This is an archived version of the website. Please find the website of the current edition of FOSS Backstage here.

OpenChain Capability Model – moving beyond compliance

Talk
10. March 2025, 03:30pm - 04:00pm
Auditorium
We introduce a publicly-available capability model to assess management of FOSS compliance risk. Developed in conjunction with both the OpenChain project and active FOSS-using businesses, this model, based on ISO 5230:2020, provides an intuitive and practical framework for assessing FOSS risk, and developing a roadmap to improve it.

Bridging the Gap Between Designers & Open Source Communities

Talk
11. March 2025, 10:00am - 10:30am
Wintergarten
Why don’t more designers contribute to open source? We'll share insights from our research, presenting key obstacles like intimidating contribution platforms and unclear documentation, along with actionable solutions to improve collaboration between designers and developers.

Data to Action: Build Healthy & Sustainable OSS Communities

Talk
11. March 2025, 04:05pm - 04:35pm
Wintergarten
Being proactive about improving sustainability before it becomes a crisis can help make our software better for all of us. However, not everyone has the experience or skills required to make improvements that will benefit their community over the long-term. This talk focuses on tools and techniques to build healthy and sustainable OSS projects.

FOSS, AI and non-code artifacts – what’s new and noteworthy?

Talk
10. March 2025, 11:00am - 11:30am
Auditorium
What about the licensing of AI and AI generated artifacts? Can AI be Open Source? FOSS licensing is not all about code, it is also about AI models, icons, fonts, documents, music, etc. This talk will lead you from FOSS to AI, considering potential licenses for (AI generated) non-code and the question whether code-licenses are suitable for non-code.

Open Design Guide

Talk
11. March 2025, 12:10pm - 12:40pm
bUm Box
Introducing the Open Design Guide (https://opendesign.guide), where designers learn how to find their way into open-source.

How Your Project’s Organization Shapes Its Technical DNA

Talk
10. March 2025, 11:00am - 11:30am
Wintergarten
Think your project's technical direction just depends on code? Think again! How you structure your community shapes what you build - from KISS to corporate, from elite hackers to broad participation. See real-world patterns (linux distributions) of how governance creates technical culture, and learn to align your community with your goals.

The Burden of Knowledge: Dealing With Open Source Risks

Talk
10. March 2025, 04:40pm - 05:10pm
Wintergarten
As we increase analysis of our software supply chains, tools and scorecards reveal potential risks in Open Source projects like low maintenance, lack of community, or poor security practices. How should we handle this? Manual reviews? Questionnaires? Funding? Let's explore options to address these challenges strategically without ignorance or fear.

Abundant with life: docs beyond the wall

Talk
10. March 2025, 04:40pm - 05:10pm
bUm Box
Our docs are living systems, but too often we've imagined them merely as flattened walls of text, and not much more. So, let's take a more holistic perspective of how folks interact with software documentation. Many of them wish to engage more actively, not just as passive consumers. How do we enable them?

From Lutece to CiteLibre: the City of Paris’ journey in OS

Talk
11. March 2025, 02:00pm - 02:30pm
Auditorium
An overview of the City of Paris' journey in Open Source, from its signature city digital services platform Lutece created in 2001 to its new software suite CiteLibre through the creation of its open source program office in 2022 and its open source policy started 23 years ago

Small seeds – why funding new ideas matters

Talk
10. March 2025, 11:00am - 11:30am
bUm Box
More money for FOSS - a never ending issue. In a tech world built on start-ups, venture capital and data-gathering apps, the fight for sustainable funding for ethical technology projects is a fierce one. After some big victories for FOSS funding in the last years, this talk is about why we shouldn't forget the small, underdog civil society projects

GovTech and Open Data – Giga’s Open Source Journey

Lightning Talk
10. March 2025, 05:15pm - 05:20pm
Auditorium
Lightning Talk

The Future of Open Source: Five Socio-Economic Predictions

Talk
10. March 2025, 02:00pm - 02:30pm
bUm Box
Software, like all technologies, is shaped by economic principles. This keynote explores these forces' impact on FOSS and proprietary models. By examining past trends and current developments, it offers insights into FOSS's future amid global changes, concluding with five predictions for the Open-Source ecosystem.

The Struggle is real, Free of Charge != Cost-Free

Talk
10. March 2025, 03:30pm - 04:00pm
bUm Box
Temurin is nearing 500M downloads, with growing enterprise adoption. Yet, many users aren’t supporting the project. This talk explores how Eclipse Foundation’s membership and revenue models generate sustainable funding while maintaining vendor neutrality. We'll also discuss understanding user needs and the real costs behind "free" software.

Toolkit for Measuring the Impacts of Public Funding for FOSS

Talk
10. March 2025, 02:35pm - 03:05pm
Auditorium
Introducing a practical toolkit for measuring the impacts of public funding for FOSS development, based on firsthand insights from EU and German funding initiatives and methodologies developed by the CHAOSS project. Learn how to assess social, economic, and technological outcomes for evidence-based FOSS funding strategies in the public interest.

Relationship Problems in Open Source

Talk
11. March 2025, 03:30pm - 04:00pm
Wintergarten
This talk will discuss how common open source problems such as maintainer burnout, new contributor onboarding, under-funding of open source projects, bad user experience in open source, and communities falling apart due conflict can be viewed through a relational lens.

How We Built a New, Neutral Foundation for Our Project

Talk
10. March 2025, 12:10pm - 12:40pm
Wintergarten
When choosing a governance model for your open-source project, “foundation-backed” is a proven approach. We chose this path - and built a brand-new association from scratch. Learn why and how we created an independent home and what impact the transition from company-led to foundation-backed had on our open-source project Yaook and its community.

Standard for Public Code: Self Assessment

Lightning Talk
10. March 2025, 05:35pm - 05:40pm
Auditorium
Lightning Talk