Here’s a very short report on the conferences I attended at FOSDEM 2025. You can find videos of presentations here, and the slides on the links in my titles.
Where have the woman of tech history gone? 2.0 - Laura Durieux
This presentation was about women in tech history and computer science. It presents us women that have made the internet possible while speaking about why we hear nothing about women in tech, why there are only few women in it, and more importantly what could we do to help, against the lack of representation and to give people role models.
FreeBSD security audits - Pierre Pronchery and Michael Winser
Speakers discussed how security audits are strengthening FreeBSD’s security culture. Alpha-Omega has funded $8.5M since 2022, supporting audits, fixes, and preventative measures like CI/CD and developer training. Despite challenges like tech debt and complex dependencies, community engagement and funding are driving progress. FreeBSD remains committed to security, with ongoing efforts to secure its ecosystem.
Nothing to say here, big brain Debian contributors and enthusiasts talking about their contributions, and planning DebConf25 which I unfortunately won’t be able to attend.
Networked Journalism - John O’Nolan
Speaker discussed integrating ActivityPub to revive the open web’s principles to fight against centralized digital landscape. He covered Ghost’s technical journey, the benefits for publishers and readers, and the future of independent media. However, it’s worth questioning why Ghost, despite its open-source claims, uses the codes of many closed-source platforms by the design and the functionalities, yet many still embrace this vision without taking a step back.
In this talk, I learned about FFglitch, a tool for creating glitch and codec art by manipulating multimedia bitstreams. The presenter, an FFmpeg developer, explained how glitches from coding errors inspired the project, turning bugs into creative features. FFglitch uses FFmpeg to enable precise bitstream editing, with added features like scripting, real-time input from controllers, and network support. I also saw some really cool glitch art examples made with the tool, highlighting its potential for creative and experimental work.
Error correction for Dragon Quest passphrases - Raphaël Zumer
Speaker talked about the structure of the passphrases (“fukkatsu no jumon”) used for saving progress in the Famicom versions of Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest II. These passphrases are complex and prone to transcription errors. The presenter introduced ReJumon, a tool designed to help identify and correct these errors, making it easier for players to recover their game progress. It’s useful for such a small number of people that I was obliged to attend.
Bildschirmtext was a German public information system launched in 1983, a bit like Minitel, but using TV sets and decoders for bi-directional communication. Much of its content is lost, but surviving Chaos Computer Club files inspired a revival. The talk explores Btx’s structure and how speakers made a Javascript terminal emulator to reproduce it.
Evolution of cursor controls - Dmitriy Kostiuk
This talk explores the evolution of mice and trackballs, focusing on motion detection, signal transmission, ergonomics, and testing with modern computers. This was really cool to be there, go check his website !
Wiresharchaeology - Gerald Combs
Gerald Combs, creator of Wireshark, discussed its evolution from a small tool supporting a few protocols and OSes to a global network analysis supertool. He showed us the first machine that runned early prototypes of it while he was at university. He told us about the future of Wireshark like Stratoshark improvements with system calls and log analysis.
Again, nothing to say here, big brain contributors but this time for Arch.
There also was a lot of stands with so many devs, enthusiasts, and orgs. It wasn’t possible to talk with everyone and I won’t have much to say to them except a big thank you. I had a chat with a CalyxOS guy about this rom, the firewall that is inside, and how it takes full advantage of the tensor chip on Pixel devices. With a friend, we had a conversation with a GNU Radio enthusiast, who gave us an impressive demo of his setup, showcasing the power and versatility of the platform. I also took a ton of stickers, to give to my coworkers but mainly to stick my laptop ofc.
It was two days filled with learning and sharing. And while I don’t have a lot to share atm, I have the feeling that I belong among people that were at FOSDEM and it’s really cool to see that IT isn’t about those mister tie wealth preppy assholes.
