FSF40 LibreLocal meetups

In honor of the FSF's fortieth anniversary, we called on our supporters globally to help us make the month of May LibreLocal month, and the global free software community responded. Almost thirty LibreLocal meetups were held in May worldwide, and there are more to come. Shared below are recaps of activities from some of the community meetups.

Canary Islands, Spain

At the LibreCan meetup organized by Lucio Albenga, attendees chatted casually about the difference between "open" and "free," alternative kernels for GNU systems such as GNU Hurd or the BSD kernels, how the GNU licenses differ from other free licenses, hardware that respects your freedom, and many other intriguing things. Un teclado, one of the attendees, said he really liked talking with interesting people about interesting things he usually can't talk about.

Chennai, India

FOSS United Chennai organized a LibreLocal meetup in commemoration of the FSF's fortieth anniversary that attracted more than fifty attendees. The event featured hands-on workshops on self-hosting, tracking, and mapping surveillance using OpenStreetMaps, as well as a presentation by FSF licensing manager Krzysztof Siewicz.

LeBlanc, France

In LeBlanc, France, people gathered on GNU/Linux Presentation Day to watch demonstrations of different libre programs such as Inkscape and Open Street Maps, and to help each other install GNU/Linux on their computer. It was so successful that the organizers -- nine volunteers from Atelier "Linux au Blanc" of the association RéparLab -- decided to have a similar event again later this year. The volunteers even printed their own FSF40 T-shirts for the meetup. Don't they look great?

Livermore, California, USA

On May 10, FSF volunteer Joe organized a LibreLocal meetup at the Livermore Public Library. Throughout the day, he held workshops on how to use free software like GIMP, Inkscape, and LibreOffice, shell scripting, and typesetting with TeX. As a result of the meetup, the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce asked for help to migrate one of the office's proprietary Windows 10 systems to GNU/Linux. What a success story!

Lviv, Ukraine

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On May 18, AOPRobotics organized the first free software conference in Ukraine together with the FSF. Professionals of all kind of different fields gathered both online and offline to share their thoughts on and experience with different aspects of free software. The organizer Kirill Sorudeykin said that event was based on the conviction that the concept of free software formed forty years ago unites people across countries and rallies them around "deep and profound values of human freedom, high expertise, and masterpiece."

Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo

Narcisse Mbunzama, the national chapter leader of the Free Software Club in the Democratic Republic of Congo, engaged meetup participants in discussions, knowledge sharing, and even a small hackathon centered around free software in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Attendees also learned about the philosophy behind, and importance of, libre software. As a result of this meetup, the participants decided to organize more events like this in the future to promote the adoption and development of free software in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nairobi, Kenya

Software developer Benson Muite taught attendees at the LibreLocal meetup in Nairobi, Kenya, in a cybercafe how to create "puff" embroidery designs with the [Inkscape-based][2] program [Ink/Stitch][3]. On the photo above, you can see the GNU Guix logo that participant Munyoki embroidered on a cap during the event.

[2]: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Inkscape [3]: https://inkstitch.org/

Shiraz, Iran

The Iran Free Software Activists organized an entire two-day conference in Shiraz, Iran, that brought free software supporters, developers, and activists together to discuss the history of the FSF and LibrePlanet, the importance of software freedom, and how we can contribute to and promote the movement in our communities. The event featured a LAN party, a hackathon, and a talk by FSF campaigns manager Greg Farough, which you can [watch][4] on our [PeerTube][5] channel. Other talks and workshops covered decentralized tech for healthcare, (Neo)vim, and large language models. After the event, Delta Shahinpoor, one of the organizers, said: "It was a joy to help organize the meetup and bring together people who care about free software and decentralized technologies."

[4]: https://framatube.org/w/tH8j6nNn1XeswKPSEENkeq [5]: https://framatube.org/a/fsf/viGreekdeo-channels

Thessaloniki and Athens, Greece

Ελεύθερος Πλανήτης, LibrePlanet Greece; ΕΛΛΑΚ (ELLAK), an organization that promotes free software use in Greece; the Greek GNU/Linux user group Ένωση Χρηστών και Φίλων Linux Ελλάδας; Κοινότητα Ανοιχτού Λογισμικού Πανεπιστήμιο Μακεδονίας, the University of Macedonia free software community; and Κέντρο Ανοικτών Τεχνολογιών ΑΠΘ (AUTH) organized two meetups to celebrate forty years of commitment to software freedom, one in Athens and the other in Thessaloniki. Both meetups featured a talk by program manager Miriam Bastian, who sketched the FSF's history and explained why software freedom matters. You can [watch the talk][6] on our [PeerTube][7] channel. Following the introductory talk, members of the Greek GNU/Linux user group presented their efforts to promote GNU/Linux and free software in Greece over the past twenty-five years, and Nikos Parafestas from Libreplanet Greece presented the [Freedom Ladder][8], an important tool that helps users get their first start in software freedom. Subsequently, licensing volunteer Panos Alaropoulos explained how the GNU family of licenses ensure the user's freedom and why they are a key mechanism for the collective development of code.

[6]: https://framatube.org/w/99CipDDf5o15qTYh6UmTXF [7]: https://framatube.org/a/fsf/video-channels
[8]: https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Freedom_Ladder

The meetups in Greece attracted a broad audience with experts from informatics, education, and the civil society, and served as a platform for discussing challenges to software freedom. While the Museum of Informatics hosted the meetup in Athens, the event in Thessaloniki took place at the University of Macedonia. According to the organizers, the events were driven by the rationale that "in an era when technology permeates every aspect of our lives, digital independence is not a luxury but an essential condition for a democratic society."

Toronto, Canada

In Toronto, free software enthusiasts meet every Monday at 18:00 EDT at Victory Cafe, 440 Bloor St. W for [Tech Pizza Mondays][9]. On May 12, they had a special edition to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the FSF with demos, chat, and, of course, pizza.

[9]: https://lu.ma/techpizzamondays

Zurich, Switzerland

On GNU/Linux Presentation Day, people met in Zurich, Switzerland, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the FSF and the launch of GNU Taler in Switzerland. Christian Grothoff, professor at Bern University of Applied Sciences and co-founder of Taler Systems SA, the company that has been developing GNU Taler since 2016, presented the pilot project NGI Taler. Following this, Iván Ávalos led a workshop on how to set up your local event currency with GNU Taler. FSF campaigns manager Miriam Bastian then gave an introduction to free software and revamp-it, acquainted attendees with different GNU/Linux distributions, and raised awareness about the end of Windows 10 and how [Windows 11 systematically bereaves its users of their freedom][10].

[10]: https://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/keep_putting_pressure_microsoft

Warsaw, Poland

FSF licensing manager Krzysztof Siewicz organized a LibreLocal meetup in Warsaw, Poland. It began with an interactive quiz that included questions about the origins of the free software movement, free software philosophy, the scope of copyleft and the GNU licenses, and the FSF's activities. The meetup was organized with the help of the Open Science Platform of the ICM University of Warsaw. Representatives from other organizations also joined a panel to discuss freedom and machine learning applications: Gabriel Ku Wei Bin from the Free Software Foundation Europe, Katarzyna Szymielewicz from the Panoptykon Foundation, Anna Fajfer from Fundacja Wolnego Oprogramowania Reszka, and Radosław Czajka from the Wolne Lektury Foundation. The panel was followed by a fun improv performance and discussions that rounded off the night.

Thanks

We wholeheartedly thank the organizers of the LibreLocal meetups. We could tell that the local events inspired the attendees, helped free software activists all over the world network with other like-minded people who're based in the same area, and build momentum for future collective action. One thing is sure: these community meetups showed once more how many people in our communities care about software freedom.

The following organizers agreed to be named in public, and we would like to thank them explicitly: Andreas Schenzle, Ansh Arora, Arun kumar V, Atelier "Linux au Blanc," Benson Muite, Carter Zhang, DFF, Damian Fajfer, Giri Prashad, Gleb Yerofeyev, Harsh Patel, Immanuel Raj, Joe, Justin Benito, Keerthana Rajesh Kumar, Kirill Sorudeykin, Lucio Albenga, Matthias Kirschner, Michalis Zisis, nammahari, Narcisse Mbunzama, Nikos Parafestas, Panos Alaropoulos, Richard, Ryan Futures, Sakhil Ahamed, Savvas Adamzillou, shlug, William Goodspeed.

In addition, we would like to thank the active local groups that participated in the organization of local meetups, namely: the AOPRobotics, Artisans Asylum, Bitwäscherei, Boston Open Dev, Ελεύθερος Πλανήτης, ΕΛΛΑΚ, Ένωση Φίλων Ελεύθερου Λογισμικού, FOSS United Chennai, GNU/Linux User Group Switzerland, GNU/Linux User Group WMK, Iran Free Software Activists, Κοινότητα Ανοιχτού Λογισμικού Πανεπιστήμιο Μακεδονίας, Libre Boston: GNU/Linux Free Software Users Group, LibrePlanet São Paulo, Masscollabs Services and contributors, NGI Taler, PBSFG, Relvecorp, RéparLab, revamp-it, Software Freedom Law Center India, and many others.

If you're interested in organizing a LibreLocal meetup in the future, please email campaigns@fsf.org.

LibreLocal month is just one of the initiatives around the fortieth anniversary of the FSF. Learn about other events that will be held during the anniversary year on fsf.org/fsf40.

0: https://www.fsf.org/fsf40/

Image credit

"Group photo from meetup in Chennai." © 2025 FOSS United Chennai. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Keerthana Rajesh Kumar speaking at the meetup in Chennai." © 2025 FOSS United Chennai. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Workshop at the meetup in Chennai." © 2025 FOSS United Chennai. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Le Blanc - volunteers." © 2025 Linux au Blanc. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Le Blanc - install fest." © 2025 Linux au Blanc. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Le Blanc - OSM." © 2025 Linux au Blanc. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Le Blanc - workshop." © 2025 Linux au Blanc. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11]. "LibreLocal meetup Livermore - Joe." © 2025 Anonymous. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Livermore - GNU/Linux." © 2025 Anonymous. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Group photo from meetup in Kinshasa." © 2025 Narcisse Mbunzama. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Meetup in Kinshasa." © 2025 Narcisse Mbunzama. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Cap embroidered at the meetup in Nairobi." © 2025 Munyoki Kilyungi. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Screenshot of Ink/Stitch." © 2025 Benson Muite. This image is licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed Unported][12]. "LibreLocal meetup Shiraz - Greg Farough's presentation." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"FSF40 meetup Thessaloniki - Panos Alaropoulos." © 2025 Ellak. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"FSF40 meetup Thessaloniki - Nikos Parafestas." © 2025 Ellak. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Free software meetup in Athens, Greece." © 2025 Ellak. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"FSF40 meetup Thessaloniki - GreekLUG." © 2025 Ellak. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Tech Pizza Monday meeting in honor of FSF40." © 2025 Ryan Futures of TechPizzaMondays. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Robot demo at Tech Pizza Monday." © 2025 Ryan Futures of TechPizzaMondays. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Zurich." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Zurich - GNU Taler Workshop." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Windows 11 duck." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"Smashing Windows 11 duck." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Warsaw - quiz." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Warsaw - GNU monk." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Warsaw - Gabriel Ku Wei Bin." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].
"LibreLocal meetup Warsaw - panel." © 2025 Free Software Foundation. This photo is licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0 International license][11].

[11]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en [12]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/