The European Open Source Awards 2026, an annual program recognizing outstanding contributions to open-source software, has announced this year’s winners.
The awards were presented on January 29, 2026, in Brussels by the European Open Source Academy, an EU-backed initiative promoting open source across Europe.
The top honor, the Prize for Excellence in Open Source Software, was awarded to Greg Kroah-Hartman, a long-time Linux kernel maintainer known for overseeing stable kernel releases and contributing to core subsystems. The award recognizes his decades of technical leadership and stewardship in one of the world’s most widely used open-source projects.
Frank Karlitschek, founder and CEO of Nextcloud, received the Special Recognition for Business & Impact award. The award highlights his success in building a commercially viable open-source company focused on data sovereignty, privacy, and self-hosted collaboration.
The Academy also recognized contributions beyond software development. Jenny Molloy received Special Recognition for Advocacy & Awareness for promoting open-source principles in research, policy, and open science hardware. Her efforts have made scientific tools and knowledge more accessible and reusable.
Matthew Venn received Special Recognition for Skills & Education for his work in advancing open silicon design education. As the founder of TinyTapeout, he has lowered barriers to learning and participation in this field.
Finally, Special Recognition for Community Impact was awarded jointly to Roberto Di Cosmo and Stefano Zacchiroli, founders and directors of Software Heritage. Their project maintains a long-term public archive of source code, preserving software as a shared cultural and technical resource.
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