The Distributions DevRoom returns in-person to FOSDEM for a full day of distribution-related content in Brussels on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025. The Distros DevRoom organizers are happy to share that the call for proposals is now open, and will be accepting proposals until November 30th. Read on to learn more about this DevRoom, what topics we want to see, and how you can submit. Submit your talk to FOSDEM[1] (following the guidelines below), when you're ready! Important Dates - Now - Call for Participation opens - 1 December - Call for Participation ends - 1 - 5 December - Submissions reviewed - 6 December - Speakers notified - 12 December - Deadline for speakers to confirm - 15 December - developer rooms publish complete schedules - 2 February - Distros DevRoom at FOSDEM Call for Proposals The audience for the Distributions DevRoom is primarily contributors and developers of Linux distributions. We may accept a limited amount of content with a focus on end users, but the Distributions DevRoom organizers believe most user-focused content better fits in other DevRooms or events. We happily welcome submissions targeted toward contributors and distribution developers. In the CFP submission system, submitters should identify a theme in their submission that best identifies the scope of their topic. There are three themes in 2025: - OS Development - Community in Linux operating systems - Emerging topics around Linux development See suggested topics for each theme below: *Theme: OS Development* - Distribution construction, installation, deployment, packaging, and content management. - Balancing new code and active upstreams versus security updates and minimization of breaking changes. - Automation of releases and testing. - Delivering architecture-independent software. - Creating a secure supply chain by evaluating upstream components and providing a secure source for downstreams. - Distro-agnostic integration testing. *Theme: Community in Linux operating systems* - Best practices and guidance for contributing in Linux distributions and their upstream dependencies. - Growing, participating, and working with communities in the distribution ecosystem. - Cross-distribution collaboration on common issues. - Working with vendors and including them in the community. - Non-engineering topics inside of distribution communities (e.g. documentation, marketing, internationalization, design, community operations, etc.). *Theme: Emerging topics around Linux development*The future of distributions and emerging trends. This category is intentionally broad to best capture new ideas and thoughts that do not fit neatly into the above two themes. About the Distributions DevRoom Linux distributions are critical digital infrastructure in the 2020s. In addition to their relevance today, they are some of the oldest and most historic Free and Open Source Software communities still in existence. As the context of Linux distributions changes and evolves since their origin in 1991, they remain an important fixture in digital infrastructure. Linux distributions do important work in ensuring various versions of upstream software work well together and can co-exist. They are also often responsible for "de-vendoring" upstream software so that security fixes can be applied more quickly. Additionally, Linux distributions have become the centerpiece of other important infrastructure projects like containers and container orchestration software. This DevRoom provides a unique home for the convergence of several different Linux distribution communities to share ideas and start conversations that matter to all of us. Although there are several different distributions that have different approaches to software packaging, choice of desktop environments, and various use cases, the Distributions DevRoom is a historic open forum that is unique to FOSDEM in making a space for all of our communities to share and learn from each other. The Distributions DevRoom organizers can be reached at distributions-devroom@lists.fosdem.org[3]. Process Go to the FOSDEM 2025 CFP website[1]. Continuing from last year, Pretalx has replaced Pentabarf! Log in, and click "Submit CFP" - If you don't have an account, follow the instructions to create an account first. Your submission must include the following information: - Proposal title - Type (chose Talk) - Track (choose Distributions from the drop-down menu) - Abstract (Please enter the text you would like to see on the website) - Submission Notes (any other notes for the DevRoom managers) - Session image (optional new feature) - Use this if you want an illustration to go with your proposal. Please do not upload files larger than 10.0MB! - Additional speaker (only necessary if you are including additional speakers) Click Continue and complete the next page: - About your proposal: If presenting software and/or content, which open source license do you use? - FOSDEM is an open-source software conference, please specify which OSI-approved license[2] your proposal uses. - Extra review material: Only shown to reviewers and not published when scheduled - use this to provide more context that might be helpful to reviewers. - Extra contact details (optional) Click Continue and complete the next page: - Profile picture - (Your) Name - Personal biography - Availability during FOSDEM weekend: for scheduling. Please note: the Distributions DevRoom is on Sunday, February 2nd. Once your talk is submitted, the Distributions DevRoom organizers will review the content. - We will try to accomodate as many submissions as possible while balancing the types of content and the ecosystems covered. - Scheduling is always a bane, so we appreciate speaker flexibility. - It may be that your talk isn't selected for the Distributions room, but might fit in another room. If so, we will work with you and the other organizers. If you have questions, you can reach out to the Distributions DevRoom organizers at distributions-devroom@lists.fosdem.org[3] [1] https://fosdem.org/submit [2] https://opensource.org/licenses/ [3] https://lists.fosdem.org/listinfo/distributions-devroom About FOSDEM FOSDEM is a free event for software developers to meet, share ideas and collaborate. Every year, thousands of developers of free and open source software from all over the world gather at the event in Brussels. FOSDEM hosts dozens of developer rooms, where community members run tracks on various topics. benny Vasquez Chair, Board of Directors @AlmaLinux OS Foundation *I am sending this message now because it suits me, but I don’t expect that you will read, respond to, or act on it outside of comfortable hours for your time zone.*