Forty years of commitment to software freedom
Quoting: Forty years of commitment to software freedom —
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) turns forty on October 4, 2025 and we will end our thirties on a high note! We wish we were celebrating the achievement of software freedom for all computer users, but we're not there yet. Until our mission becomes reality and we can retire, instead, we are celebrating forty years of activism, and all that we have achieved. Since our founding in 1985, we laid out many stepping stones on the road to software freedom, and we're eager to continue building the road ahead.
We will celebrate our fortieth in the spirit of bringing the international free software community together, discussing what we can do next to make the world freer, and celebrating how far we've come. We're aiming for a libre planet! Sounds familiar? Instead of hosting one LibrePlanet conference in 2025, we're planning a jam-packed anniversary year, filled with several new and exciting activities!
We'll begin the anniversary year with an unprecedented memorabilia auction, starting as a silent auction on March 17, and culminating in a virtual live auction on March 23. By moving out of the FSF office, we got to sort through all the fun and historically important memorabilia and selected the best ones. This is your chance to get your very own personal souvenir of the FSF, from original GNU art to a famous katana and the very same VT220 that was standing on the FSF's front desk, and which people used to display ASCII art or to play free software games.
Let's claim the month of May as libre planet (or libre local) month! We're inviting free software supporters like you anywhere in the world, to organize an in-person community meetup in your area to bring people together. We're setting up a small fund for these local gatherings, can send stickers, flyers, ideas and tips, and you can invite an FSF staff member to give a talk or workshop during your event and of course, we'll help promote it. Need help picking a date? Consider the first weekend of the month, when LibrePlanet 2024: Cultivating Community was held.
Also:
-
FSF Anniversary Logo Contest
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a community-supported organization, and we want to pay tribute to this fact by holding a design contest. We would like to source the fortieth anniversary logo design directly from a free software supporter. Everyone is welcome to submit a design (or even multiple designs) no matter your previous experience in design, as long as it adheres to the below requirements.
The winning design will be chosen by the community and ultimately immortalized in the history of the FSF. It will be displayed on the FSF homepage, printed on all of the celebration printed materials, and possibly even stamped on some merchandise.
To enter a design(s) into the contest, please review the requirements and suggestions below.