On 21 January 2016 11:40:51 CET, Ludovic Brenta <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org> wrote:
Daniel Pocock wrote:
On 21/01/16 00:36, Ludovic Brenta wrote:
Daniel Pocock <daniel@pocock.pro> writes:
That would void the point of the whole "invitation letter" system, and could put the legal entity behind FOSDEM at risk.
I'm not sure what you mean by that
As far as I understand it, FOSDEM is a free event where everybody is welcome,
But Belgium and the Schengen area are *not* free countries where everybody is welcome. At least, that's what the law says and that is the reason why the law mandates invitation letters. Sending invitation letters to "everybody" would defeat the purpose of Belgian law.
I feel (or at least, I hope) that [...]
Your feelings and hopes have nothing to do with the law. Belgium is not exactly a dictatorship. I would not want the FOSDEM organizers to put themselves at odds with the laws of their host country just because of your feelings.
That message wasn't asking them to do such a thing, it was only written out of respect for those contributors to our community who either can't attend or have to waste a significant amount of time and energy on such things in order to do so.