FSF40/meetups
We're inviting local free software supporters like you to organize an in-person community meetup in your area to bring people all over the world together and celebrate forty years of commitment to software freedom. We're setting up a small fund for these local gatherings *and* you can invite an FSF staff member to give a talk or workshop during your event *and* of course, we'll help promote it.
Create an opportunity to share your favorite moments in the free software movement with each other, debate the biggest challenges to software freedom and how to cope with them, or discuss, how can we best promote free software at universities, colleges, in government institutions, or among our friends. These are just some ideas. In the end, the agenda, date, and location are entirely up to you. The only requirement is that all meetups stick to the Safe Space Policy. By listing or attending any of the meetups below you agree to follow the Safe Space Policy. To align the meetup with LibrePlanet and FSF's goals, we recommend that you keep the program focused on computer-user freedom; e.g. please use the term "free software" rather than "open source". Members of the free software community usually appreciate this.
For more ideas, tips and tricks how to organize a community meetup, and ways how FSF can support your event, see the meetup guide.
If you or a few fellow activists are ready to organize a get-together in your area please list your meetup below. Feel free to email us at campaigns@fsf.org with any questions you may have.
For those attending any of the meetups listed below, please note that these events are organized by volunteers. The Free Software Foundation hopes that these gatherings will be a great place for the free software community to meet up and wants to help make these events a success but can't be held accountable for anything happening during these events.
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City and country:
Date and time:
Exact location:
Registration (if any):
Organizer(s) (optional):
Blurb (What is your meetup about? Why do you think people should come?):
The FSF looks forward to promoting your meetup!
Community meetups in May 2025
City and country: Livermore, California
Date and time: Saturday, May 10, 2025, 10:00 am - 4:45 pm Pacific Time
Exact location: Livermore Public Library, Community Room A
Registration: RSVP if you wish to help the organizer estimate how much food to bring.
Organizer: Joe (contact page: https://aspisdata.com)
Blurb: Talk about free software and participate in free software workshops.
City and country: LE BLANC, France
Date and time: 17/05/2025 - 10:00-17:00
Exact location: 14 quai Aubépin, Le Blanc, Centre-Val-de-Loire, France
Registration: Ouvert à tous⋅tes tout au long de la journée
Organizer(s): Atelier "Linux au Blanc" de l'association RéparLab
Contact: linuxaublanc@reparlab.com
Blurb: Portes ouvertes avec animations, conférences, diagnostics, démonstrations toute la journée
City and country: Zurich, Switzerland
Date and time TBA
Exact location: TBA
Registration: RSVP to campaigns@fsf.org before May 1. We will reserve space for the number of people we expect based on the RSVP, but still welcome those who haven't RSVPd.
Organizer(s) (optional): Miriam
Blurb: Come hang out at a local pub with other free software enthusiasts. This is a casual space to share your favorite moments in the free software movement with each others, debate the biggest challenges to software freedom and how to cope with them, or discuss how can we best spread the word about free software.
City and country: Beijing, China
Date and time TBA
Exact location: TBA
Registration: RSVP (Optional)
Organizer(s): William Goodspeed (Gong Zhile)
Contact: wgoodspeed@fsfans.club
Blurb: Meet up with local free software advocates and talk about the state of free software movement in China, how we form stronger communities and participate in free software movement locally.
City and country: Harbin, China
Date and time: October 4th, 9:00 AM CST (provisionally)
Exact location: Starbucks at Capitaland, No.1-1 Xuefu Road, Nangang District (provisionally)
Registration: Not required, you just come here
Organizer(s): Carter Zhang (czl92783719@autistici.org, https://czl92783719.codeberg.page)
Blurb: Have a causal chat about free software and exchange experiences about using and moving to free software. And just have fun!
City and country: Shiraz, Iran
Date and time: May 8-9, 2025
Exact location: TBA
Registration: TBA
Organizer(s): Iran Free Software Activists ( delta.shahinpoor@iau.ir )
Blurb: Join us for the first-ever LibrePlanet meetup in Iran! This event brings together free software supporters, developers, and activists to discuss the history of FSF and LibrePlanet, the importance of software freedom, and how we can contribute to and promote the movement in our communities. We welcome volunteers and speakers to participate. Let's build a stronger free software community in Iran!
City and country: Shiraz, Iran
Date and time: May 8-9, 2025
Exact location: TBA
Registration: TBA
Organizer(s): Iran Free Software Activists
Blurb: This is the first-ever LibrePlanet meetup in Iran! We invite free software supporters, developers, activists, and enthusiasts to join us in Shiraz for two days of discussions, workshops, and networking.
We will cover topics such as:
The history of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and LibrePlanet What is software freedom, and why is it important? Why and how should we contribute to the free software movement? How to promote free software in universities, government institutions, and local communities
We are also looking for speakers and volunteers to help organize the event. If you're interested, please reach out!
City and country: Turkey
Date and time: May 5, 2025, 20:00 Istanbul Timezone
Exact location: Online
Registration: N/A
Organizer(s): Masscollabs Services and contributors
Blurb: https://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-programs-should-be-shared.html
I'm looking for fellow activists to organize a meetup together
If you're looking for fellow activists to organize a meetup together you can add your contact information and the city you'd like to organize the meetup in below. If you don't want to provide contact information here you can email campaigns@fsf.org and we will connect you to people who are interested in organizing a meetup together with you.
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City in which the meetup shall take place:
Your name (optional):
Your contact information (or email campaigns@fsf.org):
City in which the meetup shall take place: Turkey, Online
Your name (optional): Masscollabs Services and contributors
Your contact information (or email campaigns@fsf.org): mertgor@masscollabs.xyz and my GPG Key ID is 0x03E547D043AB6C8F