Another Year, Another FOSDEM Link to heading
FOSDEM—the annual pilgrimage to Brussels for a weekend of open-source brilliance, hallway track magic, and the inevitable sleep deprivation. This year’s Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting was, as always, a whirlwind of ideas, people, and tech so bleeding-edge it practically needed bandages.
But for me? It was all about seeing friends. Catching up, syncing, and squeezing in as many conversations as humanly possible. As we always say—the hallway track is the real conference. I’m beyond grateful for the people I managed to see, and equally bummed about those I missed. But with a toddler waiting at home, even carving out this limited time was a logistical miracle.
Saturday: Go, Go, Go… and the eBPF Black Hole Link to heading
Saturday kicked off with a deep dive into the Go DevRoom, before a (failed) mission to infiltrate the eBPF talks.
Go Goodness Link to heading
The Go DevRoom delivered as expected:
- "The State of Go" – Maartje Eyskens gave a solid rundown on where Go is headed.
- "Swiss Maps in Go" – Bryan Boreham took us through these lightning-fast maps.
- "Go-ing Easy on Memory: Writing GC-Friendly Code" – Sümer Cip’s talk was a timely reminder that, yes, your garbage collection problems are (probably) your fault.
eBPF Fail Link to heading
The eBPF DevRoom? Packed. Absolutely impenetrable. As someone put it on Twitter:
“Nobody leaves #eBPF room at #FOSDEM, so nobody gets in. 🥲”
Next year, I’m bringing a tent and camping outside the door.
Sunday: Monitoring, Metrics, and Maybe Too Many Frites Link to heading
Sunday was all about observability, performance, and squeezing every bit of insight from running systems.
Observability Overload Link to heading
The Monitoring and Observability DevRoom had a strong lineup:
- Richard “RichiH” Hartmann set the stage.
- "The Performance Impact of Auto-Instrumentation" – James Belchamber gave a fantastic talk on the hidden costs of auto-instrumentation.
- "Prometheus Version 3" – Jan Fajerski and Bryan Boreham gave us the lowdown on what’s next for Prometheus.
Community Vibes Link to heading
Like I said—FOSDEM is really about the people. The talks are great, but the real magic happens in the hallway track. Some of the best conversations weren’t planned; they just happened over coffee, between sessions, or during a frantic sprint between buildings.
I’m incredibly happy for the folks I got to see, and at the same time, I wish I had more time to catch up with everyone I missed. But life is about balance, and with a little one waiting at home, I had to make every moment count.
Oh, and the frites? Still undefeated.
Bonus: Trains, Chaos, and a Race Against Time Link to heading
Because no trip is complete without public transport drama, my journey back home came with an extra dose of stress. Trains? Cancelled. Schedule? A mess. Plane? Hanging by a thread.
Somehow, I made it. But FOSDEM weekend wouldn’t be complete without at least one unexpected adventure.
Final Thoughts Link to heading
FOSDEM 2025 delivered. Again. Already looking forward to next year. If you’re into open source and haven’t experienced FOSDEM, sort it out.