Open Source Village — Core Team Meeting Summary

Oct 16, 2026 · @SunnyLeen

Overview

The team re-anchored on why the Village exists, agreed it will be invitation-only by default with more open evenings, and parked the ticketing/platform question for a tech proposal. The event is 3–4 months away, so sponsors and a firmer program are now the priority.

Present (as heard on the recording): Leen, Xavier, Friedger, Inge, Nicoline. Some names and terms in the transcript are uncertain and are marked where it matters.

Agenda covered:

1. Vision and North Star of the Open Source Village
2. The proposal document and how people contribute
3. Open vs invitation-only event (decided)
4. Platform and ticketing: Luma, Flotilla, open source alternatives
5. Sponsors and partners
6. Program themes and communication (only touched briefly)

Vision and North Star

One-line pitch: a space to explore together software, hardware and socialware for communities and new villages.

What it is. A two-week pop-up fringe event alongside FOSDEM, which brings around 10,000 open source developers to Brussels. The Village offers what FOSDEM lacks: informal conversation and community building. The Commons Hub suits it: the first floor becomes a networking "living room", the second floor hosts talks and more formal sessions.

Why we do it — three layers:

1. Narrow: build bridges between tech builders and tech users ("tech optimists" and activists, facilitators, healers, community builders).
2. Wider: bring people together to build on shared values — open source, transparency, sovereignty, European where possible, healthy contribution and governance systems (DAOs, token economics, coordination mechanisms for messy organizations).
3. Deepest: the potential is in the relationships. Tech people meet the real needs they should build for; community builders learn that tech is not the enemy and that open source builders are good people figuring things out too.

Why now: