A software freedom activist describes shifting focus away from strong copyleft licenses toward evaluating the community that governs a project. The author argues that license type alone doesn't guarantee a project upholds values like inclusivity, independence from corporate control, or rejection of extractive technologies such as generative AI. They cite AGPL-3.0 projects that are dual-licensed commercially and require contributor license agreements as examples of technically free software that isn't community-run.
lumi.codeberg.page
· 2026-10-29
Organizers of FOSDEM 27's Digital Dissident Devroom have issued a call for speakers focused on free-software tools for people living under censorship and surveillance. The devroom will cover the full chain of tools dissidents need, from circumventing censorship to safely collecting, verifying and publishing evidence without exposing their identity. Proposals can be submitted through FOSDEM's official CFP portal under the 'Digital Dissident' track.
talkweb.eu
· 2026-10-25
The Free Software Foundation is holding a free two-hour 'EncryptFest' event from 13:00-15:00 EDT, covering encryption and privacy topics. The agenda includes a discussion on bulk surveillance, a video from cryptographer Bruce Schneier, a talk with Techlore founder Henry Fisher, and a hands-on email encryption workshop. Attendees can join online or in person at locations in Boston and New Haven, with registration requested in advance.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-25
A recent roundup points to two free compression utilities that let users shrink file sizes without requiring data collection or online uploads. The tools are described as simple to use and focused on reducing file size rather than preserving maximum quality.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-23
The Free Software Foundation's deputy director Sean O'Brien published a statement criticizing Raspberry Pi's bootloader firmware, which since 2024 has included checks that can prevent the board from recognizing or booting with replacement RAM soldered on by users, even when the new memory is electrically compatible and of equal capacity. O'Brien argues this goes beyond the organization's existing objection to Raspberry Pi's nonfree firmware, calling the RAM-detection mechanism a form of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM).
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-18
The Free Software Foundation is sponsoring GNU Boot, a project aiming to provide a fully free and open replacement for proprietary BIOS and UEFI firmware. The initiative positions itself as an 'ethical' option for users seeking to avoid nonfree boot firmware on their computers.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-04
A widely shared essay contends that open-source software will never be reliably funded because it behaves like the 'dove' strategy in an evolutionary game theory model, always losing ground to proprietary 'hawk' competitors who withhold code for profit. The author, after years of mulling the problem, proposes creating registries that could compel companies benefiting from free software to pay into it, rather than relying on voluntary donations or goodwill.
seldo.com
· 2026-09-20
Xteink makes small, pocket-sized e-readers that can be enhanced with a free, alternative operating system replacing the stock software. This custom firmware reportedly unlocks additional features and improves the reading experience beyond what the devices offer out of the box.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-19
The FSF announced it created a Bluesky account this week to reach a wider audience, even though it won't recommend others sign up for the platform. The organization cited Bluesky's registration page and web client relying on nonfree JavaScript as reasons it can't endorse the service the way it does Mastodon or PeerTube.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-05
At the FOSSY conference held this year at the University of British Columbia, developer Timothy Sample presented on bootstrappable builds, a lesser-known cousin of reproducible builds. He explained the concept as a chain of increasingly capable compilers that starts from a tiny, fully auditable seed program and eventually builds an entire modern Linux user space. Sample traced his own decade-long involvement in the effort back to his early use of GNU Guix, a functional package manager similar to Nix.
lwn.net
· 2026-08-28
At FOSSY 2026, Software Freedom Conservancy members Bradley Kühn, Karen Sandler, and Denver Gingerich detailed an unresolved license violation involving Bambu Lab's 3D-printer software, which is licensed under the AGPLv3. They explained that the company's method of restricting user control over the software is exactly the kind of network-based circumvention the AGPL was designed to block, and described SFC's outreach to build alternatives for affected users.
lwn.net
· 2026-08-26
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