SFSCON26 is over.
Yesterday was a blast, and today kept up the energy.
We love meeting our community, learning about #FreeSoftware and finding synergies to keep working towards #SoftwareFreedom.
SFSCON never disappoints. 💚
Thanks to the organisers and everyone who made this 2026 edition possible.
Great presentation by @nicorikken about his amazing work for automating the translations of Ada & #Zangemann by @fsfe . If you see new translations of the story, he was one of the people in the background who worked hard enabling it. 👏👏👏👏 #amazingvolunteer
SFSCON 26 second day!! Yesterday was a blast! 🤩
So many interesting talks, new connections, and fun. 🚀
Our batteries are charged for today so do not forget to visit our booth and say hi whenever you see any FSFE person!
#softwarefreedom #freesoftware #sfscon26
@LaF0rge wins the 2026 European SFS Award!
The @fsfe and LUGBZ have recognized Harald Welte with the European award for his involvement in the #FreeSoftware community opening up mobile communications and his work defending users’ freedoms
Harald Welte, @LaF0rge , wins the 2026 European SFS Award !!!! 🚀🚀
Who is the winner of the 2026 European SFS Award??
🤔🤔
Not only adults enjoy #SFSCON26
School kids discovered #Ada and #Zangemann with a reading, some hands-on activities and a surprise after it 😉
You can buy the book at our booth :fsfe:
And a big 🙏 to all of you who donate up to 60€ a month! Each one of you adds an important part for the @fsfe's financial foundation of its independent work. I am thankful to all of you enabling our work for #softwarefreedom
FSFE :fsfe: November Newsletter is here!!!🚀
🔹The update of European procurement rules has begun, and we already shared our position with our representatives: digital sovereignty requires "#FreeSoftware
🔸#YH4F 2026 has just shown what becomes possible when young developers are empowered with #SoftwareFreedom
🔹See you this weekend at @sfscon
#Android offers what #Apple never did: you are the one deciding what runs on your device.
Until now.
⚠️ Google’s developer verification scheme, with its 24h waiting period and app store fees of up to 16,000 USD a year, fades Android as an open platform. We question if Google is turning to Apple's business model.
WE cannot afford two Apples. WE need to correct this course.
Support our work: https://fsfe.org/donate/
Ready for #SFSCON26? We are! 🚀 Join us on 13 and 14 November in Bolzano!
FSFE staff and volunteers will be there with a booth, talks, and workshops. Come say hi, swap ideas, and talk #SoftwareFreedom with us
The reform of European procurement rules is underway. We are working to turn Europe’s technological sovereignty ambitions into everyday procurement practice.
Find out what this means for Free Software:
https://fsfe.org/news/2026/news-20261029-01.html
#FreeSoftware #PublicCode #TechSovereignty #OpenSource #Procurement
#YH4F 2026 winners unveiled! 🏆
🎖️ The 6 winning projects are:
🔸a graphic calculator;
🔹a solution for reducing food waste;
🔸a project supporting local communities;
🔹 a tool that lets users build and own their trackers using existing networks;
🔸 a music-learning tool; and
🔹a decentralised search engine
Their creations show how young Europeans can build technology everyone can control!
🗞️ https://fsfe.org/news/2026/news-20261026-01.html
⚠️ Registration for the 2027 is open!
Thank you!! :underheart:
To ALL teenagers who took part in #YH4F: we hope to see some of you in next editions;
To our jury members who evaluate the submitted projects and have the hard task of choosing the winners;
To our sponsors who believe in this initiative;
To our amazing team, who support and help participants through the whole competition and make this award weekend happen.
Registrations for the 2027 edition are open: https://yh4f.org
Who will be the 2027 winners?!!
#YH4F 2026 first prize, the Ultimate Hacker Award, goes to NumOs! 🥇
It’s a #FreeSoftware (#OpenSource) operating system for a graphing scientific calculator that anyone can study, compile, and modify. You can inspect how each calculation is performed, so “Is this calculator reliable?” is no longer a matter of trust: you can verify it.
Next stop: the NeoCalculator, a Free Software physical calculator with a custom PCB.
FindMyWeb, developed by @misom@social.techncs.de, won the 2026 Elite Hacker Award! 🏆
A #FreeSoftware project that lets you build your own location trackers instead of buying a sealed commercial one. You build the tag, run the software yourself, and benefit from the huge crowd of phones that already rely on infrastructure like Find My signals. 📍
No lock-in. No vendor device or app. Your firmware, your server, your location data and history. Control your tech. 🔓
The #YH4F 2026 Awesome Hacker Award went to SmartFoodSave, an #AI platform that helps schools cut food waste by predicting leftovers before the food is even cooked. 🍽️
Under an #MITlicense, users can log menus, attendance, and portions, and a machine learning model estimates leftovers. A donation finder points surplus food to people who can use it. 🥕
https://www.smartfoodsave.xyz/
Our next winner could not join us this time. This special #YH4F 2026 award goes to his project Pianove, a piano learning app that anyone can use, study, share, and improve. 🎹
It allows to load any piece from a MusicXML file and practice it on your MIDI keyboard, fully offline, with no account and no subscription.
An alternative to commercial learning apps that everyone can use, study, share and improve: https://mariusangermann08.github.io/Pianove/
Another one of the #YH4F 2026 special prizes went to a team project: RastiSearch! 🏆
Four German teenagers built a federated search engine that doesn’t depend on big tech’s indexes: 🔍 Independent servers each index content and swap queries and results over #TOR, so anyone can run a node at home with no special network setup.
