Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

Organising such a huge conference like #Fosdem requires lots of time and energy. Thanks to the #fosdem organising team, all the devroom organisers, the speakers, and all the attendees who contributed to the successful event. 👏👏👏👏

The fact that #FOSDEM is free to attend is also crazy. It makes the overall vibe different from other conferences. Sure you have to pay for travel and accommodation but if you have the money spare it's absolutely worth it especially if you want to meet specific people.

I've been four times, although only twice paid for by my employer at the time (one of the self-funded ones I travelled on my motorbike: 120 miles in the UK then about the same on Europe mainland to Brussels. Loved the experience)

There's nothing like #FOSDEM. Maybe if you're in a particular community that doesn't have a devroom so doesn't attract so many people it's not the same but finding people you know face to face and making new contacts is so valuable. But there's something for every open source developer.

Talk highlight? I've got to go with @edent's on the UK COVID tracing app. Even if you're not UK based it was a lesson in how government works and dealing with the abuse on Twitter. Superbly presented too.

"Across Canada and the U.S., a growing number of shuttered #golf courses are being rewilded.

"At least four courses in California, and a handful of others in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, have been bought by non-profits, cities or land trusts and turned into #nature preserves or #parks in recent years, leading to an increase in #wildlife sightings, plant species and tree cover."

#rewilding #ecology #landuse

https://www.rewildingmag.com/when-golf-courses-go-wild/

Copyright law affects everything we do on the internet. So why do some lawmakers and powerful companies still think they can write new copyright law behind closed doors, with ordinary internet users on the outside? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/dont-make-copyright-law-smoke-filled-rooms

We want to draw attention to one of the new Administration's Executive Orders that directly impacts the freedom tools that people around the world depend on to fight censorship, and protect their security and anonymity.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/executive-order-state-department-sideswipes-freedom-tools-threatens-censorship

Major internet freedom, censorship circumvention, and encryption tools made by groups like Tor Project, Guardian Project, and OONI have been severely impacted by Trump’s State Department executive order freezing foreign aid https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/executive-order-state-department-sideswipes-freedom-tools-threatens-censorship

What can Open Source do for Europe?

Open source is the basis for Europe’s critical digital infrastructure, from public services to cybersecurity. To keep it reliable and secure, we need sustainable support and long-term investments. Our CEO Adriana Groh will speak on a high-level panel at the EU Open Source Policy Summit about how Germany made the significant strides by building an organization like the Sovereign Tech Agency to strengthen the open source ecosystem in the public interest.

The Debian Publicity Team will no longer post on X/Twitter. We took this decision since we feel X doesn't reflect Debian shared values as stated in our social contract, code of conduct and diversity statement. X evolved into a place where people we care about don't feel safe. You are very much invited to follow us on https://bits.debian.org , on https://micronews.debian.org/ , or any media as listed on https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Publicity/otherSN #debian

We have one nomination for Community Council and we're extending the feedback period.

Want to get involved?

Do read: https://f-droid.org/2025/01/27/community-council-nominations-feedback.html