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Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) is an annual
Due to the
As usual, it was held in Brussels, with 948 speakers spread over 875 events and 67 themes, using the same infrastructure as the previous edition at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The programme was similar to that of 2023 with a FOSDEM Fringe and a new set of activities named FOSDEM Junior designed as workshops for children/teenagers from 7 to 17 years old. The keynotes of this edition were about the historical value of women in technology by Laura Durieux (a recurring topic of keynotes and talks in FOSDEM to improve social diversity in the FOSS communities) and the achievements of Outreachy. The Open Source Observatory (OSOR) participated in several activities of the conference, among which was a satellite workshop.
As usual, it took place in Brussels with 1118 speakers spread over 1074 events and 78 tracks, showing that the size of the event is growing steadily. As usual beyond BoF, also FOSDEM Fringe and FOSDEM Junior has been organized. The number of keynotes at this edition has increased compared to 2023 and 2024.
File:FOSDEM'12 - Opening Talk.jpg, FOSDEM-2012 Opening Talk
File:2017-02 FOSDEM 12.jpg, FOSDEM 2017
File:FOSDEM 2024 03.jpg, FOSDEM 2024
File:FOSDEM 2024 01.jpg, FOSDEM-2024 Plenary Discussion-Talk
File:FOSDEM 2023 Bruxelles 77.jpg, FOSDEM-2023 Stickers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
File:FOSDEM 2024 02.jpg, FOSDEM 2024 Stands section
File:Outreachy organizers celebrate 1,000 interns at FOSDEM 2024 01.jpg, FOSDEM-2024 Outreachy Keynote commented in the main text
File:FOSDEM 2023 Bruxelles 35.jpg, FOSDEM-2023: The NOC ( Network Operations Center) of FOSDEM
software engineering
Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...
conference. It is non-commercial and volunteer-organized with a focus on free and open-source software
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free ...
. Initiated in 2000, it is usually held during the first weekend of February, at the of the Université Libre de Bruxelles
The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...
(ULB) in the southeast of Brussels, Belgium
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
.
History
FOSDEM was started in 2000 under the name Open Source Developers of Europe Meeting (OSDEM) by Raphael Bauduin. Bauduin said that since he felt he lacked the brains to properly contribute to the open-source community, he wanted to contribute by launching a European event in Brussels. Bauduin teamed up with Damien Sandras. The team repeated the event. The F (of FOSDEM) was added at the request ofRichard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman ( ; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
.
The Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985. The organisation supports the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
's ceremony for the Award for the Advancement of Free Software
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) grants two annual awards. Since 1998, FSF has granted the award for Advancement of Free Software and since 2005, also the Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit.
Presentation ceremonies
In 1999 the a ...
was held at FOSDEM from 2002 to 2006 (for the awards for 2001 to 2005).
The event has been held annually in February since then, with growing numbers of visitors, talks and tracks. It is organized thanks to the help of many volunteers.
The conference attracted about 4,000 visitors as of 2011. By 2013 this grew to 5,000 attendees. Since 2017, FOSDEM attendance is estimated at over 8,000 visitors.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, FOSDEM 2021 and 2022 were held entirely online.
In the following editions (2023 to 2025) of FOSDEM the main structure comprised keynotes, main tracks, developer rooms, lightning talks, stands and Birds Of a Feather (BOF, which is a freer format spread over 3 different rooms). As in previous editions, the activities were held at the Université Libre de Bruxelles using a total of 35 rooms.
FOSDEM 2023
Source: It was organised again in Brussels, celebrating 25 years of open source, with a total of 787 speakers spread over 781 events, and 63 tracks. Beyond the core activities FOSDEM also organised the FOSDEM Fringe as a set of independent events also related to free and open source. The number of attends was about 8000 for this edition, the two external keynotes speakers of this edition came from the Linux Foundation and NASA open source.FOSDEM 2024
Source:As usual, it was held in Brussels, with 948 speakers spread over 875 events and 67 themes, using the same infrastructure as the previous edition at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The programme was similar to that of 2023 with a FOSDEM Fringe and a new set of activities named FOSDEM Junior designed as workshops for children/teenagers from 7 to 17 years old. The keynotes of this edition were about the historical value of women in technology by Laura Durieux (a recurring topic of keynotes and talks in FOSDEM to improve social diversity in the FOSS communities) and the achievements of Outreachy. The Open Source Observatory (OSOR) participated in several activities of the conference, among which was a satellite workshop.
FOSDEM 2025
Source:
As usual, it took place in Brussels with 1118 speakers spread over 1074 events and 78 tracks, showing that the size of the event is growing steadily. As usual beyond BoF, also FOSDEM Fringe and FOSDEM Junior has been organized. The number of keynotes at this edition has increased compared to 2023 and 2024. Jack Dorsey
Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American businessperson, who is a co-founder of Twitter, Inc. and its CEO during 2007–2008 and 2015–2021, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairman of Block, Inc. (deve ...
's scheduled talk representing Block, Inc. caused controversy due to Dorsey's involvement in selling Twitter to Elon Musk, together with doubts about the actual background of the speaker in open-source activities, as well as, the ethical concerns of Block, Inc. current business. The Open Source Observatory (OSOR) of the European Commission participates in several developer rooms dedicated to policy and public use of open source.
Gallery
See also
* List of free-software eventsReferences
External links
* {{Commons category-inline Articles containing video clips Free-software conferences Linux conferences Recurring events established in 2001