FOSDEM 2018 — Settling Into the Rhythm

It’s that time of year again: booking accommodation, checking train schedules, and mentally preparing myself for two days of controlled chaos at the ULB campus. Yes — FOSDEM 2018 is almost here, and somehow this will already be my third visit.

Funny how quickly something becomes an annual ritual.

DNS: My Annual Pilgrimage

By now, the DNS devroom feels like walking into a familiar café — same level of energy, same conversations that jump straight past introductions into deep technical territory. New DNS privacy features, resolver experiments — every year there’s something that makes me rethink what “simple” DNS actually means.

I’m excited to see what the community brings this time. There’s always at least one talk that sends me home with a notebook full of ideas and a TODO list longer than my weekend.

Ada: Still Learning, Still Fascinated

Ada and I have reached an interesting stage: I’m not a beginner anymore, but I’m definitely not an expert either. I’ve tinkered with it here and there since last year, enough to appreciate its philosophy — precision, safety, clarity — even if my brain occasionally rebels against its discipline.

The Ada devroom at FOSDEM has become my yearly calibration point. Time to see what the community has been doing, what tools have evolved, and whether this is finally the year I attempt a serious project with it.

Familiar Faces & New Ones

One of the joys of FOSDEM is that each year feels a little more like coming home. I’m starting to recognize more people — from past DNS sessions, hallway chats, late-evening events, or accidental encounters when everyone is migrating between devrooms at the same time.

At the same time, open-source events never stop bringing in new faces, new projects, and new unexpected connections. FOSDEM 2018 will undoubtedly be the same.

If you see me wandering around, juggling a coffee and a schedule I’ll inevitably ignore by mid-morning, come say hi. I always enjoy meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends.

The Rhythm of FOSDEM

After three years, the pattern is familiar:

  • The early-morning rush on the train to Brussels.
  • The packed devrooms.
  • The impossible choices between overlapping talks.
  • The hallway conversations that stretch far longer than intended.
  • The food trucks (still the unsung heroes).
  • The weather that refuses to compromise.

And yet, even with all that familiarity, every FOSDEM brings something new — a new project, a new idea, a new spark.

See You at FOSDEM 2018

I’m ready for another round of learning, exploring, connecting, and absorbing far more information than is reasonable for a weekend.

If you’re attending, let’s meet up — DNS devroom, Ada devroom, or wherever curiosity leads us.

Here we go again.