Talk Beginner

"End Of 10"! Coordinating a Windows 10-to-Linux upcycling campaign across Free Software communities worldwide

Approved

Session Description

Windows 10 security updates end on 14 October 2025 [0], which is KDE's 29th birthday and also, ironically, International E-Waste Day [1]. Hundreds of millions of functioning devices [2] could become e-waste, disposed in large part in countries in the Global South, including India. This means manufacturing and transporting new ones, which is perhaps the biggest waste of all: hardware production alone can account for over 75% of a device's CO2 emissions over its lifespan.

The FOSS community has an opportunity to coordinate a global, unified campaign over the next 6 months to raise awareness about the environmental harm of software-driven hardware obsolescence, while upgrading users from Windows 10 to GNU/Linux directly to keep those devices in use and out of the landfill. Let's think big and act boldly! In this talk I will engage attendees from LucknowFOSS and the Indian Free Software movement to brainstorm contributing to this campaign in the context of India. The goal is to collaborate with Indian FOSS and environmentalist communities to make Windows 10 the last version of Windows end users ever use.

[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/lots-of-pcs-are-poised-to-fall-off-the-windows-10-update-cliff-one-year-from-today/

[1] https://weee-forum.org/iewd-about/

[2] https://www.canalys.com/insights/end-of-windows-10-support-could-turn-240-million-pcs-into-e-waste

Key Takeaways

Software-driven environmental harm driven by Windows 10 End Of Life in October.
More e-waste, more carbon emissions in producing new devices, more software bloat consuming energy.
GNU/Linux is a solution: it is faster, cheaper, and can keep those devices safely in use.
"End of 10" campaign = global cross-community FOSS project
- Outreach to Windows users
- Focus on local support networks through FOSS groups, repair collectives, installation events, etc.
- Opportunities to join the campaign: What topics / issues resonate in India? Which Indian FOSS communities would like to get involved?