177 lines
9.7 KiB
HTML
177 lines
9.7 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
||
<html newsdate="2026-03-10" type="newsletter">
|
||
<version>1</version>
|
||
|
||
<head>
|
||
<title>It's all about our community</title>
|
||
</head>
|
||
|
||
<body>
|
||
|
||
<h1>It's all about our community</h1>
|
||
|
||
<p>Our March newsletter brings you the energy of 22 I Love Free
|
||
Software Day celebrations across Europe, the Norwegian release of Ada &
|
||
Zangemann, updates on the Cyber Resilience Act and Router Freedom, and
|
||
two fresh Software Freedom Podcast episodes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/82/80/5cd28b29f0b9448663ae1d69d13a.jpg" alt="Graphic for the FSFE newsletter with the FSFE logo, a nI Love Free Software collage that includes thank you cards, comic panels, a group photo and on the bottom, a picture with books of Ada and Zangemann and the Router Freedom icon"/>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
<p>Spring is just around the corner, and we are feeling re-energised,
|
||
not only thanks to the sunshine, but also because of the inspiring days
|
||
we spent celebrating I Love Free Software Day across Europe. This year,
|
||
22 gatherings took place in 12 European countries!</p>
|
||
|
||
<h3>I Love Free Software Day 2026</h3>
|
||
<p>Every year on 14 February and in the days around it, we come
|
||
together, online and in person, to express our appreciation to
|
||
everyone who is part of the Free Software communities. Whether through local
|
||
meet-ups, talks, workshops, postcards, blog posts, social media
|
||
messages, or simple words of gratitude, the message is clear: Free
|
||
Software exists and thrives because of the people who build, maintain,
|
||
document, translate, test, and support it.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/d1/23/8279034c267aaef20d41e8f7d908.JPG" alt="Two people standing inside a large red heart-shaped decoration in a public indoor space"/>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>For the 2026 celebration, and under the motto "Maintainers Matter",
|
||
our communities organised 22 events across 12 different European
|
||
countries, reaching more than 300 people offline. And many more people
|
||
celebrated it online. Hundreds of individuals and organisations joined
|
||
the celebration on the Fediverse, sharing appreciation posts and
|
||
gratitude messages. For the first time, the celebration also reached the
|
||
front page of Hacker News, thanks to a "Thank You" blog post by Matthias
|
||
Kirschner, the President of the FSFE, <a href="https://k7r.eu/i-love-the-work-of-the-archwiki-maintainers/">who
|
||
shared his appreciation for Arch Linux and the extensive
|
||
ArchWiki</a>.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/11/c3/ca971061105e374d1060ab465932.png" alt="Map showing locations in Europe with red heart markers representing events for I Love Free Software Day 2026. Central text explains why we celebrate this day."/>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>Besides, we had a special Software Freedom Podcast episode to mark
|
||
this special day with something nice. For our I Love Free Software Day
|
||
podcast episode <a href="/news/podcast/2026/episode-47.html">we spoke with Lorenz Kästle from the monitoring plugins</a>. </p>
|
||
|
||
<h3>DMA, CRA and Router Freedom</h3>
|
||
<p>That was not the only podcast episode published in recent
|
||
weeks. Remember FOSDEM? Our 46th episode, recorded there, is now out! In
|
||
it, Lucas Lasota and Bonnie Mehring discuss <a href="/news/podcast/2026/episode-46.html">interoperability
|
||
compliance under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) and mobile
|
||
phones</a>. The episode dives deeper into compliance changes in the
|
||
Android Open Source Project (AOSP).</p>
|
||
<p>During FOSDEM 2026, we also held a Q&A session on the Cyber
|
||
Resilience Act, together with a representative of the German market
|
||
surveillance authority and the European Commission, as there are still
|
||
uncertainties and recurring questions. There, we talked about the role
|
||
of the steward as people are still unsure whether and under what
|
||
circumstances they should or might want to become a steward. <a href="/news/2026/news-20260224-01.html">One part of
|
||
the question is relatively easy to answer: no one has to become a
|
||
steward. </a></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Besides the option of becoming a steward, there is also the option of
|
||
attestation (Art. 25 CRA). In order to facilitate the due diligence
|
||
obligation, voluntary security attestation programmes could be
|
||
established. As uncertainty around attestation remains, <a href="https://dialog-cybersicherheit.limesurvey.net/113884">we launched
|
||
a survey</a> to gather input from the community. The survey closed at
|
||
the end of February, and we are currently evaluating the results. We
|
||
will share the findings with decision-makers and relevant stakeholders,
|
||
incorporating them into the ongoing process. As always, our focus is on
|
||
ensuring that Free Software contributors and small projects are
|
||
protected and supported.</p>
|
||
<p>The protection of Router Freedom in Europe is another topic that has
|
||
kept us busy in recent weeks. The European Union is about to reform the
|
||
telecom sector with the proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA). <a href="/news/2026/news-20260218-01.html">The position of
|
||
the FSFE is that the Digital Networks Act must move
|
||
beyond fragmented national rules and establish a clear, operational
|
||
framework ensuring effective and uniform protection of Router
|
||
Freedom</a>. This requires setting a harmonised default across the EU
|
||
that properly reflects the interests of end-users and consumers. Any
|
||
deviation due to network topology should remain the exception, not the
|
||
rule, and must be transparently justified.</p>
|
||
|
||
<h3>Keep Android Open</h3>
|
||
<p>Together with other civil society organisations, the FSFE signed an open
|
||
letter addressed to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, regarding Google's
|
||
announced policy requiring all Android app developers to register
|
||
centrally with Google to be allowed to distribute applications outside the Google Play
|
||
Store. Google's plan would mean that all personal data of Free Software
|
||
app developers on Android would end up with Google, even apps
|
||
distributed outside the Play Store, by forcing developers to register
|
||
and hand over ID. It raises barriers for small and volunteer projects,
|
||
like F-Droid, and increases the risk of surveillance, censorship, and
|
||
arbitrary bans against privacy‑protecting and critical apps. The letter asks Google to rescind the mandatory developer registration
|
||
for all third-party distribution, engage in transparent dialogue with
|
||
civil society, Free Software communities, and regulators on improving
|
||
security without sacrificing openness, and commit to platform
|
||
neutrality so that Google's role as Android steward does not conflict
|
||
with its commercial interests.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>To help us, you can read and share the open letter: <a href="https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/">https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/</a>.
|
||
If you are part of an organisation, join the signatories from across
|
||
civil society, Free Software communities, and industry.</p>
|
||
<p>Please help so that Google also understands it is not in its interest
|
||
to jeopardise its own success in mobile by making Android unfriendly to
|
||
developers who care about software freedom</p>
|
||
|
||
<h3>From Ada's workshop</h3>
|
||
<p>All these efforts, from policy and surveys to community celebrations
|
||
and our podcast, share a common goal: empowering people to understand,
|
||
use, share, and improve technology. This is exactly why stories like
|
||
<a href="https://ada.fsfe.org">Ada & Zangemann</a> matter so much. When Petter
|
||
discovered the book, he immediately felt that Norwegian-speaking readers
|
||
should have access to its inspiring message. Now, <em>Ada og Zangemann – En fortelling om programvare, rullebrett og bringebæris</em> has been published and was presented during the
|
||
Norwegian I Love Free Software Day celebrations.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Meanwhile, our community continues to organise events for children to
|
||
learn about Free Software with the help of Ada. At the beginning of
|
||
February, at the Kids Village Open Source event in Brussels, an
|
||
Ada & Zangemann reading session in French took
|
||
place alongside a small Ada-themed game.</p>
|
||
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/aa/34/427a81bb7b40203fae338e36d1d6.jpg" alt="Children and adults sit on a carpeted floor, engaging in a card game with the illustrations from Ada and Zangemann. Nearby are balloons, chairs, and plants."/>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<p>Last but not least, if you are in Germany and coming to <a href="/events/index.html#event-20260328-01">Chemnitzer
|
||
Linux-Tage 2026</a>, come by to say "Hi!" We will be there with a booth
|
||
full of info material and merchandise as well as giving some talks!</p>
|
||
|
||
<h3>Your support helps us move our work forward.</h3> <p>We may be
|
||
behind the wheel, but you are the ones keeping us moving forward. 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.<br/><br/>You can also <a href="/donate/donate.html">support us</a>, <a href="/contribute/contribute.html">contribute to our work</a>, and <a href="/about/groups.html">join our community</a>. Are you using social
|
||
media? If so, do not forget to follow us there! You can also follow the
|
||
FSFE news in your <a href="/news/news.rss">RSS Reader</a>.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Your editor,<br/>
|
||
Ana </p>
|
||
|
||
</body>
|
||
|
||
<sidebar promo="about-fsfe"/>
|
||
<date>
|
||
<original content="2026-03-10"/>
|
||
</date>
|
||
<followup>donate</followup>
|
||
|
||
<tags>
|
||
<tag key="newsletter">Newsletter</tag>
|
||
<tag key="front-page"/>
|
||
<tag key="highlights">highlights</tag>
|
||
</tags>
|
||
|
||
<discussion href="https://mastodon.social/deck/@fsfe/116204774021832197"/>
|
||
<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/82/80/5cd28b29f0b9448663ae1d69d13a.jpg" alt="Graphic for the FSFE newsletter with the FSFE logo, a I Love Free Software collage that includes thank you cards, comic panels, a group photo and on the bottom, a picture with books of Ada and Zangemann and the Router Freedom icon"/>
|
||
<translator/>
|
||
</html>
|
||
|