don't permit us to disclose at the moment) and our <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/02/conservancy-launches-copyright-assignment-system/">self-service

copyright assignment form</a> enables FOSS contributors to, without overly

burdensome paperwork, entrust their copyrights to a nonprofit dedicated to

software freedom and rights of users all over the world.</p>

<p>As software based technology becomes more pervasive in our lives, it's vital

that we communicate the importance of software freedom to the wider population.

In that vein <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2022/may/12/introduction/">we've created a video</a>

(narrated by our Executive Director Karen Sandler) that introduces

the ideas of software freedom, and specifically what Software Freedom

Conservancy does. We also did a lot of public writings about some of the

important issues this year. From <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/feb/09/kuhn-neo4j-purethink-expert-report/">our perspective on the Neo4j suit</a>

to <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2023/aug/15/exit-zoom/">highlighting problematic behavior from proprietary software companies</a>, you can find out more about our speaking engagements

below.</p>

<div style="overflow: auto">

<div class="picture-small right">

  <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/videos/sfc-introduction_1080p.mp4"><img src="https://sfconservancy.org/videos/sfc-introduction-video_poster.jpg" alt="Thumbnail of video showing a tree and Software Freedom" /></a>

</div>

</div>

<h3 id="Highlights">Highlights from some of our projects</h3>

<div data-read-more="Read more about our projects&hellip;">

  <p>For the third year in a row, we've raised, administered and/or

     facilitated $1.7 million to improve software freedom directly! This

     includes contractors, interns and students, administrators, and grants

     for creation, distribution and maintenance of free software projects.

     Part of the unique position of our organization is the expertise

     necessary to do this kind of work.</p>

Bringing in new communities in the Open Science and Humanitarian spheres,

Outreachy continues to lead the way in providing opportunities to historically

excluded and under represented people in technology. Celebrating their 1000th

intern (!!!), there were celebrations all over the world and the participants

from all 17 years of it's history came out to be in community with each other.

</p>

<p><b>OpenWrt</b> released <a href="https://openwrt.org/releases/23.05/notes-23.05.0">version 23.05.0</a>

which continued adding hardware support for myriad devices, now supporting over

1790 devices, over 200 of which were added since last year! There is also now

support for various Rust packages, and major improvements to the core

components. OpenWrt remains one of the most important alternative firmware

projects, ensuring user rights in the ability to install (free) software on

your own devices.</p>

<p><a href="https://computinginresearch.org/">The Institute for Computing in

Research</a> completed it's fifth year, supporting 32 students in 3 cities this

summer. Now providing training, education and real world software experience to

high school students in 3 cities and exploring additional cities that may join

next summer. These research internships are a great way for high school

students to get involved in real academic research while also being exposed to

the ideas and principles of software freedom.</p>

<p><a href="https://inkscape.org">Inkscape</a> just celebrated their 20th

anniversary! Coinciding with their new <a href="https://inkscape.org/news/2023/11/18/big-small-release-inkscape-131-is-out/">1.3.1 release</a>, Inkscape is as active as ever and proving itself one

of the most vital free software projects, full of longevity and an ever

growing community. This year has been a big year of development, marking some

very exciting developments for the project. Creation of a new <a href="https://inkscape.org/*membership/blog/october-bug-accelerator-2023/">bug accelerator program</a>, a migration to <a href="https://inkscape.org/*membership/blog/august-gtk4-migration-tavmjong/">GTK4</a>, another year of <a href="https://inkscape.org/*membership/blog/customizable-canvas-controls/">GSOC participation</a> and new support for <a href="https://inkscape.org/*membership/blog/may-ai-extension-2023/">Adobe Illustrator import</a>!</p>

<p>Our member projects had a range of in person and online events this year.

<b>Inkscape</b> hosted an in-person meeting in Bensberg, Germany. A great meeting