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FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

gyptazy.com

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Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#21

Post by hyperman1 »

yannick2k wrote: post #2

gyptazy provided a recap of the FOSDEM conference in Brussels, Belgium and it sounds great again. But his concerns about scaling are real and so, also I had often no chance to get a place for a talk. Wondering if it's still worth to get onsite next year or just to watch the recordings afterwards.

The number of times I heard this joke: Oh, nobody goes to FOSDEM anymore, it's way too crowded. But it's true. They have a serious overcrowding problem, with the queue outside longer than the number of seats, while the room is already packed.

The app had nice indicators of where the overcrowding was, though. It pushed me to less popular talks, where I discovered some hidden gems. I also came home with a big list of recordings to check out.

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#22

Post by yladiz »

larodi wrote: post #19

The contrast of this text is really awful, how does anyone even read it without reader mode?

It looks okay to me. The links are a bit too low contrast yes, but I think the normal text is black. The bigger issue is likely the font weight, it must be at like 200/300.

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#24

Post by pjmlp »

ongy wrote: post #10
torvald wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello from a packed devroom. You can't attend all 30+ tracks at once anyway, you need to see recordings afterwards anyway if you are remotely interested in consuming the conference. I'd say the experience is just as much about meeting the people behind all the internet handles, getting into a full lecture room one talk in advance and listening in to something you otherwise wouldn't, join something bigger than email l…

The most important realization about FOSDEM is really: There's no way you can fully experience it or do it optimal. It's really about making sure you get value out of it, listen to some interesting talks and meet some people.

It is been years since from my last time, however already about 10 years ago, it used to be either stick to a room, or stay close to a door and leave 10 minutes earlier, to try to get a spot in another talk, equally staying close to the door.

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#26

Post by joezydeco »

Am4TIfIsER0ppos wrote: post #23
larodi wrote: post #19

The contrast of this text is really awful, how does anyone even read it without reader mode?

Isn't it black on white? I can't see a color specified anywhere other than for

For me, it's a thin font in various shades from black to light grey, on a pure white background. I'm with the comment above, it's unreadable.

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#27

Post by positron26 »

wiz21c wrote: post #17
haunter wrote: post #13

> Not every open source project exists to solve geopolitical problems, and not every contributor arrives with a policy agenda. FOSDEM has always thrived on its diversity of motivations, and maintaining that balance will be increasingly challenging. It’s not just the FOSS scene but there is an increasing crowd (mostly on the internet) of “everything is political”. Honestly I’m not sure what will happen in the coming y…

with AI we have entered capitalistic computing, where it's the scale of computing that makes it political (before, it was a clever idea that brought the political thing, like MP3, encryption, etc.). As it is massive scale (think 2GWatt data centers), I'm afraid the poor little FOSS guy won't be able to be as relevant as before. It's not David against Goliath anymore, it's FOSS against billions of zombies. I happen to…

[flagged]

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#28

Post by Teever »

haunter wrote: post #13

> Not every open source project exists to solve geopolitical problems, and not every contributor arrives with a policy agenda. FOSDEM has always thrived on its diversity of motivations, and maintaining that balance will be increasingly challenging. It’s not just the FOSS scene but there is an increasing crowd (mostly on the internet) of “everything is political”. Honestly I’m not sure what will happen in the coming y…

Your comment reads to me like it will derail the conversation about FOSDEM into one about (American) politics and HN's policy regarding political stories.

Was that your intention?

Re: FOSDEM 2026 – Open-Source Conference in Brussels – Day#1 Recap

#29

Post by isodev »

haunter wrote: post #13

> Not every open source project exists to solve geopolitical problems, and not every contributor arrives with a policy agenda. FOSDEM has always thrived on its diversity of motivations, and maintaining that balance will be increasingly challenging. It’s not just the FOSS scene but there is an increasing crowd (mostly on the internet) of “everything is political”. Honestly I’m not sure what will happen in the coming y…

While tools and software itself is not political, the people behind it are. eg. When CEOs and founders and project leads leverage their audience for politics, then their tools are absolutely a political choice. Be it DHH’s latest fasho ramblings or every time you do ‘swift build’ - Tim Cook takes a selfie with a sex offender.

But let’s refocus on FOSDEM and the mission of libre software to allow us to exist without “corporate oversight” or to just build, with tools made by other humans.

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