news-20251113-nl (#5493)
All checks were successful
continuous-integration/drone/push Build is passing
All checks were successful
continuous-integration/drone/push Build is passing
Reviewed-on: #5493 Co-authored-by: Ana Galan <anaghz@fsfe.org> Co-committed-by: Ana Galan <anaghz@fsfe.org>
This commit was merged in pull request #5493.
This commit is contained in:
168
fsfe.org/news/2025/news-20261107-01.en.xhtml
Normal file
168
fsfe.org/news/2025/news-20261107-01.en.xhtml
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
|
||||
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
||||
<html newsdate="2026-11-07">
|
||||
<version>1</version>
|
||||
|
||||
<head>
|
||||
<title>Jean-Baptiste Kempf receives the European SFS Award 2025 at SFSCON</title>
|
||||
</head>
|
||||
|
||||
<body>
|
||||
|
||||
<h1>Jean-Baptiste Kempf receives the European SFS Award 2025 at SFSCON</h1>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>The FSFE and LUGBZ have recognized VLC
|
||||
president and core developer with a European award for his long-term
|
||||
dedication to the project. What began as a student initiative has,
|
||||
through his continuous effort, evolved into one of the most widely used
|
||||
media players, with billion of users worldwide.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<figure>
|
||||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/1b/d9/d996b92ce2dc7513cce6b6ae939b.png"
|
||||
alt="FSFE Press Release default image. Blue background with the FSFE stars and the words Software Freedom and Press Release on it"/>
|
||||
</figure>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<p>The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), together with the Linux
|
||||
User Group Bolzano‑Bozen (LUGBZ), is proud to recognize Jean-Baptiste
|
||||
Kempf with the European SFS Award 2025, in recognition of his
|
||||
outstanding and lasting contributions to the Free Software movement and
|
||||
his long-term dedication to the VLC project.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Born as a student project in 1996, this software has evolved into an
|
||||
essential, all-in-one media player that plays almost anything
|
||||
effortlessly. Originally a simple network streaming client, it has grown
|
||||
into a powerful universal media player that continues to evolve and
|
||||
impress. </p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>“For many people running non-free operating systems, it was the very
|
||||
first Free Software they ever installed. For many people running Free
|
||||
Software, it saved them from installing and booting into a proprietary
|
||||
operating system”, declared Matthias Kirschner, president of the FSFE
|
||||
during the Award ceremony. </p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Jean-Baptiste Kempf joined the project as a student, and when it
|
||||
faced the risk of dying after the graduation of its original developers,
|
||||
he took the reins. With the help of other core developers, he
|
||||
transformed it into the indispensable media player we rely on today.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Over the years, Kempf has become not only the president of the
|
||||
VideoLAN non-profit but also one of the lead developers of VLC Media
|
||||
Player and the founder of VideoLabs. “It’s small, fast, friendly, and
|
||||
seems to "understand everything you throw at it. I have always thought
|
||||
of it as "the program that eats everything", said Raphael Barbieri, a
|
||||
member of LUGBZ, during the winner’s announcement. </p>
|
||||
|
||||
<div>
|
||||
<blockquote>"I am extremely honoured to receive the European SFS Award. The Free
|
||||
Software multimedia community is quite niche and unknown, but we work
|
||||
hard so that video content can be free, can be played and processed. The
|
||||
work done around the VideoLAN community has been tremendous, despite its
|
||||
little resources. I want to thank the whole VideoLAN and FFmpeg teams,
|
||||
who spend their time on those projects, often with little recognition", <cite>
|
||||
declares Jean-Baptiste Kemp</cite>.</blockquote>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>The European SFS Award</h3>
|
||||
<p>The European SFS Award recognizes individuals whose work has made a
|
||||
significant and sustained difference in advancing Free Software across
|
||||
Europe. Originating in South Tyrol with LUGBZ, and now presented jointly
|
||||
with FSFE since 2023, the award honours those whose efforts strengthen
|
||||
software freedom, community building, and the ethical foundations of
|
||||
technology.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>In previous years, the award was given to <a
|
||||
href="/news/2023/news-20231110-01.html">Frank
|
||||
Karlitschek (2023) for his leadership with Nextcloud</a>, and
|
||||
posthumously to <a
|
||||
href="/news/2024/news-20241108-01.html">Bram
|
||||
Moolenaar (2024) for creating the Vim editor</a>.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>2025 Laudatio</h3>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>There’s a program most of
|
||||
us have used - on laptops, phones, tablets or desktops computers. It
|
||||
might have run on screens in supermarkets or shops. It’s small, fast,
|
||||
friendly, and seems to "understand everything you throw at it". I have
|
||||
always thought of it as "the program that eats everything."</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>This amazing software did
|
||||
not come from a giant technology company with a huge budget. It began
|
||||
more than twenty years ago - as a modest experiment by a few students at
|
||||
an engineering school. They wanted to solve a problem they identified.
|
||||
Nothing fancy - just a student project to tinker, experiment, share, and
|
||||
have fun. No one knew that those first lines of code written for
|
||||
“network 2000” would one day reach billions of users.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>Like many student
|
||||
projects, it almost faded away when graduation came and the contributors
|
||||
had other priorities. But one young engineer, who had joined the group
|
||||
in 2000, refused to let it die. He reorganised the code, inspired new
|
||||
contributors, and slowly turned a university experiment into a
|
||||
world-class piece of software. </p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>He built a healthy
|
||||
community fostering the software. Hundreds of volunteers joined. They
|
||||
contributed by programming, testing, auditing, helping others, with
|
||||
translations, improving the design, or promoting the software. Thereby
|
||||
the community grew and people started using the software on every
|
||||
platform – GNU/Linux and other Unix like operating systems, Windows,
|
||||
Android, or MacOS and iOS. For many people running non-free operating
|
||||
systems, it was the very first Free Software they ever installed. For
|
||||
many people running Free Software, it saved them from installing and
|
||||
booting into a proprietary operating system.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>With this success our
|
||||
winner was offered tempting deals - big money, advertising, corporate
|
||||
buyouts. Every time, he gently said no. Because it was not about
|
||||
maximising profit. It was about maximising freedom for computer
|
||||
users.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>To protect that freedom,
|
||||
he later founded a non-profit organisation - so the software would
|
||||
always belong to its community. He also founded a company to support the
|
||||
technical side - keeping development professional while staying true to
|
||||
the values of software freedom. Under his leadership, the initiative has
|
||||
reached billions of downloads, maintained and added amazing features -
|
||||
all without losing its soul.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>And there’s another thing
|
||||
this community is famous for - its sense of humour. Their symbol? A
|
||||
bright orange-and-white traffic cone. Legend has it that the original
|
||||
students used to collect these cones after late nights out. When it came
|
||||
time to pick a logo, they chose it proudly - a playful symbol of
|
||||
creativity, chaos, and collaboration.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>Nowadays, that little
|
||||
cone has become an icon you find on a huge amount of computers
|
||||
worldwide. At conferences their contributors wear the cones on their
|
||||
heads with pride as a clear sign of who they are and what they stand
|
||||
for.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>And the person behind it?
|
||||
He’s not just a brilliant engineer. He’s a leader, a mentor, and a true
|
||||
advocate for software freedom. In 2018, his contributions were honoured
|
||||
with the title of <strong><strong>Chevalier de l’Ordre National du
|
||||
Mérite</strong></strong> - the first Free Software developer ever to
|
||||
receive that distinction. Yes - a real knight of software freedom.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>His “Holy Grail” was not
|
||||
fame or fortune - it’s <em><em>freedom</em></em>: the freedom for
|
||||
billions of people to watch, listen, and share multimedia files without
|
||||
restrictions or surveillance. He has shown the world that integrity,
|
||||
community, and a bit of humour can change how we experience digital
|
||||
media.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Raphael: </strong></strong>Today, we celebrate
|
||||
someone who has made it possible for all of us to enjoy open, universal
|
||||
access to media - and who continues to prove that Free Software is
|
||||
powerful, beautiful, and fun.</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias: </strong></strong>It is our great pleasure
|
||||
to present the <strong><strong>European SFS Award 2025</strong></strong>
|
||||
to the president of the VideoLAN non-profit, one of the lead developers
|
||||
of VLC media player, the founder of VideoLabs, the bearer of the traffic
|
||||
cone, and a true knight of Free Software....</p>
|
||||
<p><strong><strong>Matthias & Raphael: Jean-Baptiste
|
||||
Kempf!</strong></strong></p>
|
||||
|
||||
</body>
|
||||
|
||||
<tags>
|
||||
<tag key="press">Press Release</tag>
|
||||
<tag key="sfscon">SFSCON</tag>
|
||||
<tag key="it">Italy</tag>
|
||||
</tags>
|
||||
|
||||
<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/1b/d9/d996b92ce2dc7513cce6b6ae939b.png"
|
||||
alt="FSFE Press Release default image. Blue background with the FSFE stars and the words Software Freedom and Press Release on it"/>
|
||||
|
||||
</html>
|
||||
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ enthusiasts, the past few weeks have been quite a roller coaster. </p>
|
||||
<p>Table of contents</p>
|
||||
<ul id="toc">
|
||||
<li><a href="#quote-of-the-month"><strong>Quote of the Month</strong></a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="sfscon"><strong>SFSCON 25: Jean-Baptiste Kempf receives the European SFS Award</strong></a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#sfscon"><strong>SFSCON 25: Jean-Baptiste Kempf receives the European SFS Award</strong></a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#litigation"><strong>The FSFE defends Interoperability from Apple at the EU’s highest court</strong></a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#legal-corner"><strong>Legal Corner: Apple’s “notarisation” – blocking software freedom of developers and users</strong></a></li>
|
||||
<li><a href="#yh4f"><strong>2025 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom: winners unveiled!</strong></a></li>
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user