Linux Foundation Europe Newsletter - November 2024

As we leave November, compliance continues to be an important topic for the open source community. While the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is an EU regulation, its impact is felt worldwide. In this edition, we share details about the upcoming Open Source Software Stewards and Manufacturers Workshop, where we will also kick-off our new Policy Special Interest Group (SIG). The event will bring together industry leaders to collaborate on compliance solutions for both upstream projects and manufacturers.

In this newsletter edition we will also include key takeaways from the LF Europe Member Summit, including the launch of the NeoNephos Foundation, and provide a look ahead to our 2025 roadshows. Read on for more updates.

Let's go!

Table of Contents

• News & announcements
• Updates from Linux Foundation Europe projects
• Top picks for reading/watching
• New publications and surveys from LF Research
• Training & certification deals
• Upcoming events
• Partner with Linux Foundation Europe for your next open source event
• Say “Hi!” to the LF Europe Team 👋
  
  

News & announcements 🗞️

Compliance is a global issue: let's work on it together

Compliance is not just an EU issue—It's a Global One

While the CRA is an EU regulation, its impact extends globally. To tackle this challenge we invite you to join us for our upcoming Open Source Software Stewards and Manufacturers Workshop, which will also kick off our new Policy Special Interest Group (SIG). This event will focus on the critical work needed to implement the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), bringing together Linux Foundation projects, members, and contributors to collaborate on community cybersecurity standards and compliance processes.

This workshop will provide a platform for industry leaders to work together on creating effective compliance solutions for both upstream projects and manufacturers. Request your spot here. 

LF Member Summit Keynote

The world is preparing for an era of regulations

Big changes are coming for open source software, with important talks happening about the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and Open Source AI. These discussions are not just happening in Europe—they will affect the global open source community.

At the Linux Foundation Member Summit in Napa, LF Europe announced the launch of the NeoNephos Foundation. This new project, supported by the European Union and SAP, will help Europe become more independent in digital technology. The foundation will create a new system that connects cloud services and edge computing, making them work together better. This will help improve security, performance, and meet European regulations.

Looking Ahead to 2025: LF Europe Roadshows

Tux Image from 🏎️ SuperTuxKart

As part of our commitment to open source collaboration and policy leadership, we are excited to announce plans for two roadshows in 2025.

Regulations and Compliance Roadshow: This event will focus on the latest developments in open source regulations, including the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and its impact on businesses. It will provide an opportunity for developers, policy makers, and industry leaders to come together, share insights, and discuss compliance strategies.

Finance and Open Source Roadshow: Focusing on the growing role of open source in the financial sector, this roadshow will explore how financial institutions are embracing open source technologies to drive innovation, security, and efficiency.

Do you want to contribute to these events? Get in touch for more information

About
LF Europe Roadshows are dynamic, one-day events held twice a year, designed to bring together grassroots community members, executives, and industry experts. These events offer a unique opportunity for networking, collaboration, and learning, creating spaces for in-depth discussions on critical topics that shape the open source landscape. For more details, check out the sponsorship prospectus. 

Measuring the Impact of Public Funding on Open Source Software Development

Funding plays a crucial role in ensuring the security and sustainability of critical open source projects. But how do different funding approaches impact these projects? LF Europe, alongside experts from Sovereign Tech Agency, CHAOSS, and NGI Commons, has created a toolkit to help evaluate and measure the effects of funding on open source development. This toolkit addresses the social, economic, and technological impacts—both direct and indirect—on projects and their wider ecosystems. Whether you’re involved in funding or developing open source software, this resource provides valuable insights to inform future funding decisions. Check out the full article

EU Open Source Policy Summit

 LF Europe is sponsoring the Open Source Policy Summit in Brussels, and Gabriele Columbro, our General Manager, will be delivering a keynote session.
Our participation remarks our goal to work together to foster collaboration and ensure that open source communities thrive across Europe. We believe supporting policy initiatives is key to navigating the evolving landscape and strengthening open source projects everywhere. Check out the agenda

Updates from Linux Foundation Europe projects 🚀

Open Mobile Hub:

Open Mobile Hub (OMH) is an open-source project hosted by the Linux Foundation Europe, designed to provide a unified framework for mobile app development. OMH acts as an abstraction layer above various Software Development Kits (SDKs), standardizing and simplifying how applications interact with underlying services, regardless of the service provider. By aligning with the Linux Foundation’s mission of fostering innovation and removing boundaries, OMH leverages the power of open source to reduce complexity, encourage flexibility, and drive technological advancement in the rapidly evolving landscape of mobile and web services. Learn more

OpenWallet Foundation:

In November, we kicked off a paper launch with the Swiss Government at the Singapore Fintech Festival, delivered a keynote at the Cross Border Summit in Hong Kong, and presented at the Linux Foundation Member Summit in Napa. Looking ahead, we're preparing for our first major event with the OpenWallet Forum at the High-Level Panel Meeting in Davos this January.

Servo:

November has been a great month for the Servo project. Servo TSC co-chair Rego Manuel reflected in his recent blog post about how far the Servo project has come and the work we have been doing. Servo team member Rakhi Sharma gave a talk at the Ubuntu Summit last month; you can watch the live recording on youtube and find the slides. Again last month at GOSIM China, TSC members Gregory Terzian and Jonathan Schwender gave talks about Solving Concurrency with (In-)formal Methods in Servo and Porting Servo to OpenHarmony.

We also made significant progress on layout, benchmarking, and OpenHarmony support in Servo. Some of the highlights are:

• Flexbox performance has been improved.
• Initial support for CSS Grid Layout.
• WebCryptoAPI: enabled by default SubtleCrypto.
• Improvements on tracing and better integration with perfetto.
• OpenHarmony: several fixes and basic IME and keyboard support.

Sylva:

The Sylva project is a collaboration initiated by major telecommunications carriers and network function providers across Europe, with the aim of creating a Telco-friendly platform. The project focuses on addressing key Telco and Edge use cases, specifically for applications such as 5G, O-RAN, and Edge computing.

The goal of Sylva is to develop open-source infrastructure that can serve as a CaaS (Cloud as a Service) platform, designed to meet the specific needs of European telecommunications operators. This platform will provide a common, flexible framework that enables operators and network function (NF) vendors to integrate and federate edge applications seamlessly. Learn more

Join the Sylva Community - We're setting the stage for a smarter, more connected world. 🌐

RISE

RISE sponsored the RISC-V Summit North America in late October. This long-running flagship event is a gathering place for RISC-V hardware providers across the world, with a focus on North America. RISE co-chair Barna Ibrahim delivered a keynote, Mobilizing the Open Source Software Ecosystem for RISC-V, that was very well received. RISE speakers helped to present RISC-V 101, a regular feature introducing basic concepts and giving pointers to resources.

There are many more on the way in all corners of the world, as well as related events such as SuperComputing 24, FOSDEM 2025, and Embedded World 2025,  where RISC-V International will have a presence, along with many RISE member organizations. Keep an eye on RISC-V International’s events calendar as well as the RISE blog, where we will discuss events regularly and also plan to post technical content related to RISC-V software. RISE is also finalizing RP011, our 11th RFP, and has launched a Developer Appreciation Pilot Program to recognize valuable work done in the ecosystem.

Top picks for reading/watching 📚

✨ RISE Developer Appreciation Pilot Program
The RISE Project has launched a Developer Appreciation Pilot Program to support work on the RISC-V software ecosystem. This initiative complements the existing RFP process by offering funding for smaller-scale projects.
More details.

✨ Developing Secure Software (LFD121)
This course, developed by the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), teaches security best practices to harden software against attacks, with a focus on open source development.
Learn more here.

✨ FINOS: Banks Harness Open Source Innovation to Transform Regulatory Reporting
Financial institutions are using open source to meet increasing regulatory demands while improving efficiency. Read how firms are innovating in regulatory reporting.
Read the blog.

✨ NeoNephos Foundation
LF Europe announced the formation of the NeoNephos Foundation, focused on building open and secure cloud-edge infrastructure. This foundation will drive collaboration on interoperability standards and provide blueprints for critical cloud infrastructure across sectors, supported by SAP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs.
Read the announcement.

Latest LF Research Report:

Cloud native computing has transformed IT over the past 15 years, revolutionizing application development and deployment with technologies like containerization, microservices, Kubernetes, and DevOps practices. Open source tools enable key capabilities such as scalability and decentralized management, making this approach integral to modern IT. However, the dynamic nature of cloud-native environments also brings new cybersecurity challenges, as each microservice and API introduces potential vulnerabilities. The 2024 Cloud Native Security Study by CNCF and Linux Foundation Research explores how organizations are addressing these challenges.

Training & certification🐧

SAVE THE DATE FOR CYBER MONDAY!

Psst...Don't miss our biggest promo event on December 2, 2024, with exclusive deals. Mark your calendars!

Upcoming events 🗓️

• Cephalocon in Geneva, Switzerland🇨🇭Dec 4–5, 2024
• Open Source Software Stewards and Manufacturers Workshop Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 Dec 10–11, 2024
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 in London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1–4, 2025 
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 Mar 23–26, 2026

• 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!

Partner with Linux Foundation Europe for your next open source event

Planning an open source event in Europe? Let Linux Foundation Europe amplify your event's reach! To our members, we offer promotion on our social channels and newsletters, connecting you with a broad audience of open source enthusiasts. 

Reach out if you'd like a Linux Foundation Europe team member to speak at your local open source event. 

As an independent, trusted supporter, and vendor-neutral hub for open source projects in Europe, we accelerate collaborative efforts, connecting public and private sectors and individual contributors. 

Say “Hi!” to the LF Europe Team 👋

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!