Nowadays, most people use a mobile phone as their primary computing device. Therefore, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has launched a powerful new initiative called Librephone.
FSF's Librephone aims to close the last gaps between existing Android distributions and full software freedom. The project prioritizes improving free software work built upon operating systems like LineageOS, replacing proprietary modules.
The FSF announced Librephone on October 14, 2025, near the time of the FSF's 40th anniversary. FSF executive director Zoë Kooyman stated that the FSF is ready to bring freedom to cell phone users because their commitment to freedom has not changed, even though technology has progressed.
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Why Mobile Phones Are Still Not Truly Free
The FSF has worked on software freedom for forty years. A lot of work has been done already in mobile phone freedom. However, mobile phone computing still remains mostly nonfree. This nonfreedom exists because of many nonfree software "blobs". These blobs commonly appear even in operating systems that are mostly "free software".
Librephone is the FSF's project to free up those blobs. The project aims to close the final gaps between existing Android distributions and full software freedom.
FSF board member John Gilmore funded the initial work. Gilmore explained that he enjoyed using LineageOS, which removes Google's control and spyware from standard Android phones.
However, he discovered that LineageOS still links in significant proprietary binary modules copied from the phones’ firmware. Because he did not accept this sad situation, Gilmore looked for people to replace those proprietary modules with completely free software.
What Librephone Will Do (And What It Won't)
Librephone's ultimate goal is to reverse-engineer and replace these obstacles until they achieve mobile phone freedom. This effort is an ambitious, long-term project. It will certainly take years, engineers, and research.
The FSF wants to build upon and improve the current state of freedom in existing projects. The FSF has supported previous free software mobile phone projects, such as Replicant.
- What Librephone IS: Librephone will research and reverse-engineer the nonfree blobs that virtually all modern SoCs (System-on-Chips) use today. They are prioritizing the free software work done by the not entirely free software operating system, LineageOS.
- What Librephone is NOT: The FSF is not developing new hardware. Furthermore, the FSF is not creating a new free mobile phone operating system (OS).
Meet the Librephone Leader
The FSF hired Rob Savoye to lead the technical project. Savoye is a great engineer with decades of experience in embedded systems, free software, and project management. He is known for his work on projects like DejaGNU, Gnash, and OpenStreetMap.
Savoye said he looks forward to working toward a freedom-supporting phone. He hopes to help users gain control over their phone hardware.
The Initial Plan
The first step focuses on research and definition. This initial phase will last approximately six months.
- Selection: First, they will triage existing packages and device compatibility. They need to find a modern phone that has the fewest and most fixable freedom problems.
- Documentation: Next, they will document how the Linux kernel uses these proprietary blobs.
- Reverse Engineering: This documentation will help them understand what they must do to legally reverse-engineer the blobs using clean room techniques.
Savoye acknowledged that making fully free software for a modern commercial phone will not be quick, easy, or cheap. However, the project benefits from standing on the shoulders of giants who have already completed most of the work.
Once enough funding and interest exist, programmers can code free implementations, using a detailed specification.
Help Bring Full Freedom to Mobile Phones!
The FSF needs you! It cannot succeed without your help. You can join this effort by offering your support or making donations. This project needs volunteers, even if you do not have engineering skills.
You can find more campaign information online at https://fsf.org/campaigns/librephone. You can also visit the project's own website at https://librephone.fsf.org.
If you want to connect with the community, join the IRC channel at irc.libera.chat, channel #librephone. Please join the community today!
