The Distinguished Service in Software Freedom Award is given to an individual who has shown commitment over years to supporting and sustaining software freedom. Not just a technical achievement, this award is presented (along with a cash gift) as a recognition of incredible dedication to the people and projects that live within the free software ecosystem.
Free software projects can't meaningfully exist without a place online to live, and can't thrive without tools for their contributors to communicate and collaborate. For over 18 years, Lance Albertson has devoted himself to providing this critically needed infrastructure for hundreds of free and open source projects through his work at [Oregon State University's Open Source Lab (OSUOSL)](https://osuosl.org/). Besides doing technical work to maintain and improve these services, he has selflessly mentored and supported generations of the Lab's students as they develop their own skills. Even prior to OSUOSL, he contributed to free software as a developer and package maintainer for Gentoo Linux.
SFC Community Organizer and Non-Profit Problem Solver Daniel Pono Takamori -- himself an OSUOSL alum -- presented the award on FOSSY's keynote stage, sharing, "Lance Albertson has helped the free and open source community in innumerable ways. Whether it's training and supporting students, helping them work with large open source projects and foundations, or just learning what it's like to work as part of a team in the open. Providing critical support for invaluable free software projects; infrastructure that without which we wouldn't have the robust ecosystem able to power today's modern technology stacks. I'm so proud and honored to be able to give this award to Lance."