New blogpost:

Neil Brown

New blogpost:

"Reflections on my first day (ever) at FOSDEM"

I suspect that the fact that I'm hanging around my hotel room, writing this and doing other admin-y bits, rather says it all...

https://neilzone.co.uk/2026/02/reflections-on-my-first-day-ever-at-fosdem/

#FOSDEM #blog #people

frank goossens 🇧🇪🇪🇺

@neil that all sounds pretty overwhelming, which is one of the reasons I never went even if I'm from BE myself.

Thomas Depierre

@neil i get you. Same for me. The only reason i went and keep considering going is the EUC room. Because that is realistically one of the only occasions a hobbyist maintainer can lobby.

But that is personal and i gtfo asap outside of that

AnneH

@neil Not having definite start & end times for talks sounds like a nightmare! Sounds unfriendly for neurodiverse ppl. Confs I've been to always have "tracks" & synchronised times so that attendees can get organised about which talks they attend. It's then possible to see the video afterwards for the ones you missed.

Frederico

@neil As someone that loves the complete chaos of the event I understand your reflections and wish you the best.

To me it works kinda of a relief from the complete structured, organized and closed source that I usually had on my daily work.

Hidde

@neil also my first; agreed on many counts. It some rooms it felt like the heating was set super high where none was needed

Neil Brown

@annehargreaves I guess that it must suit some people, as it has been running a long time, and I am just a first time attendee!

Marcus Bointon

@neil it was lovely to finally meet you in person. I was entertained by your apparent fan club too!

Neil Brown

@Synchro Yes, a pleasure to finally meet you away from keyboard!

anticdent

@neil Your experience aligns with mine from more than 10 years ago. The absolute crush of people was overwhelming, for me. Some of my colleagues at the time were totally into it and energised. I never went back, despite feeling it was and still is very relevant to my interests.

Neil Brown

@anticdent Yes, it clearly works for some people!

¡a!n

@neil these are all the same reasons that I don’t go to fosdem anymore. Once I realised I was spending more time exploring Brussels than trying to get into a room that had people camped out on all the seats since 9am I realised it was time to stop going. I’m happy people enjoy it but it’s not for me

Paul

@neil I feel the same way, which is why I've never been to Fosdem (I like the idea, but there are far too many people, I prefer max 150 as it feels more like a community and I can talk to everyone if I want to). A good example of 'victim of its own success'.

A2 Engineering Services

@neil that was an interesting write up. My plans to attend have been thwarted for two years running. But perhaps that was for the best, I do not cope well with crowded places, that's why I rarely visit London. ( or even my nearest city Nottingham for that matter).
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Ike

@neil

Thank you for sharing. Your post was a good reminder to me that its ok and normal to have those types of feelings about events, and I dont have to follow the expected social script.

JF :debian: :verbike:

@neil

Pro tip: Sundays were great though as many people hungover staying in their hotel room maybe the new generation drinks less and that's not the case anymore

JF :debian: :verbike:

@neil
I went to Fosdem many times. First time was in 2001 (I was still in engineering school back then). We had some crazy coding geek camp at nights (in our hotel room)

It is great to see how popular this is but the last time I was there it was clear that this has outgrown the place.

Long story short I would not go back today. I watch a few bits on the recording instead. I am not involved in the OS community to make it worthwhile. Probably also a bit too old (mid 40s)?

MC

@neil I had pretty much the same experience last year. I don't want to go back.

And as for watching the streams, there are often problems. Just earlier today, for instance, all audio stopped working. Of course, since there's no A/V people in the devrooms, no one told the presenters. A cooperation with https://media.ccc.de/ perhaps?

My experience last year:

https://hack.org/~mc/blog/fosdem-2025.html

Jonathan Dowland

@neil fwiw it’s generally quieter on Sunday. Especially in the morning. Good time for stalls

Neil Brown

@andre Thanks!