Attending FOSS events is one of the most magical things you can do. If you have never been to one, here are three reasons to participate in an event organized mainly by its community.
it's pretty different than a "commercial" event: The amount of marketing BS and product pitches is minimal; sometimes, it never happens. You have a maximum ratio of
practical talks: time.It focuses on freedom: The whole concept of the FOSS is about freedom. You would be able to feel the spirit of that in every action. I can't explain it with concrete examples, but imagine the feeling of finally doing something you like, such as taking a day off work and going hiking.
You learn a lot: The free/libre and the open-source software ecosystem is changing constantly and fast. The community launches new protocols, technologies, RFS, and projects daily and modifies them every millisecond. Good luck keeping with that!
You can be part of it: There are many ways to volunteer and help for an event like that. Speaking from personal experience, volunteering at FOSDEM - it's fantastic!
FOSS events in Bulgaria in 2024
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Bulgaria is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, so if you want to combine your appetite for sightseeing, culture, good food, and your curiosity about Free and open-source software, you are in a good place.
Let me help you with three events this year focused entirely on the FOSS movement.
OpenFest 2024
2-3 November
Sofia, Bulgaria
OpenFest is an annual event for open culture, free and open software, and knowledge sharing. The first OpenFest happened in 2003 in Sofia, and since then, it has been held every year – sometimes in several Bulgarian cities simultaneously.
This is the biggest event in the country. Sometimes, it attracts more than 4000 humans. It has several simultaneous tracks covering technical, community, and open art topics. It's also famous for its practical workshops.
How.Camp 2024
27 July
Gabrovo, Bulgaria
How.Camp Gabrovo is the first edition of a small open and collaborative event in the small mountain town of Gabrovo, famous for the inhabitants' unique sense of humor. The team behind that has over 20 years of experience organizing technical and FOSS events, so you are in good hands.
The session will cover topics like Linux on Phones, open-source careers, Thunderbird and how to contribute to its community, and many others still in the works. So watch it and ensure you get one of the 79 spots left!
TuxCon 2024
11-12 May
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
TuxCon is an annual free and open-source software and hardware event. The entrance is free for all visitors. TuxCon is a community event organized by volunteers. They also have a workshop session, but mainly focused on open hardware. Please keep an eye out for more on their website.
Be free!
The image is by Peter Hadzhiev under CC BY-SA 3.0
Top comments (8)
IF you know about an event I missed, please write a comment and I will add it here!
I remember one in Varna, but cannot recall the name of it!
If you are interested in how we will build How.Camp, we decided to share with you every step of the process here.
I had spoken at a FOSS event in Macedonia at the end of their civil war, and Bulgaria was the country I had to drive thru to get there. I would like to think things have improved much in Bulgaria since then...
I like the spirit of those events. There is nothing like this. I also like the beers, but this is another topic :)
VarnaConf?
It might be!
Yes, it's a good event, but it is not entirely focused on the FOSS, so I haven't added them here. Many other IT events cover a small part of FOSS.