The award is given to a person who contributed to the introduction of the culture of Free Software.
The European SFS Award 2025 was delivered to Jean-Baptiste Kempf.
Laudatio European SFS Award 2025
Matthias Kirschner (Free Software Foundation Europe – FSFE) and Raphael Barbieri (LUG BZ – Linux User Group Bozen-Bolzano-Bulsan)
Raphael
There’s a program most of us have used – on laptops, phones, tablets or desktops computers. It might have run on screens in supermarkets or shops.
It’s small, fast, friendly, and seems to “understand everything you throw at it”.
I’ve always thought of it as “the program that eats everything.”
Matthias
This amazing software did not come from a giant technology company with a huge budget. It began more than twenty years ago – as a modest experiment by a few students at an engineering school.
They wanted to solve a problem they identified. Nothing fancy – just a student project to tinker, experiment, share, and have fun.
No one knew that those first lines of code written for “network 2000” would one day reach billions of users.
Raphael
Like many student projects, it almost faded away when graduation came and the contributors had other priorities. But one young engineer, who had joined the group in 2000, refused to let it die.
He reorganized the code, inspired new contributors, and slowly turned a university experiment into a world-class piece of software.
Matthias
He built a healthy community fostering the software. Hundreds of volunteers joined. They contributed by programming, testing, auditing, helping others, with translations, improving the design, or promoting the software.
Thereby the community grew and people started using the software on every platform – GNU/Linux and other Unix like operating systems, Windows, Android, or MacOS and iOS.
For many people running non-free operating systems, it was the very first Free Software they ever installed. For many people running Free Software, it saved them from installing and booting into a proprietary operating system.
Raphael
With this success our winner was offered tempting deals – big money, advertising, corporate buyouts. Every time, he gently said no.
Because it was not about maximizing profit. It was about maximizing freedom for computer users.
Matthias
To protect that freedom, he later founded a non-profit organization – so the software would always belong to its community. He also founded a company to support the technical side – keeping development professional while staying true to the values of software freedom.
Under his leadership, the initiative has reached billions of downloads, maintained and added amazing features – all without losing its soul.
Raphael
And there’s another thing this community is famous for – its sense of humor.
Their symbol? A bright orange-and-white traffic cone. Legend has it that the original students used to collect these cones after late nights out.
When it came time to pick a logo, they chose it proudly – a playful symbol of creativity, chaos, and collaboration.
Matthias
Nowadays, that little cone has become an icon you find on a huge amount of computers worldwide. At conferences their contributors wear the cones on their heads with pride as a clear sign of who they are and what they stand for.
Raphael
And the person behind it? He’s not just a brilliant engineer. He’s a leader, a mentor, and a true advocate for software freedom.
In 2018, his contributions were honored with the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite – the first Free Software developer ever to receive that distinction.
Yes – a real knight of software freedom.
Matthias
His “Holy Grail” was not fame or fortune – it’s freedom: the freedom for billions of people to watch, listen, and share multimedia files without restrictions or surveillance.
He has shown the world that integrity, community, and a bit of humor can change how we experience digital media.
Raphael
Today, we celebrate someone who has made it possible for all of us to enjoy open, universal access to media – and who continues to prove that Free Software is powerful, beautiful, and fun.
Matthias
It is our great pleasure to present the European SFS Award 2025 to the president of the VideoLAN non-profit, one of the lead developers of VLC media player, the founder of VideoLabs, the bearer of the traffic cone, and a true knight of Free Software….
Matthias & Raphael
Jean-Baptiste Kempf!
