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Everyone brings something to the table
Quoting: Everyone brings something to the table —
Free software only exists through the hard work of countless people. Every single free software program was built on and lives through community efforts, whether it be a few individuals or millions of people. As we begin our forty-first year of advocating for user freedom, we will spend time this year recognizing projects and groups of people that have contributed to the strength and limitlessness of free software. We invite free software supporters like you to join us in this spirit of gratitude, and will be offering multiple ways for you to get involved.
If you've been following the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for quite some time (we're glad you're here!), you know there are some projects we don't talk about much in our publications. Generally, we make this choice because these projects may include nonfree components or they don't insist on freedom like the FSF does. For example, they may use the term "open source," a term which doesn't serve freedom. While we cannot encourage users to interact with all such projects, we will be expressing our gratitude in 2026 for the work that these programs or projects have done, in conjunction with the fully free builds of those programs, and how this work supports and furthers free software as a whole.
Free software doesn't just pop into existence: it needs people every step of the way. We are incredibly thankful for every person who chooses to write, maintain, or improve free software, not just for the program that is being worked on, but for the foundations laid for future projects. It is because of their hard work that we can live so much of our daily lives in freedom, have an internet powered by free software, and a catalog of over 17,000 projects in the Free Software Directory, allowing everyone to use at least one freedom-respecting program. The vast majority of computer and mobile phone users use at least one libre program without even knowing it, all thanks to countless free software developers, maintainers, and contributors.