December 7, 2022 - December 31, 2022

Join youth hacking 4 freedom competition

Are you up to hacking on a software project of your choice? Do you want to meet like-minded people of your age from around Europe? What about getting the chance to receive one of our cash awards and to travel to Brussels to meet the other winners and great people from the Free Software movement? Then join the YH4F competition!

Organiser: Free Software Foundation Europe

Register here

If you like coding, tinkering, and having fun with software and if you are up for a challenge, FSFE have something exciting for you: “Youth Hacking 4 Freedom” (YH4F), the hacking competition for young people from Europe! The only conditions for you to join are that you are 14-18 years old and you live in Europe.

Make sure to register until Saturday, 31st of December 2022.

Decide yourself what you code

There is no set challenge or topic for the software you should develop. Embrace your imagination and create what is the most interesting to you. It can address an everyday problem you have, or it can be just fun. It can be a standalone program that you write from scratch, or you can modify and combine existing programs.

The possibilities are endless. A vital condition for the competition is that the program should be Free Software, so that others can use, study, share, and improve the code in the future.

From Sunday 1st of January 2023 to Friday 30th of June 2023, you will have six months to come up with an idea for a Free Software program and write it. Enjoy the coding period.

Present your program to top experts

Your software project will be in good hands, as it will be evaluated by Free Software experts. The jury members excel in software development and are deeply involved in the Free Software movement. At the same time, they are excellent people to work with.

After you submit your program, you will have the chance to present it to them, as part of your evaluation. This is a nice opportunity for you to discuss your idea and your achievement with experienced people in the field.

Awesome awards and experiences await

Based on the jury’s grades, the winners will be determined and announced. The first six places will be awarded cash between 4.096€ and 1.024€ each. The Award Ceremony of YH4F will take place in Brussels in October 2023.

All the winners will be invited there with covered costs. The Award Ceremony will have top speakers in the field of Free Software and it will be a time of celebration. You made it! Your hard work paid off. Now you can enjoy 2 educative and exciting days in Brussels and socialise with fellow winners.

For more detalis about the event click here.

Graphic by Lisa Schmidt