This year again I have been going to FOSDEM for work, but also to record a couple interviews for my funding podcast and to hang out with some old friends.

FOSDEM is a place where the nickname can become faces. People are almost always kinder offline, when they remember the human. Because it’s the largest OSS conference in Europe FOSDEM is a good opportunity to meet people from friendly and competing projects alike.

Here is how I plan my trip, pack, stay, and enjoy FOSDEM!

Packing for FOSDEM

I like to travel light and try to fit all my gear in my beloved North Face Borealis. I not only need clothes, but I also need to bring my A/V kit with me to record talks at the Matrix Fringe event, interviews for my podcast, but also to snap pictures of the event.

A picture of a camera, a lens, a case for batteries and a case for microphones in a soft gray pouch. The pouch is on a green sofa.

I usually travel on the days before and after FOSDEM, which is 2 days long, so I pack 4 changes of clothes. In practical terms that means 4 t-shirts, 4 boxers, and 4 pair of socks that I cram into my EagleCreek compression cubes.

I also bring a (non electric) toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and a beard trimmer in a small toiletry pouch. That’s right, it means I need to be careful about not staining my sweater or my pants!

My thin but warm jacket is a life saver, since temperatures usually go between -2°C and 10°C (20-50°F) at this period of the year in Brussels. FOSDEM doesn’t have a dress code but everyone is dressed fairly casual. No need to worry about suits/shirts or dresses unless you’re attending one of the more formal events in the week leading to FOSDEM such as the European Open Source Academy or the EU Open Source Policy Summit.

Normalize casual wear for business!

As someone who used to wear a suit all day in previous jobs, I am also on a quest to normalize cargo pants, t-shirts and sweaters as business attire because they’re the most comfy and efficient clothing.

Staying in Brussels

FOSDEM happens at Université Libre de Bruxelles, a university located in the South of Brussels. Some of its buildings are plain gorgeous!

An old building made of bricks, with a very pointy roof.

The socializing usually happens in the city center of Brussels, where the bars and restaurants are plenty.

I usually stay in a hotel near Louise tram station. That’s conveniently placed halfway between the ULB and the city center. I usually don’t take the breakfast option because it’s very basic and Brussels has plenty of bakeries to get fresh croissants from.

A photo of a very crowded tramway.

Tram line 2 and 8 can bring you from Louise to ULB in a few minutes. You don’t have to buy a ticket: you can pay for your trip with your credit card on board. Beware that the tram is usually very crowded right before and right after FOSDEM!

Going to Brussels

I have the privilege to live in France, the country neighboring Belgium where FOSDEM happens, in a well connected city. Europe is pretty compact, especially as compared to the United States, so going by train is a realistic option for me.

It’s also my option of choice because trains are fast (close to 300km/h ≈ 235 mph), they bring you to the city center so you don’t have to take a taxi on arrival, and above all it’s the option with the least carbon impact.

A photo of a screen in a train car. The screen reads "Our current speed 281 km/h."

When traveling by train in France, I can’t recommend taking first class tickets enough, if the difference in price is below €20. You have a large seat, a power socket, room for your legs, and sometimes you can even get solo seats. FOSDEM is exhausting enough, you don’t want to arrive in Brussels already beaten up by the trip!

A photo taken from a train seat in first class. There is a large tablet on which is a MacBook Pro laptop. There is a charging block plugged to the seat.

Another life saver for me is to take earplugs to cancel the train noise. I’ve been very happy with my pair of Loop Engage 2 Plus. They remove background noise and I can still hear announcements.

I had a Metro connection in Paris between Gare Montparnasse and Gare du Nord. To my great surprise (as a former Parisian) the IDF Mobilités app worked very well to purchase €2 Metro tickets you can use from your phone.

A photo of a very long waiting line in front of metro tickets vending machines.

Buying tickets from your phone is a good way to save a ton of time, because the waiting lines at vending machines in Montparnasse are always gigonormous.

Before, and at FOSDEM

Fringe events

You may want to arrive a few days before FOSDEM to attend one of the Fringe Events. This is a series of project-centric events happening in smaller committee before FOSDEM, for communities to gather and spend some time discussing their internals, as opposed to FOSDEM itself where projects show what they have been up to to others.

A photo of a large crowd of people smiling and making goofy faces. There is a large Matrix flag hanging from the roof.

Booths & talks

Booth set-up starts at 08:30 CET, and tear down is officially at 18:00 CET. In practice it’s often a little later. As the Matrix Foundation person in charge of the stand, I need to be there during build-up and tear-down to ensure everything is set-up and removed properly.

One of the perks of arriving early is that you get to see FOSDEM at its quietest. Before the stands are set-up and the crowded arrives, the K building almost looks like a liminal space.

A photo of a long empty corridor. Tables on the right are completely empty, aligned with the wall, and covered in white tablecloth. All lines converge to the center of the picture.

FOSDEM gets crowded very quickly though! There are about 8000 visitors over the weekend, and the same corridor becomes completely packed less than 2 hours later. That makes wearing a mask very difficult even as someone who genuinely cares about it. Wearing a mask as a stand holder or visitor muffles your voice, making conversations particularly difficult to follow.

The same corridor as the previous photo except it's now full of people and the stands have been set-up.

The Matrix booth has always been in building K, where most of the other booths are too, although some are in the other buildings too. Once the booth is set-up and I handed over to volunteers, I either go to other projects booths to have a chat with them, or to some devrooms.

Devrooms are tracks owned by a project or team. The team is in charge of a room for half a day or a day, and can build a schedule around their topic of interests. The devrooms are often crowded, which is not a huge problem since the talks are recorded. It’s still possible to catch the speaker after their talk for questions.

A photo of a university room full of people listening to a speaker that we can't see.

Eating at FOSDEM

Lunch rush hour is between 11:00 and 15:00 CET, but it’s fairly crowded all day. Food trucks offer basic but warm meals that are enough to eat quickly before going to your next talk.

A photo of a large alley with food truck. It's full of people and there are long waiting lines.

Make sure to stop by Mozilla’s Cookie Truck to Accept their Cookies with your coffee! They give them away for free and you only have to choose between chocolate or raisin cookies, so the waiting line usually goes fairly fast.

A photo of a person inside a pink food truck giving cookies to visitors.

Making the most of it

Like in many conferences, you won’t be able to attend all the sessions you planned to. There’s only so much time, there are too many interesting talks, and the devrooms are often packed. All the conferences are recorded and can be replayed online.

My favorite track at FOSDEM has always been the hallway track. I try to bump into representatives of the projects I like, stop by their booth, share a word with a speaker whose subject resonates with me.