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Read and share online:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2026/april.

Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update — being read
by you and 236,797 other activists.

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.

Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
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Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French or Spanish.

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.

• https://www.fsf.org/news/2026-job-opportunity-fsf-engineering-and-certification-manager

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.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-ring-offers-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.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2026-anthropic-settlement

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.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-discord-doesnt-deserve-your-unquestioning-trust

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.

• https://fsfe.org/news/2026/news-20260316-01.en.html

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.

• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/uk-politicians-continue-miss-point-latest-social-media-ban-proposal

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!

• 2026-03-02


• 2026-03-09


• 2026-03-16


• 2026-03-23


• 2026-03-30

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

• https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Main_Page

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.

• https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Hardware/Computers

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.

• https://www.gnu.org/thankgnus/2026supporters.html

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.

• https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#dev

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=59606&cs=b185ee56523524c48ae4457cb567d859_1775082754_168

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=59606&cs=b185ee56523524c48ae4457cb567d859_1775082754_168

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.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.