Hello FOSS Enthusiast!

Welcome to our monthly newsletter from FOSS United! Your journey into the vibrant world of Free and Open Source Software begins here!

We're excited to bring you the freshest updates, news, exciting projects, policy tweaks, and the buzz around our ongoing initiatives.

Highlights from FOSS United:

Wondering what's happening in FOSS United? Here are a few updates from our side:

• Rethinking Grants and some more 💰

  To date, we’ve disbursed over INR 2.5 Crore towards strengthening the Indian FOSS ecosystem. With lessons from the last 5 years and multiple conversations with grantees, the community, and GB members, coupled with insights gathered at the Maintainers summit, we are cooking up some changes to the FU Grants program. Check out the first draft of the FU Grants Thesis, let us know what you think about it. In line with this vision, we’ve also put together an exclusive community for Indian FOSS maintainers. Check it out.

  FOSS United Grant Thesis

• GCPP Tech+Policy Batch 11 scholarships are here!

  Reason #1839 why YOU as a technologist should care about tech-policy and build capacity to engage in these conversations as citizens is the latest madness of the whole Zoho-Digital Sovereignty discourse. In a report by The Hindu about the migration of over 12 lakh email accounts of Union employees to Zoho, a senior Union official was also quoted saying that Zoho’s workspace suite was activated to ensure that government employees do not use open source applications, because apparently they “could compromise security of files”. Not only is this misinformation, but it also seems to be contrary to the Union’s own “Policy on Adoption of OSS for Govt. of India”. Who decides what software powers a nation? Who defines “secure”? The answers aren’t just technical, they’re political, ethical, and economic, and on that note, applications for the GCPP Tech+Policy Course are now open, and yes, Scholarships for the 11th batch are on the table. Learn how to read between the lines of code and policy. Early Bird Deadline is 7th December 2025.

  Further readings:

  • In an op-ed for the Indian Express, Sai Rahul Poruri writes how the answer to Big Tech is not Indian Big Tech.
  • Prateek Wagre writes in TechPolicy Press, “India’s Search for Digital Sovereignty”
  • KITE’s CEO, Anvar Sadath K, pointed out the misleading claims in The Hindu’s report.

• This month in Forklore ✨

  We've been busy talking to maintainers, the people pouring their nights and weekends into projects you probably use. Here are the features from this month:

  • Shivani Bhardwaj and Suricata
  • Saket Choudhary and pysradb
  • Hariharan Umapathi, and open-tamil-php
  • Rishikesh Ajit and Standard Agent

  Want to know which files they'd delete if no one was watching? What advice they'd whisper to their 20-year-old selves? What keeps them coding when burnout comes knocking? It's all at forklore.in go browse the confessions. Know someone who should be on this list? Add to the lore.

• First Commit with Sreelakshmi Jayarajan!

  On the third episode of First Commit with FOSS Club by FOSS United, we have Sreelakshmi Jayarajan. These sessions are helping students make their first open source contributions with mentorship from seasoned contributors. After two successful sessions this year, the third one is happening this Saturday! Learn more

• SFLC.in wins EFF Award 2025!

  Speaking of defending digital freedoms, SFLC.in was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Award 2025 for Defending Digital Freedoms at the annual ceremony in San Francisco on September 10, 2025. The recognition celebrates SFLC.in's advocacy for online civil liberties, privacy, and open access to knowledge.

We hope you found this month's updates insightful and exciting. Your active participation and feedback are what make   our community thrive. If you have any questions, or suggestions, or need further information, feel free to reach out   to us at foundation@fossunited.org

We invite you to join our Telegram group. It's a fantastic  way to stay connected with the FOSS United community and be the first to know about our latest initiatives.

Thank you for being an integral part of our journey. Let's keep fostering innovation and collaboration in the FOSS   world.

"May the FOSS be with you"