Open software developers meet at FOSDEM 2008

February 24, 2008 Hundreds of developers of freely licensed and open source software from all over Europe met in, Belgium this weekend for 2008. The 8th edition attracted considerably more visitors than previous editions, mainly from Belgium and its neighbouring countries the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, but also from other European countries and even from the United States.

During the conference weekend, presentations touched on programming languages, build systems, gaming (such as, , ), packaging, and web applications. The conference also has rooms (called DevRooms) were developers who usually work together via the internet can meet in real life and share thoughts on their projects;, , , , , , , and  had the biggest rooms this year. The corridors were filled with stands from organisations such as the and the Free Knowledge Foundation,, , , etc.

Since FOSDEM brings many European open software developers to Brussels, it also provides an important networking opportunity. FOSDEM traditionally kicks off on Friday with a beer event, but during the entire weekend several groups hold parties all over town. Wikinews reporters attended a barbecue hosted by the (EFF) on Friday for an interview with EFF and  representatives about the upcoming E.U. proposal to extend copyright for performers to 95 years. Wikinews also interviewed Drupal founder and Acquia  about Drupal and how Acquia will relate to the Drupal developer community.

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