Free Software Supporter — Issue 216, April 2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Job opportunity: Engineering and Certification Manager at the FSF
- Free software offers trust and privacy; Ring offers mass surveillance
- The FSF doesn’t usually sue for copyright infringement, but when we do, we settle for freedom
- Discord doesn’t deserve your unquestioning trust
- One more month until LibreLocal!
- App verification isn’t Google’s only evil
- 450 FSFE supporters affected: Payment provider Nexi cancels contract with the FSFE
- UK politicians continue to miss the point in latest social media ban proposal
- Google gives Android users a way to install unverified apps if they prove they really, really want to
- Vermont committee hears testimony for the right to repair medical equipment
- March GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: Group: Hardware/Computers
- March GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali featuring eighteen new GNU releases: Autoconf, PSPP, and more!
- FSF and other free software events
- Thank GNUs!
- GNU copyright contributions
- Translations of the Free Software Supporter
- Take action with the FSF!
View this issue online here: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2026/april.
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Job opportunity: Engineering and Certification Manager at the FSF
From March 10
The Free Software Foundation (FSF), a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) charity with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom, seeks a motivated and talented individual to be our new Engineering and Certification Manager. This position is ideally full-time and US-based, but exceptions can be made for a qualified candidate.
Free software offers trust and privacy; Ring offers mass surveillance
From March 24
A lost dog’s best friend: that’s how Amazon-subsidiary Ring tried to position itself with its 2026 Super Bowl commercial. Numerous privacy advocates, lawmakers, and civil liberties groups, as well as the ad’s viewers, all united to rightly label what Ring was trying to push as nothing but a thinly-veiled wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing propaganda campaign for mass surveillance. Free software has a vital role to play in successfully resisting this march toward mass surveillance. We can individually and collectively help build the more just and transparent world we all deserve through free software that embraces user freedom. Talk to your family, friends, colleagues, lawmakers, and neighbors — especially those who use doorbell systems that contribute to mass surveillance.
The FSF doesn’t usually sue for copyright infringement, but when we do, we settle for freedom
From March 13
The FSF, like many others, received a notice regarding settlement in the copyright infringement lawsuit Bartz v. Anthropic. It is a class action lawsuit claiming that Anthropic infringed copyright by unauthorized downloading of works in Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror datasets for purposes of training large language models (LLMs). You can read more about what this notice entailed and actions that we believe are essential for protecting computing freedom in the blog post.
Discord doesn’t deserve your unquestioning trust
From March 11
Discord, a nonfree instant messaging and voice/video call platform with more than 150 million active users each month has joined others in announcing an age identification policy. Age verification policies are promoted as being necessary for protecting kids and teens online, but in reality these policies force users of all ages to interact with nonfree, invasive programs. If Discord wants our trust, it needs to earn it by freeing its code and respecting users who don’t want to submit to an invasive age verification process to continue using Discord. If you live in a state or country that is considering an age verification law, contact your representatives and let them know just how harmful age verification polices are.
One more month until LibreLocal!
From March 9
While the deadline for funding requests for LibreLocal meetups may have passed, it’s certainly not too late to organize a meetup in your area! Your event’s program and format is completely up to you. As we learned last year, it can range from a single meetup over coffee in a local cafe to multi-day conferences with like-minded people! We encourage everyone to organize events that help spread the free software philosophy and which are grounded in freedom. We hope you find a way to highlight that, as well as all the other benefits of working in and with free software, in your event. Check out the LibreLocal 2026 wiki page today and make plans to host or attend a meetup in May!
- https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-librelocal-funding-deadline-is-march-15
- https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Librelocal/2026
App verification isn’t Google’s only evil
From February 24
Google’s latest attempt to restrict Android developers impacts the publishing of free software on ethical and freedom-respecting repositories. These restrictions impact the publishing of free software on ethical and freedom-respecting repositories like F-Droid. The FSF calls for an end to this practice. We support anyone who made appeals to Google to express their disbelief and disappointment that Google would undertake such efforts to undermine software freedom in phones. But, reversal of this proposal is not enough. If you don’t know much about how Google works tirelessly to control users, now is a great time to educate yourself.
- https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/app-verification-isnt-googles-only-evil
- https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/googles-decision-to-deprecate-jpeg-xl-emphasizes-the-need-for-browser-choice-and-free-formats
450 FSFE supporters affected: Payment provider Nexi cancels contract with the FSFE
From March 16 by the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
The FSFE’s long-term payment provider Nexi terminated their contract without prior notice, consequentially halting free software supporters’ recurring credit card and direct debit donations. Nexi demanded sensitive and private data of FSFE supporters for a vague risk analysis. The FSFE refused to hand over this data without a more satisfactory explanation as to why Nexi wanted this information, and Nexi seems to have decided to punish the FSFE for this choice. The FSFE did nothing wrong by simply requesting more information from Nexi before faithfully entrusting the payment provider with its altruistic donors’ data: it was protecting the trust and safety of members of the free software community. You can read more about what information the FSFE had already provided to Nexi in the blog post below.
UK politicians continue to miss the point in latest social media ban proposal
From March 30 by Paige Collings
The UK is moving forward with its efforts to ban access to microblogging platforms for people under eighteen through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, as well as restrict access to specific internet services. This process is devoid of checks or accountability mechanisms as ministers will not be required to demonstrate specific harms to young people, and ultimately takes away user freedom from children. Access to an uncensored internet is essential for everyone, including young people who may not feel safe to access certain resources offline, such as about family abuse or identity. Any legislation or licenses that proposes to exclude a particular population from using a particular area of the internet or program is by definition nonfree, and completely unacceptable. You can read more about how harmful the pending Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is.
Google gives Android users a way to install unverified apps if they prove they really, really want to
From March 19 by Thomas Claburn
Public pressure won out against Google’s efforts to force Android users to install Google-verified apps via Google Play (sort of). According to a recent Google blog post, Android users will continue to be able to install apps from unverified developers through a one-time process after September, one that entails significant friction (enabling developer mode, restarting the device, reauthentication, and then waiting twenty-four hours). This « option » may allow Android users to download a wide variety of apps, but it does not let Android users have full control over their computing. If you’re an Android user, check out the options you have for computing in freedom with apps on F-Droid or consider supporting Replicant, a fully free Android distribution.
- https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/19/google_android_unverified_apps/
- https://replicant.us/
- https://f-droid.org/
Vermont committee hears testimony for the right to repair medical equipment
From March 10 by Henry Welch
Vermont could soon become the first US state to pass right to repair legislation beyond powered wheelchairs, granting hospital technicians the freedom to repair medical equipment on site in the Green Mountain State. As current right to repair law stands in Vermont and across the US, hospitals are forced to rely on manufacturers sending « authorized » service providers to fix or maintain equipment, regardless of the capability of hospital staff to do so more quickly and possibly at a lower price tag. Should the new legislation, H. 160, pass, manufacturers will be required to provide Vermont hospitals and independent technicians with the parts, tools, documentation, and training necessary to repair medical equipment including ventilators, MRI machines, and infusion pumps. You can read more about the right to repair movement and the need for software freedom to truly obtain it on our campaigns page linked below.
- https://pirg.org/updates/vermont-committee-hears-testimony-for-the-right-to-repair-medical-equipment/
- https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/fight-to-repair
March GNU Emacs news
From March 31 by Sacha Chua
In these issues: using speech recognition, offline-first Emacs manager, and more!
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions to version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The Free Software Directory has been a great resource to software users over the past decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with new and exciting free software projects.
To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place in the #fsf channel on Libera.Chat and usually include a handful of regulars as well as newcomers. Libera.Chat is accessible from any IRC client — everyone’s welcome!
The next meeting is this Friday, April 3 from 12:00 to 15:00 ESD (16:00 to 19:00 UTC). Details here: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2026-04-03-irc
LibrePlanet featured resource: Group: Hardware/Computers
Every month on the LibrePlanet wiki, we highlight one resource that is interesting and useful — often one that could use your help. For this month, we are highlighting Group: Hardware/Computers. This set of pages talks about hardware-related freedom issues for specific computers types. Here it lists computer types that can be useful alone. For example, a GPU, though technically a computer with many processors, cannot be used without a host computer. So the GPUs will go under the Components pages instead. You are invited to help update, adopt, spread, and improve this important resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month’s featured resource? Let us know at campaigns@fsf.org.
March GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali featuring eighteen new GNU releases: Autoconf, PSPP, and more!
Eighteen new GNU releases in the last month (as of March 31, 2026):
- anastasis-0.7.0
- apl-2.0
- autoconf-2.73
- freeipmi-1.6.17
- g-golf-0.8.5
- gnuhealth-his-5.0.6
- gnun-1.6
- gnunet-0.27.0
- groff-1.24.1
- hello-2.12.3
- libiconv-1.19
- mpc-1.4.0
- parallel-20260322
- pspp-2.1.1
- r-4.5.3
- taler-1.5
- texinfo-7.3
- unifont-17.0.04
For a full list with descriptions, please see: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-march-gnu-spotlight
For announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu.
To download: nearly all GNU software is available most reliably from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/. Optionally, you may find faster download speeds at a mirror located geographically closer to you by choosing from the list of mirrors published at https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html, or you may use https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.
This month, we welcome Leo Sandoval as a new comaintainer of grub, with Daniel Kiper stepping down from the role after almost ten years. Thanks and welcome aboard, Leo, and thank you Daniel for all of your work on GNU GRUB throughout the years.
A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you’d like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at https://www.gnu.org/help/help.html.
If you have a working or partly working program that you’d like to offer to the GNU project as a GNU package, see https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.
As always, please feel free to write to me, bandali@gnu.org, with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.
FSF and other free software events
- April 24-26, 2026, Bellingham, Washington, United States, LFNW
- June 14-16, 2026, Prague, Czech Republic, Flock to Fedora
- July 16-18, 2026, Porto, Portugal, SECRYPT
- August 14-16, 2026, Manhattan, New York, United States, HOPE
Thank GNUs!
We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation, and we’d like to give special recognition to the folks who have donated $500 or more in the last month.
This month, a big Thank GNU to:
- Andy Kopra
- Andrea Bocci
- Apperjit Dhillon
- Christos Kalkanis
- Hannah Wolfman-Jones
- James Wilson
- Joel Holveck
- Kevin Runner
- Mikael Taipale
- R Scott Belford
You can add your name to this list by donating at https://donate.fsf.org/.
GNU copyright contributions
Assigning your copyright to the Free Software Foundation helps us defend the GNU GPL and keep software free. The following individuals have assigned their copyright to the FSF (and allowed public appreciation) in the past month:
- Ariel Del Valle Lozano (GNU Emacs)
- James Diamond (GNU AUCTeX, GNU Emacs)
- Yohei Sasaki (GNU Emacs)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your copyright to the FSF.
Translations of the Free Software Supporter
El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la versión en español haz click aquí: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2026/abril
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí: https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id={contact.contact_id}&{contact.checksum}
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la version française cliquez ici: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2026/avril
Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici: https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id={contact.contact_id}&{contact.checksum}
If you no longer wish to receive the Free Software Supporter in English (but still receive other communications in English), you can opt out here.
Take action with the FSF!
Contributions from thousands of individual associate members enable the FSF’s work. You can contribute by joining at https://my.fsf.org/join. If you’re already an associate member, you can help refer new members by adding a line with your associate member number to your email signature like:
I’m an FSF associate member — Help us support software freedom! https://my.fsf.org/join
The FSF is always looking for volunteers. From rabble-rousing to hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing — there’s something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaigns section and take action on software patents, Digital Restrictions Management, free software adoption, OpenDocument, and more.
Do you read and write Portuguese and English? The FSF is looking for translators for the Free Software Supporter. Please send an email to campaigns@fsf.org with your interest and a list of your experience and qualifications.
Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
