As I reflected on what I experienced at #FOSDEM, the idea of organizing a devroom dedicated to #diversity was born.

Together with @Gina @_elena we submitted the proposal to organise a #DEI devroom at #FOSDEM27. It got rejected. 😢💔

Every year we leave #FOSDEM inspired by the people we meet & the passion for #opensource. And every year we also find ourselves thinking about how much greater it could be if more people with different perspectives were part of those conversations.

@RosannaSibora and @_elena this is such a shame. I've been going to FOSDEM for about 7 years now and every year it's a sea of white men.

This track could have been an opportunity to include some fresh perspectives and talk about diversity in #FOSS.

We had an awesome group of organizers coming from @nextcloud , @fdroidorg , Red Hat, @SUSE , @drupal , @linuxfoundation EU, and OSPO's.

We were so excited that we had already started designing stickers and organizing funds for speakers, etc ☹️

oh no, this is really sad. it would have been such a great addition.

#FOSDEM26 was my first and aside from the vastness of the campus which I noticed, I also noticed that #FOSDEM seem to be heavy on white males and isn't diverse nor inclusive in the ways FOSS should be.

@ukdev some white men think that the "diversity of ideas is enough".

@canleaf genuine question: which kind of value has to isolate talks about diversity into a dedicated devroom, instead of spreading them across other community-oriented rooms and main tracks at #FOSDEM27 ?

@ukdev @RosannaSibora

@madbob @canleaf @ukdev @RosannaSibora OK, but is anyone actually going to implement your better idea?

@kittyboy77 @madbob @canleaf @ukdev @RosannaSibora

You will find tons of presos and discussions on DEI(B) all across the devrooms and tracks when you do a search like "diversity" site:fosdem.org - the topic has been discussed for many years. I also see it all over the place at the projects' own conferences.

@CyReVolt @madbob @canleaf @ukdev @RosannaSibora That doesn't answer my question, but thank you anyway

@kittyboy77 Could you rephrase it? Taking it word for word, my answer would otherwise be "yes".

@CyReVolt I'm fully aware that this is a long standing problem.

I'm fully aware that many of the marginalised people who have managed to survive in the field are working their arses off to change things.

I want to know when we're going to see meaningful buy in for systemic change from everyone else.

Given the comments upthread and the numbers we have on lack of diversity, I think that's a fair question

@kittyboy77 I am trying to take you seriously here.

What I read is the vague/passive accusation of active exclusion. What I can confirm is that there is always a jerk everywhere, including among those calling for DEI.

And what I experience myself across the many communities that I am part of is active welcoming. People from all sorts of backgrounds and demographics are part of the projects.

If you have a specific request to any community, the way to go is gentle participation. Thanks.

@CyReVolt If you were trying to take me seriously, you wouldn't feel the need to defensively make that claim.

I'm glad to hear your experiences have been good. I think there's more to do so more people can say that

@kittyboy77 I think you proved my claim.

@RosannaSibora @Gina @_elena It's not over yet! Try again @ FOSDEM 2028 :)

@RosannaSibora @Gina @_elena There might also be a chance to have a lightning talk about this, so at least you could get the message out ^^