Sorry to belabor this, but we're close to earning the biggest match we've ever done at #SFC.

We need to raise < 2¹³ at this point. That means if just 50 people — just 50 people today — got to #SFC's website, donate 2⁷, sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant, and move on with their day, we'll match every donation.

Have you considered becoming a Sustainer but hadn't done it yet? Have a friend who has been meaning to do so?

You can help us most by giving right now.

Thanks.

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

Sorry to belabor this, but we're close to earning the biggest match we've ever done at #SFC.

We need to raise < 2¹³ at this point. That means if just 50 people — just 50 people today — got to #SFC's website, donate 2⁷, sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant, and move on with their day, we'll match every donation.

Have you considered becoming a Sustainer but hadn't done it yet? Have a friend who has been meaning to do so?

You can help us most by giving right now.

Thanks.

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

It's been a long fundraising season given #SFC's stretch match, but we are close to the end; we're just about to be ≤ $10k to take advantage of all our generous match donations this season.

We appreciate all who have donated & hope that you can give a little bit more now.

Or, if you forgot to give last year or at #FSODEM2026, now is your change to double your donation.

Thanks to all who donated at #FOSDEM. We raised a *lot* at #FOSDEM26.

#SoftwareFreedom #OpenSource

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

It's been a long fundraising season given #SFC's stretch match, but we are close to the end; we're just about to be ≤ $10k to take advantage of all our generous match donations this season.

We appreciate all who have donated & hope that you can give a little bit more now.

Or, if you forgot to give last year or at #FSODEM2026, now is your change to double your donation.

Thanks to all who donated at #FOSDEM. We raised a *lot* at #FOSDEM26.

#SoftwareFreedom #OpenSource

Like every other year of the @fosdem Legal & Policy DevRoom since #FOSDEM came back to in-person, my colleagues
@kirschner @richardfontana @tmarble@mstdn @karen
@lexelas
did most of the pre-event prep work.

I thank them for understanding that my specific duties at #SFC make that Nov-Jan timeframe so difficult for me.

I'm already in Brussels & will be in the DevRoom all day to make up as much as I can for “slacking” pre-event! Come see us in UB5.230 on Saturday!

https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/legal/

These two @lwn articles are prime examples of why good journalism matters and why you should pay money to make sure it thrives:

They both look beyond the shiny statements from the different parties involved and outside commentators such as @torvalds in this case and explain just how it is from a mostly neutral[1] point of view so that you can make your own judgments.

* GPLv2 and installation requirements – https://lwn.net/Articles/1052842/

* SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL? – https://lwn.net/Articles/1052734/

[1] We are humans, and even if we try, we are never completely neutral – and a publication like #LWN that targets the FLOSS community obviously will somewhat look at things from the view of its target audience.

#gpl #Linux #kernel #VIZIO #sfc

Some non-profits annoy you w/ Javascript pop-ups in your way when all you wanna do is just look at their website.

Some give you all sorts of text in those popups to guilt you into giving them money.

They do this because it works. Data shows it works, sadly.

We at #SFC don't do that 💩. We tell you what we need, we line up a match donation so your donation gets doubled, & we ask nicely.

We're cool like that. Can you take 2m at https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ &
give me a job for the rest of 2026?

Some non-profits annoy you w/ Javascript pop-ups in your way when all you wanna do is just look at their website.

Some give you all sorts of text in those popups to guilt you into giving them money.

They do this because it works. Data shows it works, sadly.

We at #SFC don't do that 💩. We tell you what we need, we line up a match donation so your donation gets doubled, & we ask nicely.

We're cool like that. Can you take 2m at https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/ &
give me a job for the rest of 2026?

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

This is the toughest time to work at a charity. When a charity posts its fundraiser, the total ask has been vetted 100 times: it's the amount that the org needs to keep going for the coming year.

Unlike your local PBS/NPR station, #SFC doesn't have a service we can interrupt to
pitch appeals for donations (& we probably wouldn't even if we did).

#SFC is short $48k with just days to go.

If you want me & my colleagues to work for #SoftwareFreedom in 2026, please give.

https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

This is the toughest time to work at a charity. When a charity posts its fundraiser, the total ask has been vetted 100 times: it's the amount that the org needs to keep going for the coming year.

Unlike your local PBS/NPR station, #SFC doesn't have a service we can interrupt to
pitch appeals for donations (& we probably wouldn't even if we did).

#SFC is short $48k with just days to go.

If you want me & my colleagues to work for #SoftwareFreedom in 2026, please give.

I support #SFC in their upcoming lawsuit against Vizio. Users of free software have the right to be able to access source code under the #GPL and manufacturers cannot continue illegally benefitting from the work of the #FreeSoftware community without allowing everyone to benefit!

I support #SFC in their upcoming lawsuit against Vizio. Users of free software have the right to be able to access source code under the #GPL and manufacturers cannot continue illegally benefitting from the work of the #FreeSoftware community without allowing everyone to benefit!

No question from me, just please keep up the good work. #sfc

Hey, I just realized we have a TLA collusion with a Championship league team in the UK, #SouthHamptonFC.

Our #SFC takes no positions or endorsements regarding UK football, although we have a tiny preference for #LiverpoolFC in Premier League because our friend, colleague & podcast producer (when we actually do one!) Dan Lynch¹ is a Liverpool supporter & was annoyed the only Premier League team I'd ever heard of was “Manchester United”.

To my credit, I also hate USA sport & UK sport equally. ☺

@tytso @rostedt @torvalds @cyberia

We've been reaching out in friendship first, as per #SFC's Principles but the reality is that most companies won't do the right thing until forced. I'm sure the demonization of our efforts doesn't help with their reaction to us

After years of relentless positivity I have to admit that there are limits to that approach. While many companies use Linux & some employ developers, we're inundated with violation reports. Companies simply ignore users again & again

@aral

AFIAK, SFC have the only #FOSS conference in existence that criticizes sponsors for their bad behavior each day in the opening remarks.

When was the last time #LinuxFoundation admitted publicly that their giant list of event sponsors are often bad actors? 2012, I think?

Some companies won't sponsors SFC events b/c they don't want to be criticized like this. #SFC's integrity is not for sale; if you buy ☕∀ our attendees, you gotta live with public-stated list of grievances.

cc: @karen

Adding to @karen's answer, #SFC has spent 100s of hours (mostly through @ossguy's excellent coalition building) regularly cooperating w/ the #RightToRepair movement incl. Right to Repair Coalition, iFixit, Consumer Reports, & others. We supported their efforts to pass legislation. The challenge is to get Attorneys General to actually enforce these laws. @tytso, I suggest you start a PAC to work on this. We'd be glad to help to the extent 501(c)(3) rules allow.

Cc: @rostedt @torvalds @cyberia

And we're starting the AMA now! We'll be keeping most of our comments and responses as replies, but we'll keep using the #SFC hashtag, so you can keep track of the whole conversation!

Here we go!