This month’s newsletter comes at a pivotal moment of transformation, as open source continues to drive innovation and redefine the future of AI and technology on a global scale.
Rapid advancements in AI, particularly those fueled by open source innovations, are reshaping the technological landscape and challenging traditional views of innovation. As Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of The Linux Foundation, recently emphasized, “What DeepSeek proves is that we need thousands of eyes on the problem to come up with better solutions to make intelligence as close to free as possible.” This demonstrates how smaller, nimble teams using open source tools can rival industry giants, highlighting the immense power of collaboration and resource efficiency within the open ecosystem.
In the midst of these changes, Europe is emerging as a key player, poised to serve as a neutral ground for global open source efforts. Gabriele Columbro, General Manager of Linux Foundation Europe, recently commented, “It’s a momentous and exciting time in technology, and Europe has an opportunity to be a true neutral ground for global open source efforts, drastically growing its technology relevance globally in the process.”
A prime example of this leadership is the recent initiative launched by the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) with Linux Foundation Europe and supported by other industry stewards. This initiative focuses on formalizing community cybersecurity specifications, offering compliance guidance, and implementing critical security practices in open source projects. These efforts are set to play a major role in shaping compliance frameworks for the EU’s upcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and beyond. By driving forward security practices, this partnership underscores Europe’s commitment to open source as a secure, compliant, and innovative foundation for global technological advancements.
As open source becomes increasingly intertwined with regulation and technological progress, the conversations and collaborations taking place now will be crucial in shaping the future of AI, its economic impact, and Europe’s role in these innovations.
We’re excited to announce a joint initiative with OpenSSF to help open source maintainers, manufacturers, and stewards prepare for the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and upcoming global cybersecurity legislation. The effort will focus on developing essential compliance frameworks and tools to help the open source community understand and meet the regulatory requirements outlined in the CRA, with the goal of expanding efforts to address legislation around the world. Read more
At FOSDEM 2025, Linux Foundation Europe will be sharing a booth with CNCF at location K2-A-16. Visitors can explore key open source innovations and initiatives across a variety of exciting sessions. Some devrooms and talks to check out include:
Be sure to visit the booth and attend these exciting talks and devrooms to stay ahead of the latest trends and innovations in open source.
We’re excited to announce that our side event during FOSDEM has reached maximum registration! If you missed out on signing up, we’ve opened a waitlist. If you're no longer able to attend, please let us know so we can offer your spot to someone else. From 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, it's the perfect opportunity to connect and network with the open source community. The event is sponsored by CNCF, OpenSSF, LF Education, Sovereign Tech Agency, and LF Europe.
At LF Europe, we’re committed to keeping open source open and accessible to everyone. We’re passionate about fostering innovation and collaboration that makes a global impact. Whether you’re a developer, a business leader, or just curious about open source, we’d love to meet you at FOSDEM.
Make sure to stop by our booth (shared with CNCF) to say hi, learn more about our projects, and see how open source is shaping the future!
Foundations, including LF Europe, are at the heart of the open source ecosystem, supporting collaboration and addressing key challenges. In this panel, we’ll explore critical topics such as:
The conversation will highlight the importance of collaborative, ecosystem-wide solutions to build trust in open source and ensure its long-term benefits for society.
Gabriele Columbro, Executive Director of LF Europe, will also be delivering a keynote at the EU Open Source Policy Summit, where he will provide valuable insights on the transformative role of open source in Europe and beyond.
👉 Watch the Summit online on January 31st to hear his keynote and the full range of expert perspectives on the future of open source! Register here
Discover how LF Energy's EVerest software stack helped Park&Charge and Qwello refurbish outdated EV chargers, avoiding stranded assets and reducing waste. This case study exemplifies Explore how open source innovation is paving the way for a greener, more resilient Europe. Read more
Some quick updates to close 2024 as the OpenWallet Foundation and OpenWallet Forum prepare for a big 2025:
Servo hasn’t stopped moving on January, there has been many improvements in the project, next you can find some highlights:
Tables support has been greatly improved, to the point that Servo is now surpassing Chromium and Safari in WPT pass-rate for CSS2/tables/ folder.
Shadow DOM keeps evolving and we’re making progress there by implementing more features.
ReadableStream implementation is getting ready and we no longer need the one in SpiderMonkey.
There have been multiple improvements and refactorings on the script module, to move Servo closer to the specifications.
We’re working on a new WebView API and adding a minimal example about how to use it.
Regarding infrastructure, Servo has now 3 servers for self-hosted runners including Linux, Windows and Mac OS platforms. This cuts down our build times from over one hour to under 30 minutes.
Sylva:
🚀 Upcoming eventsThank you for being part of our journey as we continue building the future of cloud-native telco.
RISE rounded out 2024 with a very informative webinar about our activities in supporting the RISC-V software ecosystem. You can watch the video and read the slides from our website, where our blog has been picking up speed along with our sponsorship and engineering activities.
If you have an interest in supporting the RISC-V software ecosystem, we would also like to invite you to talk to any of our member companies at Embedded World in March, and to come and talk to RISE folks directly at RISC-V Summit Europe in Paris this coming May, and RISC-V Day Taipei, co-located with Computex. We’d also like to call out RISC-V Day Tokyo on February 27.
✨Supply Chain Security in Open Source
CRob sits down with Michael Lieberman, CTO and co-founder of Kusari, to discuss the future of supply chain security in open source. They delve into key projects like SLSA and GUAC, and Michael’s journey in securing open source ecosystems.
Listen here
✨New Energy Datasets for OpenSynth
LF Energy’s OpenSynth is growing! The Centre for Net Zero (UK) and TU Delft (Netherlands) are contributing valuable new datasets to drive innovation in energy research and modeling.
Explore the details
✨Preparing for DORA Compliance
With the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) now in effect, companies in critical sectors must meet its stringent compliance standards. This will significantly impact the open source community as third-party vendors are called upon to assist with compliance.
Read more
✨Open Source Maturity in Europe Report
Cailean Osborne and Mirko Boehm from the Linux Foundation Europe dive into insights from the "Open Source Maturity in Europe" report, comparing Europe’s community-driven approach with North America’s industry-focused initiatives. They discuss the challenges of public-private sector adoption, the role of open source in AI, and more.
Watch the episode
✨NASA & ESA Collaborate with Linux Foundation
At Open Source Summit, Kate Stewart from the Linux Foundation talks about Linux's increasing role in safety-critical environments, highlighting the ELISA project and collaborations with NASA and ESA. This initiative focuses on enhancing Linux for space and aerospace applications.
Watch the discussion
✨OpenWallet Forum Inaugural Event
The OpenWallet Forum hosted its first High-Level Panel Event in Davos, discussing global interoperability challenges in digital wallets and credentials. Organized by the ITU and Linux Foundation, this event marks a key step toward fostering digital trust.
Read the full story
What are the most commonly used free and open source software (FOSS) packages? In this report, LF Research partnered with OpenSSF and the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard to study the most common packages used at the application library level. With data from Software Composition Analysis partners FOSSA, Snyk, Sonatype, and Black Duck, the investigators captured detailed results of FOSS usage and key patterns of this usage that will help enhance the security of these packages.
Take advantage of a special opportunity this January to advance your career with Kubernetes and Linux certifications:
1️⃣ Choose from CKA, CKAD, CKS, or LFCS certifications
2️⃣ Purchase now to avoid the upcoming price increase in February
3️⃣ Use code JANUARY25 to save 35%
You'll have 12 months and 2 attempts to complete your certification. Don’t miss this chance to invest in your professional growth before the offer expires!
BackstageCon Europe London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1, 2025
CiliumCon Europe London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1, 2025
Open Source Summit Europe Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 Aug 25–27, 2025
To register for in-person attendance or virtual LF events, please view our full calendar of events here, and be sure to subscribe to our events newsletter. Check out our Flickr stream for photos of past events!
About
LF Europe Roadshows are one-day events held twice a year, offering a platform for networking, collaboration, and learning. These events bring together community members, executives, and experts for in-depth discussions on critical open source topics. For more info, check out the sponsorship prospectus.
Coming up:
1. AI, Regulations and Compliance Roadshow
2. Finance and Open Source Roadshow
If you’d like to stay updated with what we’re up to at LF Europe, subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Discord, Mastodon & BlueSky!
We are excited to invite you to join the newly launched Bluesky channel of the Linux Foundation Europe for open source initiatives. We aim to create a platform where open source enthusiasts and experts can come together to discuss, collaborate, and work towards advancing the open source movement. Please check this link to follow.
If you have ideas for new projects, please feel free to contact us at info@linuxfoundation.eu. We would be glad to explore how we can support your efforts.
Finally, please also consider supporting LF Europe by participating (it’s free for existing Linux Foundation members, not for profit and public sector entities).
On behalf of the LF Europe team, we look forward to hearing from you!