FOSDEM

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting) is a non-commercial, volunteer-organized European event centered on free and open-source software development. It is aimed at developers and anyone interested in the free and open-source software movement. It aims to enable developers to meet and to promote the awareness and use of free and open-source software.

FOSDEM is held annually, usually during the first weekend of February, at the Université Libre de Bruxelles Solbosch campus in the southeast of Brussels, Belgium.

History

FOSDEM was started in 2001 under the name OSDEM (Open Source Developers of Europe Meeting) by Raphael Bauduin. Bauduin has 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. It was an immediate success, with speakers from all over the world.

This encouraged the team to repeat the event. The F (of FOSDEM) was added at the request of Richard Stallman.