Zangemann
• I Love Free Software Day 2025 celebrations
• FOSDEM 2025: Check out the videos from our talks and listen to our new podcast episode
• Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2025: we will be there!
• Edulife partnership: one more year teaching Italian students about Free Software
• From our community!
• Contribute to our Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“In Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution we are committed to the development of STEM careers for the new generations. Diversity is especially important because it will ensure that the development of software has a more inclusive perspective and in this regard, "Ada & Zangemann" is a very inspirational book because it is completely aligned with the purpose of our company”

Ricardo Bacchini, People & Organization Director from Volkswagen Group Spain

Digital Markets Act and Free Software: FOSDEM keynote, Software Freedom podcast and online Q&A session

On 24 March 2025, the FSFE is organizing the ‘Online Q&A session – Digital Markets Act and Free Software: everything the Free Software community needs to know’. There we will present our efforts to ensure effective enforcement of the Digital Markets Act, with space for questions from the Free Software community. More info will be published soon, stay tuned!

Meanwhile, you can watch our colleague Lucas Lasota's keynote speech on this topic at FOSDEM 2025 under the title “How we are defending Software Freedom against Apple at the EU's highest court”. Apple is attempting to avoid obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and in this talk, we explained why this case is pivotal for Free Software in Europe and why we should all care.

If you want to know more about Free Software and the DMA, we suggest that you listen to episode 30 of our Software Freedom Podcast, where Bonnie Mehring talks with Marc Prud'hommeaux about the App Fair Project: an alternative iOS marketplace that exclusively distributes Free Software applications. The project's goal is to promote a more accessible and inclusive Free Software ecosystem in iOS.

Public Money, Public Code! symposium

On 8 April 2025, the FSFE is hosting a symposium on ‘Public Money? Public Code' in the practical work of public administrations. One focus will be on the use of Free Software in municipalities: What can best practices look like and where are local administrations already leading the way? What opportunities for collaboration are opened up by Free Software? What challenges arise when awarding contracts? What opportunities does the use of Free Software bring for public administrations?

The event will take place in Essen.

Legal Corner: MIA or Dead Contributors - Does It Matter For Your Software Project?

If your software project has multiple contributions, and a contributor becomes uncontactable or passes away, this can become an issue in certain situations. Here we discuss when a missing or deceased contributor affects your software project, and what options you have.

Check out our article on this topic!

This is the first article in a new series, "Legal Corner".

From Ada’s Workshop: The Latest on Ada & Zangemann

The movie Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream is now available in Spanish! Thanks to our donors, and especially Volkswagen Spain, you can now organize screenings of this inspiring animated story in your community also in Spanish. Help us to spread the word about the movie so in the future young people have the opportunity to tinker, experiment, and code with Free Software as the default.

Prefer a reading instead? The Spanish version of the story is also available in our Git repository.

I Love Free Software Day 2025 celebrations

Hidden projects was the topic of I Love Free Software Day 2025, a day to say thank you to Free Software contributors but also to celebrate, together, our awesome community and appreciate the work of developers, system administrators, translators, community moderators…

This year we had 19 meetings around Europe in our local communities in Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK! Check out some pictures of the different events!

The hashtag #ilovefs was also a trend on the Fediverse! Thanks to everyone who participated in this day and also those who sent messages thanking Free Software projects!

FOSDEM 2025: Check out the videos from our talks and listen to our new podcast episode

Some occasions are too special to miss, like our February trip to FOSDEM, where we connected with the Free Software community. Even when things didn’t go as planned, it was an energizing boost against the winter blues. Thanks to everyone who joined our DevRooms, attended our talks including our keynote on the Apple litigation, came to our women breakfast, and stopped at the booth.

In our 31st episode of the Software Freedom Podcast, Alexander Sander and Bonnie Mehring discuss the highlights of the two Devrooms that the FSFE co-organized during FOSDEM 2025: the 'Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom' and the 'Funding the FOSS Ecosystem DevRoom'. Find out more about the topics discussed there and tips about what to re-watch.

Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2025: we will be there!

Once again, we are participating in the Chemnitzer Linux - Tage that will take place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 March.

On Saturday at 12:00h., the FSFE's Technical Advisor Florian Snow will talk about "Open system, closed doors: Freedom in Banking" (room V5). At 15:00h., Tobias Diekershoff (FSFE System Administrator, Friendica developer) will explore the non-textual areas of the Fediverse (V5). On Sunday at 11:00h., Johannes Näder (FSFE Senior Policy Project Manager) will shed a light on openwashing, the practice of misleading consumers and public authorities by disguising proprietary software products as Free Software (V7)."Ada & Zangemann", the story about the girl Ada who loves to tinker and bravely stands up to the mighty inventor Zangemann, will play a prominent role at this year's CLT: The new animated film will be shown on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00 (W1), and a reading will take place on Saturday at 11:00 (Kinderparadies).We will also host a community meeting at the FSFE booth on Saturday at 12:30. If you're attending the CLT, be sure to stop by to learn about FSFE's current activities, get your copy of the Ada & Zangemann book, or get a new hoodie or shirt!

Edulife partnership: one more year teaching Italian students about Free Software

As part of the FSFE partnership with the Edulife Foundation, Italian students in the ITS Academy LAST project had the opportunity to learn about Free Software. During January and February the FSFE provided educational content covering legal aspects, policy, and public awareness, helping students gain a deeper understanding of Free Software and its significance.

Known as the “IT Free Software Knowledge Project”, this two-year partnership started in November 2023. As part of this academic program, the FSFE delivered educational content about Free Software, with a focus on Free Software legal issues, policy aspects and public awareness in the form of lectures. Besides, the students attended Free Software conferences, such as the SFSCon.

From our community

• There is no cloud, just other people's computers. The Dutch parliament realized this last year and expressed concern over the reliance on foreign IT services. In a recent report the Court of Audit concluded that the Dutch central government started using cloud services without thoroughly considering the implications and risks. The Netherlands local team, who contributed to the discussion participating in several meetings as a stakeholder, is closely following this topic

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

"I Love Free Software Day" 2025: Hidden Projects

In the week of the 14th of February we celebrated the I Love Free Software Day 2025. This year we marked this special day with 19 events in 11 different European countries. Even more, hundreds of people and many organisations joined us in the Fediverse - with a special "Thank you!" note for Free Software projects and contributors. To all who joined us this time: "Thank you" for participating in this 15th edition of the "I Love Free Software Day" ❤️❤️❤️!

In 2025 the FSFE and its local groups focused on hidden Free Software projects for the "I Love Free Software Day". Together with our local groups we wanted to raise awareness of all the hidden Free Software Projects that power our daily infrastructure. Free Software is everywhere and often it is the small projects that become a vital part of our lives - therefore we dedicated this "I Love Free Software Day" to all those projects that are not that prominent, so to shed some light on them ❤️

"I Love Free Software Day" Thank you message by Dario

I Love Free Software Day celebrations 2025

For this year the FSFE's local groups planned several events across Europe. There was a great variety of activities at the different events, also depending on the size of the gathering - there were events from around 10 people to nearly 200 people.

To help the FSFE's local groups with organising all the different events we created a toolkit. The toolkit includes hands on tips and tricks for organising and sharing your event, some presentations on Free Software and the 'I Love Free Software Day' as well as fun games to fill the evening. The kit was a great resource for the organisers to use the available material or to take it as an inspiration for their own material. With this preparation our local groups could get started with organising all the amazing events across Europe ❤️.

Clockwise, picture of Ada & Zangemann postcard" (CC-BY Marta), picture of 'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by FSFE local group Zurich (CC-BY-SA 4.0 FSFE-local-group-Zurich), picture of FSFE staffers playing SuperTuxKart together (CC-BY Matthias Kirschner), Sharepicture of Ana Galan with 'Thank you' message ( CC BY 4.0 Lisa Schmidt)"

New events and new local groups

Tiranë, Albania

For the first time "I Love Free Software Day 2025" was organised in Albania. This event kicked off with several presentations about different Free Software projects and ended with some snacks and drinks. It was a cosy get-together and a great start of 'I Love Free Software Day' celebrations in Albania.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by Tiranë, Albania, CC BY-NC-SA-LibreLabs"

Poland - a local movement started

For several years our local group in Poland has not been active. But as the turn of 2025 approached, this changed. No fewer than three new local groups began celebrating ‘I Love Free Software Day’ in several Polish cities. Those celebrations and gatherings are the foundation of the new activity in the Polish local groups.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by Poznań, Poland, CC0"

Nuremberg celebrations

Among our newest event locations also the FSFE people in Nuremberg started to plan a get together. Nuremberg has very strong Free and Open Source businesses. While SUSE was originally founded in the neighboring city of Fürth, there are now several other Free Software companies based in Nuremberg. Together the local FSFE people, NETWAYs, SUSE, openSUSE, the Geeko Foundation, OpenCloud and the useful check_systemd tool organised a great meeting. During the meeting all the local projects shared their ideas in different talks and it was a great chance to start networking with each other about Free Software. The celebrations were a great way to get in contact with each other and to form new alliances.

Italy and the local Linux User Groups

In 2024 we had a great event in the Italian town Bergamo, which was organised by the FSFE together with the local Linux user group, BGlug. For 2025 we had a re-launch of this event and also several new events across the country. From Bozen-Bolzano to Este, and including one event in Sicilia, which was attended by 180 students. All of those events were possible by the great support of the local Linux User groups and the local FSFE groups.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by BGLug, Bergamo, Biblioteca Tiraboschi CC-BY Marta"

Luxembourg Ville

For the first time there was a local celebration in Luxembourg with Free Software enthusiasts. They shared some knowledge about Free Software, the 'I Love Free Software Day' and many more interesting topics. Through out the celebrations people connected and fortified their local Free Software movement.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration Barcelona, Spain, CC-BY Albert Astals Cid"

Next, to all our new events also several ones from the previous years were relaunched and it was a great pleasure to see the people again gathering in Potteries (UK), Nijmegen (Netherlands), Zurich (CH), Barcelona and Madrid in Spain, and the German local groups in Frankfurt and Berlin.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by FSFE local group Zurich CC-BY-SA 4.0 FSFE-local-group-Zurich" "'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by FSFE Netherlands CC0"

Reaching out to the people behind Free Software: Thank you

Again, even though hundreds more non-Free Software enthusiasts have joined the Fediverse in recent years, the #ilovefs made it to the top most used hashtags on the 14th of February. For this, we want to say 'Thank you'! Thank you to all of you who shared their appreciation for Free Software and their gratitude to all free software contributors. There where a lot of great ways that people, projects and organisations took up to share their 'I Love Free Software Day' message in the Fediverse, highlighting some of the infrastructure Free Software projects, like the Internet archive. Even more, this year there were some several creative ways to share the love for Free Software. Take a look at this amazing song done by Musiqueando for the 'I Love Free Software Day: 2025'.

"@Musiqueando singing for the 'I Love Free Software Day'"

For the first time the German based Chaos Computer Club took part in the celebrations and shared a post (DE only) by Bonnie Mehring and Constanze Kurz on their famous CCC webpage. This lent a great visibility to the local groups celebrations. It is amazing to see how much this collaboration highlighted the importance of the day while reaching out to new people.

Brewster Kahle, founder of the Inter archive, and Matthias Kirschner, President of the Free Software Foundation Europe, CC-BY Beatrice Murch

Additionally, for this ‘I Love Free Software Day’ Matthias Kirschner shared a notable recognition of Bram Moolenaar, creator of the Vim text editor. Vim, is a widely recognised and esteemed editor, which is used on countless systems. The work of Bram Moolenaar has played a crucial role in the software freedom movement. Following his passing in 2023, the continued development of Vim by the community ensures that his legacy remains influential – Thank you to all contributors.

"I Love Free Software Day" Thank you message by Matthias to Vim editor, CC-BY-SA 4.0 NOI

Software Freedom Podcast episode with Marc Prud'hommeaux

Of course also for the 2025 celebrations the FSFE recorded a new Software Freedom Podcast episode. For our 30th episode Bonnie Mehring sat down with Marc Prud'hommeaux and discussed the The App Fair Project. Together at FOSDEM they searched and found a quite area to sit down and have a chat about the project, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and how to further level the playing field for Free Software. Take a few moments and listen to our Software Freedom Podcast episode.

Thank you for joining this year's “I Love Free Software” celebrations ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Support FSFE

"I Love Free Software Day" 2025: Hidden Projects

In the week of the 14th of February we celebrated the I Love Free Software Day 2025. This year we marked this special day with 19 events in 11 different European countries. Even more, hundreds of people and many organisations joined us in the Fediverse. With a special "Thank you!" note for Free Software projects and contributors. To all who joined us this time: "Thank you" for participating in this 15th edition of the "I Love Free Software Day" ❤️❤️❤️!

In 2025 the FSFE and its local groups focused on hidden Free Software projects for the "I Love Free Software Day". Together with our local groups we wanted to raise awareness of all the hidden Free Software Projects that power our daily infrastructure. Free Software is everywhere and often it is the small projects that become a vital part of our lives - therefore we dedicated this "I Love Free Software Day" to all those projects that are not that prominent, so to shed some light on them ❤️

"I Love Free Software Day" Thank you message by Dario

I Love Free Software Day celebrations 2025

For this year the FSFE's local groups planned several events across Europe. There was a great variety of activities at the different events, also depending on the size of the gathering - there were events from around 10 people to nearly 200 people.

To help the FSFE's local groups with organising all the different events we created a toolkit. The toolkit includes hands on tips and tricks for organising and sharing your event, some presentations on Free Software and the 'I Love Free Software Day' as well as fun games to fill the evening. The kit was a great resource for the organisers to use the available material or to take it as an inspiration for their own material. With this preparation our local groups could get started with organising all the amazing events across Europe ❤️.

New events and new local groups

Tiranë, Albania

For the first time "I Love Free Software Day 2025" was organised in Albania. This event kicked off with several presentations about different Free Software projects and ended with some snacks and drinks. It was a cosy get-together and a great start of 'I Love Free Software Day' celebrations in Albania.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by Tiranë, Albania, CC BY-NC-SA-LibreLabs"

Poland - a local movement started

For several years our local group in Poland has not been active. But as the turn of 2025 approached, this changed. No fewer than three new local groups began celebrating ‘I Love Free Software Day’ in several Polish cities. Those celebrations and gatherings are the foundation of the new activity in the Polish local groups.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by Poznań, Poland, CC0"

Nuremberg celebrations

Among our newest event locations also the FSFE people in Nuremberg started to plan a get together. Nuremberg has very strong Free and Open Source businesses. While SUSE was originally founded in the neighboring city of Fürth, there are now several other Free Software companies based in Nuremberg. Together the local FSFE people, NETWAYs, SUSE, openSUSE, the Geeko Foundation, OpenCloud and the useful check_systemd tool organised a great meeting. During the meeting all the local projects shared their ideas in different talks and it was a great chance to start networking with each other about Free Software. The celebrations were a great way to get in contact with each other and to form new alliances.

Italy and the local Linux User Groups

In 2024 we had a great event in the Italian town Bergamo, which was organised by the FSFE together with the local Linux user group, BGlug. For 2025 we had a re-launch of this event and also several new events across the country. From Bozen-Bolzano to Este, and including one event in Sicilia, which was attended by 180 students. All of those events were possible by the great support of the local Linux User groups and the local FSFE groups.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by BGLug, Bergamo, Biblioteca Tiraboschi CC-BY-Marta"

Luxembourg Ville

For the first time there was a local celebration in Luxembourg with Free Software enthusiasts. They shared some knowledge about Free Software, the 'I Love Free Software Day' and many more interesting topics. Through out the celebrations people connected and fortified their local Free Software movement.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration Barcelona, Spain, CC-BY-Albert-Astals-Cid"

Next, to all our new events also several ones from the previous years were relaunched and it was a great pleasure to see the people again gathering in Potteries (UK), Nijmegen (Netherlands), Zurich (CH), Barcelona and Madrid in Spain, and the German local groups in Frankfurt and Berlin.

"'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by FSFE local group Zurich CC-BY-SA 4.0 FSFE-local-group-Zurich" "'I Love Free Software Day' celebration by FSFE Netherlands CC0"

Reaching out to the people behind Free Software: Thank you

Again, even though hundreds more non-Free Software enthusiasts have joined the Fediverse in recent years, the #ilovefs made it to the top most used hashtags on the 14th of February. For this, we want to say 'Thank you'! Thank you to all of you who shared their appreciation for Free Software and their gratitude to all free software contributors. There where a lot of great ways that people, projects and organisations took up to share their 'I Love Free Software Day' message in the Fediverse, highlighting some of the infrastructure Free Software projects, like the Internet archive. Even more, this year there were some several creative ways to share the love for Free Software. Take a look at this amazing song done by Musiqueando for the 'I Love Free Software Day: 2025'.

"@Musiqueando singing for the 'I Love Free Software Day'"

For the first time the German based Chaos Computer Club took part in the celebrations and shared a post (DE only) by Bonnie Mehring and Constanze Kurz on their famous CCC webpage. This lent a great visibility to the local groups celebrations. It is amazing to see how much this collaboration highlighted the importance of the day while reaching out to new people.

"I Love Free Software Day" Thank you message by Dario

Additionally, for this ‘I Love Free Software Day’ Matthias Kirschner shared a notable recognition of Bram Moolenaar, creator of the Vim text editor. Vim, is a widely recognised and esteemed editor, which is used on countless systems. The work of Bram Moolenaar has played a crucial role in the software freedom movement. Following his passing in 2023, the continued development of Vim by the community ensures that his legacy remains influential – Thank you to all contributors.

"I Love Free Software Day" Thank you message by Matthias to Vim editor, CC-BY-SA 4.0 NOI

Software Freedom Podcast episode with Marc Prud'hommeaux

Of course also for the 2025 celebrations the FSFE recorded a new Software Freedom Podcast episode. For our 30th episode Bonnie Mehring sat down with Marc Prud'hommeaux and discussed the The App Fair Project. Together at FOSDEM they searched and found a quite area to sit down and have a chat about the project, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and how to further level the playing field for Free Software. Take a few moments and listen to our Software Freedom Podcast episode.

Thank you for joining this year's “I Love Free Software” celebrations ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

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