With the German Pirate Party loosing its seat a strong voice against surveilance is lost.
They also supplied NGOs with information directly from the legislative process, allowing them to act faster (and sometimes you have to be very fast to comment on minor changes with great effect) I hope somebody else at least partly takes on this role.
Kubuntu 8.04.
It was the last release with KDE 3 and very polished for its time. Many applications from back then have vanished by now. Kopete was Magic, supporting all IM protocols (Including Yahoo video calls!), Amarok was so reliable and sleek.
Of course most things have improved since then, but I remember it fondly.