Where to find the OpenInfra Community at FOSDEM

FOSDEM 2026 is just around the corner and the OpenInfra community will be there again this year! From OpenStack and adjacent infrastructure projects to broader discussions on digital sovereignty, upstream engagement, and real-world operations, OpenInfra contributors and leaders are using FOSDEM to share lessons learned and set priorities for the future. Keep reading to find out where you can meet the community at FOSDEM.

OpenInfra + CNCF Stand at FOSDEM

In collaboration with the CNCF, OpenInfra will have a stand at FOSDEM 2026. We would appreciate community support in staffing the stand throughout the event. We encourage you to sign up for multiple time slots if you are available.

Stand # K2-A-02

Sessions to Attend!

Global collaboration and Europe's digital sovereignty goals: debate

OpenInfra Foundation GM, Thierry Carrez, joins panelists to discuss how Europe can pursue digital sovereignty not by isolating itself or focusing narrowly on origin labels, but by deepening its capability, participation, and influence within the global open source ecosystem. The session challenges simplistic notions of software ownership and origin, instead proposing the concept of interdependent autonomy. The idea that strategic technological independence can be strengthened through international collaboration. Speakers will address questions about what often gets overlooked in digital sovereignty debates, how Europe can build effective long-term strategies, and how European companies and open source foundations can balance local goals with engagement in global communities without protectionism.

OpenStack Community Meetup BOF

Members of the OpenStack community gather for open discussion on topics from development to operations, share experiences, and connect with other contributors and users. The meetup provides a relaxed environment to talk through technical and community challenges, and importantly, to welcome potential new contributors or users who want to learn more about the project and how to get involved in its ecosystem.

Zero‑Touch HPC Nodes: NetBox, Tofu and Packer for a Self‑Configuring SLURM Cluster

Ümit Seren and Leon Schwarzäugl outline how to automate the onboarding of high-performance computing (HPC) nodes so they can go from being physically installed to joining a SLURM cluster with zero manual steps. Building on five years of running an OpenStack-based HPC system for life sciences, they describe an end-to-end “zero-touch” pipeline where NetBox serves as the source of truth for hardware inventory, Tofu/Terragrunt provisions the OpenStack/Ironic infrastructure and network fabric across environments, and Packer with Ansible produces images that let nodes self-configure and securely fetch credentials at first boot. The session also covers challenges encountered with tools like cloud-init in complex bare-metal contexts and shows how reusable, reproducible open-source tooling can simplify large cluster deployment.

Downstream Mindset vs Upstream Communities

The OpenInfra Foundation’s Director of Community, Ildikó Váncsa will present on how corporate approaches to open source can unintentionally harm the projects and broader ecosystems they rely on. As more companies encourage employees to work on open source or open source their code, without support and training in contributing effectively upstream, projects face issues like maintainer burnout and coordination challenges. The talk outlines how corporate priorities can clash with community norms, what individual contributors can do to improve engagement, and offers tools to help educate employers on why nurturing upstream involvement is not just good for open source but smart business strategy.