---
slug: spring-2026-update
title: Spring 2026 Update!
authors: [trob,nxf99,fabby]
tags: [funding]
---

We recently completed a four month intensive development sprint, supported by the [Open Technology Fund](https://www.opentech.fund/), focused on improving support for the Eastern European context in ButterBox. Our previous community building and adoption efforts for ButterBox have focused on Latin America and Southern Africa. This latest round of work helped us expand our understanding, threat and risk modeling, and feature set to better support people and communities facing internet shutdowns and lack of connectivity in the Eastern European region. Through our collaboration with regional partners, we successfully tuned the solution to better meet their needs, while collaborating to produce new localized documentation and content packs.

**Overall key achievements included:**

- User Interface & Localization: A new portal UI was implemented for easier customization, better privacy control, and documentation, and content packs were localized for the regional context.
- Network & Connectivity: Support for multiple boxes on shared networks with automatic DNS resolution was added, alongside successful integration of encrypted delay-tolerant messaging services (DeltaChat+MadMail).
- System Stability: A new Debian foundation improved stability for simultaneous users and an updated database option improved the message board scalability and performance.
- Maintenance & Security: New methods for offline updates and administrative management were established, and a comprehensive tamper resistance guide was developed to protect the ecosystem.
- Research & Collaboration: Testing confirmed the viability of long-range wireless networks, while local partners provided ongoing feedback and testing support.

In summary, this rapid four-month sprint supported a major step forward for the capabilities, security, and relevance of the ButterBox project for the Eastern European context and threat model. 

[Read the full report](pathname:///files/FINAL_REPORT_RCBox_ExtendEast-April_2026.pdf)

{/* truncate */}
