August 26th, 2024

Sovereign Tech Fund to Invest €686,400 in FreeBSD Infrastructure Modernization

The FreeBSD Foundation will receive €686,400 from Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund to modernize its infrastructure, focusing on security and developer experience, starting August 2024 and continuing through 2025.

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Sovereign Tech Fund to Invest €686,400 in FreeBSD Infrastructure Modernization

The FreeBSD Foundation has announced an investment of €686,400 from Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) aimed at modernizing the FreeBSD infrastructure. This initiative, set to commence in August 2024 and continue through 2025, will focus on five key projects: enhancing zero trust builds, streamlining CI/CD automation, reducing technical debt, modernizing security controls, and improving Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) tooling. The investment is intended to bolster security, regulatory compliance, and the overall developer experience within the FreeBSD community. This effort aligns with recent priorities outlined by the U.S. Office of the National Cyber Director regarding the security of open source software. Fiona Krakenbürger, co-founder of STF, emphasized the importance of this investment for enhancing digital infrastructure and security hygiene, which will benefit various sectors including public, research, and commercial users. Deb Goodkin, Executive Director of the FreeBSD Foundation, expressed gratitude for the funding, highlighting its role in maintaining FreeBSD's reputation for security and reliability. The STF is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and aims to strengthen the open source ecosystem sustainably.

- The Sovereign Tech Fund is investing €686,400 in FreeBSD infrastructure modernization.

- The project will focus on enhancing security, developer experience, and regulatory compliance.

- Work will begin in August 2024 and continue through 2025.

- The initiative aligns with U.S. cybersecurity priorities for open source software.

- The FreeBSD Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting the FreeBSD Project.

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Link Icon 2 comments
By @bell-cot - about 2 months
Very fortunately, it does NOT sounds like this has anything to do with vulture capitalists trying to control/buy/monetize OSS -

> The Sovereign Tech Fund (https://www.sovereigntechfund.de) supports the development, improvement, and maintenance of open digital infrastructure in the public interest. Its goal is to strengthen the open source ecosystem sustainably, focusing on security, resilience, technological diversity, and the people behind the code.