Editing Software Freedom Day

{{Short description|Celebration of free software}}
{{primary sources|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:SFDLogo.svg|thumb|250px|right|Software Freedom Day logo]]
[[File:Budi Luhur University Software Freedom Day 2018 UI and UX seminar.jpg|thumb|Software Freedom Day 2018 seminar at [[Budi Luhur University]], Jakarta, Indonesia]]
'''Software Freedom Day''' ('''SFD''') is an annual [[list of minor secular observances#September|worldwide celebration]] of [[Free Software]] organized by the [[Digital Freedom Foundation]] (DFF). SFD is a public education effort with the aim of [[awareness raising|increasing awareness]] of Free Software and its virtues, and encouraging its use.

SFD was established in 2004 and was first observed on 28 August of that year. About 12 teams participated in the first Software Freedom Day. Since that time it has grown in popularity and while organisers anticipated more than 1,000 teams in 2010<ref>[http://fred.dao2.com/sfd-work-update/ Fred Muller's blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926140028/https://fred.dao2.com/sfd-work-update/ |date=26 September 2019 }} (President of Software Freedom International)</ref> the event has stalled at around 400+ locations over the past two years, representing a 30% decrease over 2009.

Since 2006, Software Freedom Day has been held on the third Saturday of September. In 2025, this event will be held on the 20th of September.

[[File:Wikimedia_Philippines_at_the_Software_Freedom_Day_2011.jpg|thumb|Students lined up to register at the Software Freedom Day 2011 event in the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines]]

== Organization ==

Each event is left to local teams around the world to organize. Pre-registered teams (2 months before the date or earlier) receive free [[promotional item|schwag]] sent by DFF to help with the events themselves. The [http://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org SFD wiki] contains individual team pages describing their plans as well as helpful information to get them up to speed. Events themselves vary between conferences explaining the virtues of Free and Open Source Software, to workshops, demonstrations, games, planting tree ceremonies, discussions and [[Linux User Group#Installfests|InstallFests]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/StartGuide#What_should_we_do.3F |title=SFD Startup Guide (What should we do) |access-date=8 September 2010 |archive-date=13 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913050433/http://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/StartGuide#What_should_we_do.3F |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:SFDProfesorManresa.jpg|thumb|Professor Rodrigo Gastón Manresa conference at the Software Freedom Day 2016 event in the Superior Institute of General Manuel Belgrano 6001, Salta, Argentina]]

=== Past events ===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Time
! Teams
! Countries
! Source
|-
| 28 August 2004
| 12
| N/A
| [http://archive09.linux.com/feature/118245 linux.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730033306/http://archive09.linux.com/feature/118245 |date=30 July 2013 }}
|-
| 10 September 2005
| 136
| 60
| [http://archive09.linux.com/feature/118245 linux.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730033306/http://archive09.linux.com/feature/118245 |date=30 July 2013 }} [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2005 SFD 2005 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621181003/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2005 |date=21 June 2012 }}
|-
| 16 September 2006
| 180
| 70
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2006 SFD 2006 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621181008/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2006 |date=21 June 2012 }}
|-
| 15 September 2007
| 286
| 80
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2007 SFD 2007 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621181013/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2007 |date=21 June 2012 }}
|-
| 20 September 2008
| 563
| 90
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2008 SFD 2008 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421231226/http://softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2008 |date=21 April 2012 }}
|-
| 19 September 2009
| 700
| 90
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2009 SFD 2009 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621181023/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2009 |date=21 June 2012 }}
|-
| 18 September 2010
| 397
| 90
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2010 SFD 2010 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519153022/http://softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2010 |date=19 May 2012 }}
|-
| 17 September 2011
| 442
| 87
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2011 SFD 2011 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728231531/http://softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2011 |date=28 July 2012 }}
|-
| 15 September 2012
| 301
| 73
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2012 SFD 2012 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616035945/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2012 |date=16 June 2013 }}
|-
| 21 September 2013
| 316
| 81
| [http://softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2013 SFD 2013 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818063316/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2013 |date=18 August 2013 }}
|-
| 20 September 2014
| 197
| 59
| [http://softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2014 SFD 2014 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727091456/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2014 |date=27 July 2014 }}
|-
| 19 September 2015
| 141
| 47
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2015 SFD 2015 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221192848/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2015 |date=21 December 2016 }}
|-
| 17 September 2016
| 128
| 51
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20160830095108/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2016 SFD 2016 map]
|-
| 16 September 2017
| 88
| 44
| [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2017 SFD 2017 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926140102/https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2017 |date=26 September 2019 }}
|-
| 15 September 2018
| 71
| 37
| [https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2018 SFD 2018 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123092611/https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2018 |date=23 November 2022 }}
|-
| 21 September 2019
| 59
| 36
| [https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2019 SFD 2019 map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921224814/https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/map/index.php?year=2019 |date=21 September 2022 }}
|-
|19 September 2020
|18<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2020|title=SFD 2020 Teams|access-date=2 January 2022|archive-date=17 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117192947/http://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|18
|[https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2020 SFD 2020 wiki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922020507/https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2020 |date=22 September 2022 }}
|-
|18 September 2021
|60<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2021|title=SFD 2021 Teams}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|28
|[https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2021 SFD 2021 wiki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921230445/https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2021 |date=21 September 2022 }}
|-
|17 September 2022
|43<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2022|title=SFD 2022 Teams|access-date=17 September 2022|archive-date=29 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629124109/https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2022|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|20
|[https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2022 SFD 2022 wiki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922200647/https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2022 |date=22 September 2022 }}
|-
|16 September 2023
|49<ref>{{Cite web |title=SFD 2023 Teams |url=https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/CategoryTeam2023 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|30
|[https://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/2023 SFD 2023 wiki]
|}

Note on the figures above: it is difficult to find figures of the early years. The maps on the SFD website are only reliable after 2007, however some years such as 2009 saw extra teams from two different sources which did not "officially" register with DFF. There was about 80 teams from China and a hundred from the Sun community (OSUM) who heavily subsidized goodies for their teams.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.java-virtual-machine.net/5064.html |title=Mirrored SUN PR announcement |access-date=14 May 2012 |archive-date=26 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926140022/http://news.java-virtual-machine.net/5064.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early year of SFD the map was an optional component not connected with the registration script and therefore some teams did not go through the troubles of adding themselves.

== Sponsors ==

In the past, the event has been sponsored by entities like [[Canonical Ltd.]], [[IBM]], [[Sun Microsystems]], [[DKUUG]], [[Google]], [[Red Hat]], [[Linode]], [[Nokia]] and [[MakerBot Industries]].

Currently, this event is supported by [[Earth Cause]], [[Linode]], [[Mailman]], [[Musescore]], [[Digital Peak]], [[Free Software Foundation|FSF]], [[FSFE]], [[Joomla]], [[Creative Commons]], [[Admin Magazine]], [[Linux Journal]], [[Ubuntu User]] and [[Woman Tech]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Digital Freedom Foundation - Home | url=https://www.digitalfreedomfoundation.org/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210014556/http://www.digitalfreedomfoundation.org:80/ | access-date=2024-12-25 | archive-date=2013-02-10}}</ref>

Each local team can seek sponsors independently, especially local FOSS supporting organizations and often appears in local medias such as newspapers and TV.<ref>[http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/en/sfd/press-coverage Press coverage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918055242/http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/en/sfd/press-coverage |date=18 September 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
*[[Outline of free software]]
*[[Document Freedom Day]]
*[[Hardware Freedom Day]]
*[[Culture Freedom Day]]
*[[Public Domain Day]]
*[[International Day Against DRM]], promoted by the [[Free Software Foundation]] in its [[Defective by Design]] campaign

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.softwarefreedomday.org Software Freedom Day]

[[Category:Intellectual property activism]]
[[Category:International observances]]
[[Category:Unofficial observances]]
[[Category:September observances]]
[[Category:Saturday observances]]
[[Category:Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month)]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 2004]]