FSF to hold free software hackathon in honor of its fortieth anniversary
The FSF has been campaigning for software freedom for over forty years. As part of its celebrations, the organization is inviting the wider free software community (both projects and individual contributors) to participate in a global, online hackathon to help improve important libre software projects.
All free software projects, regardless of affiliation or (free) license, are invited to participate. As of now, the advanced GNU/Linux distribution and package manager GNU Guix, the boot software distribution GNU Boot, the media publishing system MediaGoblin, and the Free Software Directory, the FSF's catalog of useful free software, have announced that they will submit a project. Interested contributors are encouraged to review the hackathon guidelines, which the FSF has made available online.
The FSF's free software hackathon will be held November 21-23, 2025. Submissions will be open until May 27.
"It's at the core of the FSF's mission to foster free software development and this hackathon is only one of many ways that the FSF supports and promotes free software projects," said Zoë Kooyman, executive director of the FSF. "We're looking forward to seeing what projects participate, and hope we can draw new and lasting contributors to those projects."
To help organize the hackathon, the FSF has prepared a web form for projects interested in getting contributions to use. The hackathon is open to everyone, regardless of programming skill level, and focused on making small but measurable improvements to free software. Hackathon contributions will be judged by a panel appointed by the FSF. The project and contributors making the most noteworthy contributions / patches will be given prizes by the Foundation. The hackathon will conclude with a closing ceremony.
General registration will open in June.
The hackathon is just one of many initiatives around the fortieth anniversary of the FSF. Learn what else is happening during the anniversary year on fsf.org/fsf40.
About the Free Software Foundation
The FSF, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its websites, located at https://www.fsf.org and https://www.gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
MEDIA CONTACT
Greg Farough
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@fsf.org
"Hackers at Junction 2015" © 2015, Vmuru. This image is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
