Frequently Asked Questions

An archive of the previous FAQ is available at 2025.fluconf.online/faq/. The following questions concern the upcoming 2026 edition.

What is FluConf about?

Every year there are a number of very large gatherings organized by and for people working on Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS). Attendance at these events is driven at least partially by the belief that everyone else is going to be there.

Because it is unfortunately common to contract a variety of entirely preventable and potentially debilitating infections at these events, we (the FluConf community) are trying to foster an alternative means to share our perspectives and promote our projects without having to risk our well-being or that of our families.

Why is it called FluConf?

FluConf derives its name from the FOSDEM Flu, a cute name given to the so-called "con crud" that some participants estimate they contract roughly half of the time they choose to attend the event in Brussels.

Where is the event?

FluConf is 100% online. This website (FluConf.online) serves as a central directory which aggregates links to content hosted on its contributors' websites, along with references to their profiles on the fediverse to facilitate follow-up discussions.

The program of FluConf 2025 is still available for anyone that missed the inaugural edition. Information concerning the upcoming FluConf 2026 will be shared via the official Fediverse account (using the #FluConf and #FluConf2026 hashtags) as well as this site's RSS feed.

How much do tickets cost?

There are no tickets, nor do you need to register to participate. Just subscribe and follow along.

When is FluConf 2026?

It will coincide with FOSDEM 2026, on Saturday, January 31st and Sunday, February 1st.

How can I submit a proposal for my contribution?

Please see the form for proposing a contribution and our blog post announcing its availability.

When is the deadline for applications?

We will accept submissions until the end of January 30th, anywhere on Earth.

As noted in the blog post announcing our form for proposals, FluConf 2026 will not feature an official schedule for sessions. You do not need to wait to hear back from us to participate or contribute. Our proposal process is only there to provide an official way for others to inform us about contributions that we might want to help promote. The sooner you can submit your proposal, the better.

What sort of contributions are considered eligible for inclusion?

First and foremost, we expect contributors to read and adhere to our Code of Conduct.

Second, since FluConf is intended as a community-centric event, we prefer not to provide a platform for projects or products that are primarily corporate in nature. In particular, we are opposed to uncritical promotion of LLMs or similar fads (see our policy on AI use if you're unsure whether that applies to your project).

We welcome technical presentations as might be expected at many other events related to FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software), but also on topics related to free culture, the governance and support of online communities and knowledge commons, as well as the legalities and politics of software and the Internet.

The broad theme of FluConf 2026 is Resilience among failing institutions, but we'll also welcome contributions concerning any of the more general themes from FluConf 2025.

Finally, while we will do our best to promote your contributions, we expect you to point others back to the event overview so that they can discover what our other contributors have decided to share. Treating the event as a way to get more eyes on your work without helping to promote that of others may result in the removal of links to your content from our curated overview.

When will I learn when my session will be scheduled?

There isn't going to be a firm schedule like with FluConf 2025. Instead, we'll announce and link to contributions throughout the weekend of the event, as well as boosting related commentary.

If you intend to give a live presentation or interactive session then we will of course try to ensure that people know about it in advance. We will also try to inform contributors of potential timing conflicts between different sessions, but the rest is up to you. Simply announce a time when you think your intended audience is likely to be available. We also welcome contributions that can be enjoyed asynchronously, like blog posts, pre-recorded videos, podcasts, and so on.

Will recordings and slides be made available after the event?

As with FluConf 2025, we will attempt to add any relevant details to each contributor's listing, including links to recordings, slides, transcripts, and any other supplementary materials.

Unlike FluConf 2025, however, we will take no responsibility for the actual archival processes. If you intend to livestream a presentation we will expect you to capture a recording of it and to ensure that it gets uploaded somewhere where it will remain accessible (such as Archive.org).

How can I help?

The ultimate goal is to prevent the spread of airborne infections. Even if you plan to attend FOSDEM or similar conventions, you can help prevent transmission by updating your vaccines and wearing a well-fitted mask when and where it's appropriate. Bring a portable CO2 monitor if you have one, or an air filter for one of the dev rooms if you have the capacity to transport it. Perhaps more importantly, if you start to feel like you might already be sick, stay home. Your Fear of Missing Out is not more important than other people's health.

For those planning to participate in FluConf instead, be vocal about why. Mention it if you've caught the FOSDEM flu in the past, and that you'd prefer to learn about your peers' projects without risking your health.

If you have something you'd like to share with the community, start preparing and promoting it. It can be a blog post, a podcast, a video recording, an interactive session, a traditional conference presentation, or even some format we haven't thought of yet.

We don't yet have an official team helping others with the practical issues of hosting their contributions, but you can help by sharing your expertise. Those with the required technical expertise can help others with the process of setting up a website, or recording a video, or whatever is necessary. Several contributors for the 2025 edition used a temporary, communally hosted BigBlueButton instance, so if you have the expertise to launch and operate such a platform that would also be helpful. Just remember to coordinate with others in the community before setting things up, because we probably won't need ten such platforms.

FluConf 2026 will involve minimal curation compared to the 2025 program, but it will still be necessary to review abstracts before including them. Likewise, while there are challenges with moderating an event that takes place primarily on a federated network, we will enforce our Code of Conduct wherever possible and would appreciate reports regarding any questionable behaviour.

Finally, if you have other ideas of how your talents could improve the event, talk about them on the Fediverse using the #FluConf and #FluConf2026 hashtags. FluConf 2025 was greatly improved by many small and spontaneous contributions, from independent announcements of upcoming sessions to posting personal highlights of ongoing sessions.

Are contributors paid?

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is that FluConf is being organized entirely on a volunteer basis, with no budget aside from the marginal cost of hosting its website, and zero expected monetary benefit due to our decision to neither sell tickets or advertise on the platform.

We recognize that asking people to contribute for free acts as a filter for who can participate, but it also means we can avoid the need for corporate sponsors that might affect editorial/governance decisions, such as our choice to exclude those with ties to law enforcement and military contracts.

That said, one of the event's themes is "open licensing and business models", so we acknowledge that those contributing to free culture and maintaining information commons need some way to sustain their efforts. As such, contributors are welcome to request donations or mention other ways to support their ongoing work.

Why should I contribute?

The basic idea is that if all of our contributors mention their plans to participate to their own audience, then everyone will be able to share their ideas with the much larger collective audience. Think of it like a web-ring.

Aside from that, we figure that if you already have a blog and ideas that you want to promote, then there will be relatively little additional work involved with participating in FluConf.

Why are you organizing the event for free?

In short, because there seemed to be a need for it.

Many people attend conventional conferences in order to promote their projects, and while they often achieve that goal, they also face considerable risk of infection of a serious illness. These conferences have always been a vector for the spread of illnesses, but that risk has only grown since the COVID-19 pandemic (which is not over), and there are now a variety of other concerning public health issues (avian flu and mpox, among others).

Aside from any direct benefits for those who participate, we hope that it will also pressure such conferences to implement better health policies in their future events.

What is your plan for sustainability?

We are deliberately designing FluConf so as to be much easier to organize compared to conventional in-person or even hybrid events.

There is no physical venue to worry about, and by asking contributors to host whatever content they produce we are further reducing the amount of infrastructure we need to manage.

With the inaugural 2025 edition of the event we had to invest time and effort into developing this website and the event's policies, however, much of that effort has been reused for the 2026 event and we hope that it will only become easier as time goes on and more people get involved. Even so, it does take time and effort to organize, so please do see the section above on how you can help.

In terms of monetary costs beyond the time needed to organize the event, the "fluconf.online" domain costs only a few dollars per year, and hosting for a static website is similarly inexpensive (compared to a lot of other tech). Given that the event is being co-organized by people familiar with web development and deployment, we consider this cost to be only marginal.

Where can I publish?

While we do consider the platform on which contributors intend to host their publications when evaluating proposals, our aim is mostly to ensure a few basic assumptions:

1. The content should be broadly accessible.

   • Video hosting platforms should support subtitles, and you should find some way to provide them
   • Audio platforms should be accompanied by transcriptions
   • Web publishing platforms should have alt-text for their media

2. Platforms should not be at odds with the event's broader themes.

   • Platforms that are well-known for promoting hate-speech and misinformation should be avoided
   • Participants should not be exposed to invasive tracking
   • Content should not be restricted behind paywalls

In general, you probably want to avoid platforms owned by "Big Tech" or otherwise funded by venture capitalists. We recognize that such companies can be difficult to avoid, however, and that not everyone realizes who owns such publishing platforms.

Our intent is not to impose an arbitrary self-hosting purity test, and we're willing to be somewhat flexible on some of these matters, especially for contributors with a less technical expertise. If you are able to host your own website, then we encourage you to do so. If you are not, then please consider preparing a contribution, and we may be able to help direct you to a suitable platform to host your content.

Can I submit a proposal in a language other than English?

While we would theoretically like to welcome multi-lingual content, our organizers are primarily English-speaking, and are therefore not well-equipped to assess proposals in other languages or topics which are potentially culturally sensitive.

For that reason, we intend to largely restrict this year's content to English unless one of our trusted advisors are able to vouch for a particular submission.

Going forward, we are interested in working with volunteers to coordinate associated events focusing on other languages and social contexts.

If you would like to volunteer to help organize such an event, you may contact our organizers:

Why do you have such a problem with FOSDEM?

Our organizers have caught the FOSDEM Flu on numerous occasions predating the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are aware of numerous COVID-19 infections that occurred at FOSDEM since the beginning of the pandemic. As such, it is difficult not to take their lack of a meaningful health policy as anything other than an irresponsible act.

That said, FOSDEM is far from alone in their choice to operate in this fashion, and our criticisms apply to all such events which continue to ignore our ongoing health concerns.

Why is FluConf scheduled at the same time as FOSDEM?

This event probably wouldn't exist without FOSDEM. Hosting FluConf concurrently is our way of honouring their contributions to public health.

Is there a Hallway Track?

In reference to track (“a themed set of talks within a conference”), and the fact that people may meet informally in hallways.

Wiktionary

Because FluConf is being organized on a volunteer basis and with a relatively short timeline, we have opted not to attempt to host any real-time communications platforms through which participants can engage in casual conversation.

Even so, we recognize the value of such virtual spaces, and we welcome efforts from contributors and participants alike to organize their own virtual hallways where people can congregate.

We will promote discussion on the fediverse via the official Fediverse account, and we have also registered an IRC channel that can be accessed through Libera.Chat's IRC web interface.

Our official channel will be moderated according to our code of conduct, however, we cannot guarantee that unofficial communication channels will be monitored. Nevertheless, we encourage unofficial spaces to list our code of conduct to set expectations, and we will respond to any reported violations to the best of our ability regardless of whether the space was officially sanctioned.