FOSDEM 2026 reminded us, once again, why this community is so special.
Over the weekend in Brussels, our Internet Archive Europe stand became a lively meeting point filled with conversations, questions, laughter, and a steady flow of familiar and new faces. Representing Internet Archive Europe on site were Beatrice Murch, Program Manager at Internet Archive Europe; Jeff Klein, Senior Software Engineer working on ADS/Vault at the Internet Archive; Tommi Marmo, DWeb Community Engagement Lead; Jeroen Baten, IAE Volunteer Extraordinaire, open source developer, and AngryNerd podcaster; and the wonderful last minute assistance provided by volunteer Beth McCarthy.
Saturday at the stand flew by. We talked about archiving, shared ideas, learned how people are using the Wayback Machine and Archive data, met some wonderful members of the ArchiveTeam, and, judging by how quickly everything disappeared, clearly underestimated how popular our materials would be. Lesson learned: next time, more merch. Much more.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible volunteers who supported us throughout the weekend. From setting up and answering questions to helping keep the energy high during busy moments, your help made all the difference. FOSDEM is built by volunteers, and we were lucky to have some truly excellent ones by our side. We were ever grateful for the random acts of kindness that kept us going (coffee, throat lozenges, and chocolate!) and deeply touched by the generosity and encouragement we received from the community. We are sincerely grateful!
Sunday was all about hallway conversations, the kind FOSDEM is famous for. Wandering between sessions, bumping into old friends, and discovering new projects reminded us that these informal moments are often where the most meaningful connections happen.
From long-time collaborators to first-time visitors curious about digital preservation, open access, and the future of the digital commons, it was a genuine pleasure to connect with so many people from across the free and open source ecosystem.
We left FOSDEM tired, inspired, and grateful. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, shared their work, asked thoughtful questions, or simply said hello. Until next time! And yes, we promise to bring more stickers.
