FOSDEM's most notable new features

FOSDEM turns Brussels upside down again with a weekend packed with Free software, open communities, and activities for all tastesThis completely free event has established itself as the major European (and almost global) meeting point for developers, public administrations, companies, and anyone curious to experience the FOSS ecosystem firsthand. For context, see the A complete guide to understanding FOSDEM.

For two days, ULB's Solbosch campus is transformed into a veritable open-source city, with talks, devrooms, booths, impromptu hacks in the hallways and a community atmosphere which is hard to find at other, more corporate conferences. In addition, around the official weekend, meetups, social gatherings, and parallel activities are organized, enriching the experience for those who want to make the most of their trip.

General updates on FOSDEM 2026: figures, pace and organization

In this edition, the organization once again demonstrates why FOSDEM is considered one of the most intense events on the FOSS scene: they have gathered More than a thousand speakers, more than a thousand sessions, and dozens of thematic tracks distributed throughout the campus. The program includes 1216 speakers, 1079 events and 71 tracks, which gives an idea of ​​the scale of the event.

The activities are divided into 37 theaters with continuous programming throughout the weekendThese events are grouped into different types of sessions: keynotes, main tracks, devrooms, lightning talks, booths, BOFs, and specific workshops like FOSDEM Junior. For those who prefer a global view, the official website offers a page with all events listed in a compact format… although the organization itself warns that it can be quite overwhelming.

The entire schedule is shown in Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) And during the event itself, there's a live streaming page that updates every few minutes to show what's being broadcast in each room. This way, even those who can't travel to Brussels can follow much of the content from home.

To better navigate the controlled chaos that is FOSDEM, the organization also provides a summary of which track occupies each room at any given timeso that it is easier to decide where to move without going completely blindly through the corridors.

Furthermore, a classic element of FOSDEM's open philosophy is that All program data can be downloaded in raw formatsdesigned so that third-party apps, scripts or custom tools can reuse them and display the agenda in the way that best suits each user.

Location, access, and hybrid experience

As usual, FOSDEM is held in the Solbosch campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), in Brussels, BelgiumThe organization sums up the place with its typical humor: Europe, Earth… and they are not wrong, because the public comes from practically every continent.

Although the heart of the event remains in the ULB buildings, FOSDEM adopted a hybrid approach years ago, maintaining a powerful offering of live broadcastsThe main halls and many devrooms offer live streaming, and throughout the weekend the live page is updated with what's happening at any given moment. For those who can't attend in person, it's a great way to experience the conference.

Access to the event remains Completely free and no registration required.This is something that's almost unheard of at tech events of this size. It fits perfectly with the community spirit: anyone can come along, participate in talks, browse the booths, or simply soak up the atmosphere.

Within the campus, the layout of buildings and rooms can be a bit maze-like for first-time visitors, but the organization offers maps, clear signage, and mobile apps with indoor navigation Thanks to integration with projects like c3nav (nav.fosdem.org), which help you get to the right room without getting lost too often.

Session categories: from keynotes to BOFs

The FOSDEM program is structured around different types of activities, each with its own style and objectives, but all revolving around the knowledge sharing and collaboration around free softwareThe main categories are: keynotes, main tracks, devrooms, lightning talks, stands and BOFs.

Los keynotes These are the talks that open and close the conference. They usually cover less technical and more cross-cutting topics within the FOSS world: community, governance, digital ethics, sustainability models, public policy, etc. The closing talk helps to bring some mental order after the avalanche of information over the weekend.

The main tracks These presentations are selected directly by the FOSDEM program committee and focus on specific topics of high interest (infrastructure, security, language ecosystems, open hardware, public administration, etc.). They combine proposals received through the call for papers with presentations invited by the organizers.

The essence of the event, however, lies in the developer rooms or devroomsThese are self-managed spaces for projects or communities that share a technological or thematic focus (for example, databases, documentation, CI/CD, desktops, containers, privacy, etc.). These rooms host talks, live hacks, open debates, and informal meetings among people who work on the same thing year-round.

The lightning talks They are another of the star formats. FOSDEM 2026 features 23 lightning talks of 15 minutes each, designed to get straight to the point: presenting a project, sharing an idea, or explaining a concept directly. This time constraint forces the message to be condensed, allowing the audience to discover a wide variety of tools and projects in a short amount of time.

Los stands These are tables or small spaces where projects, foundations, or companies linked to the open ecosystem showcase their work, answer questions, demonstrate projects, and distribute stickers, brochures, merchandise, and other promotional materials. The list of projects with booths can be found on the official website on a dedicated page.

Finally, the BOFs (Birds of a Feather) These are informal meetings for groups who share a common interest and want to sit down and talk calmly. FOSDEM has three meeting rooms that can be booked in 30- or 60-minute blocks. The sessions are open to the public, so anyone can join if there's space and the topic interests them.

Special activities: FOSDEM Junior, Fringe and side events

Beyond the "official" program of talks, FOSDEM is increasingly focused on activities designed for new generations, local community and satellite events that are organized around the main weekend.

One of the pillars in this regard is FOSDEM JuniorA collaboration between FOSDEM, Code Club, CoderDojo, developers, and volunteers to offer workshops and activities to girls and boys aged 7 to 17. The idea is for them to discover technology in a practical and fun way, without needing any prior experience.

Previous editions have featured all kinds of activities: microcontrollers, computer-aided embroidery, plotters, video game development, mobile apps, Raspberry Pi projects, or an introduction to JavaThe specific program for each year is published on the dedicated FOSDEM Junior page, with details of schedules, recommended ages and requirements.

Meanwhile, the so-called FOSDEM Fringe It brings together independent events that are clearly aligned with the spirit of the congress: development sprints, hackathons, project meetings, practical workshops, and community gatherings, usually spread across Thursday, Friday, and Monday of the event week. The FOSDEM website itself maintains a list of these events for those who wish to extend their stay.

Furthermore, organizations and companies within the ecosystem often take advantage of the congress's momentum to set up More informal meetups in bars or coworking spaces in BrusselsIn 2026, for example, OpenProject co-organized a community meeting with XWiki, Nextcloud, and Passbolt in a central city bar: a get-together without presentations, without slides, simply people from the open source world wanting to talk and have a drink.

OpenProject, digital sovereignty and community at FOSDEM 2026

Among the many themed tracks and projects present this year, the participation of OpenProject, which arrives at FOSDEM 2026 with two presentations focused on the evolution of its platform and on digital sovereignty in the European public sectorFurthermore, they are strengthening their presence with a community meetup and job opportunities for those who want to work remotely on a European FOSS project.

The first of the talks, entitled «OpenProject: A Year Full of UpdatesThis session, led by Wieland Lindenthal, reviews the most significant improvements made to OpenProject over the past year, with particular attention to advancements in portfolio management, highly demanded service management features, and internal notes in work packages.

Beyond the summary of new developments, the talk looks ahead and presents the long-term technical strategy to introduce real-time collaboration throughout the productThe goal is to enable geographically dispersed teams to co-edit work packages, meeting minutes, or project documentation as seamlessly as collaborative document editing in the cloud today.

Along this path, OpenProject is working closely with BlockNote, a rich text editor already used by solutions like openDesk Notes or Mijn Bureau DocsAt FOSDEM, they explain how they plan to integrate BlockNote to seamlessly transition from a quick draft to a well-structured project plan, and how BlockNote extensions will allow other platforms to integrate task and work management features directly into their workflows.

Another key point of the talk is the Migration strategy from Atlassian Jira Data Center to OpenProject and from Confluence to XWikiThis course is designed for organizations that want to regain control over their collaboration and documentation tools. It covers the main steps of the process and best practices for minimizing friction during the change.

OpenProject's second presentation at FOSDEM 2026 focuses on the public sector: «From Vendor Lock-in to Resilient Digital Ecosystems: Leading Change in Europe's Public Digital Infrastructure", led by Rosanna Sibora. Here the focus is not so much on the purely technical aspects, but on How to manage change when a public administration decides to move from proprietary solutions to open ecosystems.

Rosanna shares change management strategies based on real-world experiences of digital infrastructure transformation and migrations from Jira to OpenProjectinsisting that technology is rarely the biggest problem. The difficult part is usually changing mindsets, workflows, and organizational cultures that have been established for years.

Among the learning objectives addressed in the session, several lines of action stand out: shared leadership in the change process, creating a sense of ownership regarding FOSS solutions within administrations, building a solid business case for open source, and a narrative adapted to public decision-makers.

Practical aspects are also covered, such as Identify key use cases for the transition, promote the use of open tools in pilot departments, train internal champions to act as role models, and ensure that the change is not perceived as a technological imposition.but as an opportunity to build resilience and reduce dependence on suppliers.

To round off its participation, OpenProject is co-organizing a Community meetup in Brussels together with XWiki, Nextcloud and PassboltThe idea is simple: no talks, no slides, no rigid agenda, just people from the open source community chatting about projects, challenges and experiences over drinks in a city bar.

During the congress they also take the opportunity to remind everyone that They have several open remote-first positionsThese initiatives aim to strengthen their commitment to European digital sovereignty. The positions they are seeking include Senior Account Managers for France, senior Full Stack developers, Product Tech Leads, and Customer Success Managers, all within a framework of free software, European culture, and distributed work.

FOSDEM's Treasure Hunt: Challenges, Prizes and a Playful Spirit

FOSDEM isn't just about sitting in rooms listening to lectures; there's also room for play and creativity. A clear example is the annual treasure hunt or scavenger hunt, which celebrates its second edition in 2026It is a series of five linked challenges that participants must solve to arrive at a final answer.

The dynamic is simple but addictive: Each solved challenge leads to the next, until the sequence is completed and the final solution is discovered.No further instructions are given beyond the official announcement; from there the group has to make do with clues, riddles and their own creativity to progress.

The organization makes it very clear that Teamwork is not only permitted, but encouraged.Getting together with colleagues or meeting new people during the event to solve the challenges is almost the whole point of the activity. However, to maintain fairness, no hints are given until the first day is over: during those first few hours, you have to rely exclusively on collective ingenuity.

The key physical point of the obstacle course is the Infodesk K (and also H, where some of the challenges can be found)In these areas, you can see the printed challenges and, when someone believes they have the final correct answer, they must go to Infodesk K to validate it with the person in charge of the game.

The first to complete the course are rewarded: The first two people or teams to arrive at Infodesk K with the correct solution will receive a special FOSDEM prize., delivered in order of arrival and after validation by the staff member who coordinates the activity.

In the 2026 edition, the scavenger hunt was solved relatively quickly by several people, and the main prizes were claimed soon after. Nevertheless, the organizers decided to maintain an additional incentive: Anyone who continued to correctly solve the final challenge and visited Infodesk K could receive a small consolation prize., as a way of recognizing the effort.

The activity has become so popular that The 2025 treasure hunt remains an attraction for those who want to face an additional challenge.Those with a puzzle-solving spirit can also try to solve last year's puzzle, as it remains accessible to anyone who is interested.

Official mobile application for the FOSDEM program

With hundreds of talks, dozens of rooms, and overlapping schedules, keeping up with FOSDEM without technological assistance can be utter chaos. That's why the [platform/app/tool] is so useful. mobile application that offers the complete event program and allows you to customize the schedule directly from your phone or tablet.

The app allows you to navigate the content in several ways: it is possible View the program by day and by room, in a grid designed for both mobiles (where landscape mode offers a very comfortable view) and tabletsEach session includes details such as the names of the speakers, the start time, the room, additional links, and a detailed description.

It also can search and filter through all chatsThis makes it easy to quickly find sessions on a specific project, technology, or speaker. Those who want to plan their schedule in advance can mark sessions as favorites, create a favorites list, and export it if desired.

Another key feature is time management. The application allows Set alarms for one-on-one chats and add events to the device's personal calendarso that it's harder to miss that session you're so interested in because of a lapse in attention or because you're standing in the hallway for too long.

During the congress itself, the tool takes care of track program changes and update automaticallyDepending on each user's settings. If a talk changes room or time, this is the quickest way to find out and avoid ending up in the wrong room.

The participatory dimension is also included: the app incorporates a system for Vote and leave comments about FOSDEM's talks and workshopsThis helps both the organization and the speakers to better understand what has worked, what can be improved, and what topics generate the most interest.

Regarding integration with other systems, the application connects with services such as c3nav for indoor campus navigation (nav.fosdem.org) and the FOSDEM Room Status API (api.fosdem.org)This makes it easier to find your location and know the real-time capacity.

The interface is available in a long list of languages ​​(although session descriptions are usually kept in English), including Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German and Austrian variant, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese from Portugal, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and TurkishThis makes the basic use of the app much more accessible to people across Europe and beyond.

On a technical and community level, the app is based on the EventFahrplan project, originally developed for Chaos Computer Club eventsAll source code is published on GitHub, with a specific branch adapted to FOSDEM 2026, and the community is encouraged to collaborate: bug reports are very welcome, especially if they detail how to reproduce the problem step by step.

Featured projects and booths: LibreOffice and the Prusa debate

Among the long list of projects setting up a stand at FOSDEM 2026, one of the most established is LibreOffice, the free office suite supported by The Document FoundationIn this edition, the LibreOffice community returns to Brussels with its usual space to chat with users, contribute to the dissemination of the project and encourage new people to collaborate.

At the LibreOffice booth, you can find community members answering questions and explaining things. how to participate in areas such as development, QA, translation, or documentation and distributing promotional material: stickers, brochures and even coasters for beer or coffee, very much in line with the social atmosphere on campus during the weekend.

On the other hand, a striking issue has emerged within this year's community conversation: the possible absence of Prusa Research among the FOSDEM 2026 standsThis 3D printer company has typically been a highly appreciated presence among a large part of the public, both for the technical quality of its demonstrations and for the friendly service of its team.

For many regular attendees, the Prusa stand is practically a mandatory stop: it's the ideal place to See the latest printer innovations up close, chat with technical staff who are genuinely passionate about the product, and maybe even get a discount code. (sometimes close to 10%) for future purchases or upgrades.

In 2026, however, those closely following the preparations for the event have noticed that Prusa is not listed in the list of accepted stands published by FOSDEMNor does FOSDEM appear on Prusa's own community events calendar. This has generated some concern among those who were expecting to see systems like INDX in action or to evaluate updates like the MK4S in person.

The debate intensifies when one considers that this moment would be especially interesting for that Prusa explain in person its new OCL license (House-Specific Open Source Hardware License)In recent times there has been controversy between Prusa and influential figures in open hardware about what exactly "open source" means in the context of hardware.

Some people in the community fear that Prusa's possible absence from FOSDEM 2026 is a This is a bad sign of the growing distance between the company and the open source hardware ecosystem.Others, however, believe that the OCL represents an honest attempt to find a balance between openness and incentives to continue innovating, even though it limits certain freedoms that we are used to in the world of software.

In any case, the conversation about licensing, business models, and community engagement remains very much alive, and FOSDEM continues to be one of the best places to discuss these issues face to face, both in the rooms and, above all, in the corridors and in the impromptu meetings that arise during the weekend.

Feedback, videos and how to relive FOSDEM 2026 from home

Once the marathon of talks, stands and meetings is over, the FOSDEM organization pays special attention to collecting Comments, constructive criticism, and ideas for improving future editions are welcome.Feedback is considered a fundamental part of the event.

Anyone who attended (in person or remotely) can Send your overall impressions by email to FOSDEM's official feedback addressBoth positive comments and suggestions for improvement are valued, and participants are encouraged to share specific experiences to help refine the organization in subsequent years.

If the comment is directed at a specific session or speaker, the ideal thing to use the feedback links that appear under each event in the programIn this way, the evaluation is directly linked to the talk in question, and those who presented can see firsthand what worked and what didn't from the audience's point of view.

In parallel, the organization works during and after the congress to Publish the videos of all the talks on their respective program pages.The process takes some time, but you can check the processing status of each recording to see what is already available and what is still in the queue.

Those who prefer to download the content manually can also access it. FOSDEM video archive, organized by roomsand download the recordings that interest you to watch them at your leisure, reuse them in internal training or simply keep them as a technical reference.

This approach ensures that FOSDEM is not just a two-day event, but rather become a permanent source of documentation and knowledge on the state of the art of free and open source softwareAnyone, from anywhere in the world, can catch up on the key talks from the edition by reviewing the recordings and associated material.

With all this, FOSDEM 2026 is once again established as an essential meeting point for those who experience free software and open source in their daily lives: from the program's impressive figures to activities for young people, including talks on digital sovereignty, debates on hardware licenses, the challenge scavenger hunt, the collaborative mobile app, emblematic stands like LibreOffice's, and the many conversations that only happen when thousands of people with the same interests come together for a weekend in Brussels.