Adi’s experience @ FOSDEM 2019
They say that practicing your job at high levels requires continuous learning. So meeting people with the same interests and sharing knowledge is definitely a plus. That’s what Adi Scânteie, one of our three IT guys attending FOSDEM, also thinks. Here are some thoughts from Adi related to his experience with this event where software developers meet, share ideas and collaborate.
1. Have you ever participated in this event before? First impressions?
This was my first time in Brussels for the FOSDEM event. You hear there will be a lot of people (~8K), but you can’t imagine the magnitude of it, until you are there. There were around 742 lectures, so the main thing one should prepare when attending FOSDEM is a good plan ahead of what they want to see. It can be difficult to attend some of the lectures, as there are limited seats and you find yourself in front of closed doors many times. Experience helps, also knowing the campus, buildings and the different room sizes, in order to be there on time and get a seat into the lectures you want.
You will surely miss out on interesting talks, as there are so many and the time is limited.
2. What was your main focus in this event?
First of all, I wanted to catch the global vibe of such an event, learn new things, but also get an idea of what kind of lectures are there. I may want to present something at that event one day.
3. Was there any specific speaker/ speech that caught your attention? What did you enjoy the most there?
I saw experienced speakers who did a good job keeping an entire room focused and also some inexperienced ones which courageously enough were not discouraged by the rooms filled with curious eyes. Most of the lectures had interesting takeaways. It’s also nice to attend to presentations from the creators of the projects themselves.
An interesting thing to see was how companies like Netflix are using open-source and how they are contributing back to the community.
I also liked the diversity of the lectures, coming all the way from software to hardware.
4. How do you think this experience helped you professionally?
I believe every contact with passionate people that are willing to share experiences is a professional plus for me. Just seeing the trend of discussions at FOSDEM helped me understand the direction that the open-source ecosystem is heading to.
