Ten stories from around the world: LibreLocal 2026, part one
Today, we want to highlight ten of the many organizers who made forty-seven LibreLocal 2026 meetups happen: Ahmad (Australia), Ariel (Mexico), Brady (Cameroon), Brenda (United States), Carmen-Lisandrette (New Zealand), Lionel (Switzerland), Rodrigo (Spain), ~soru (Argentina), William (China), and an incarcerated free software supporter from Iran. Far from each other in many parts of the world, they came together around one unifying belief: free software.
In the first half of this two-part report on LibreLocal 2026, we will focus on the LibreLocal meetups organized by these dedicated community members as they tell us, mostly in their own words, about their experiences. We envisioned LibreLocal as a collage of in-person community meetups that would bring people together to swap ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software.
When we asked the free software community to organize LibreLocals last year, the response was very inspirational: twenty-nine different meetups were hosted. After we made the global call this year, we were greeted with an even more enthusiastic response. Forty-seven LibreLocal meetups on six continents have been held so far, mostly in May (LibreLocal month), and there are at least four more being planned for later in the year. Of these forty-seven meetups, fifteen were held in the United States and nine in Spain, including no less than five organized by PicaHack in Oviedo, Spain.
Organizers hosted LibreLocals in cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, universities, a computer repair shop, and even as part of a field trip to the System Source Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of computing in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA.
Teaching user freedom under incarceration
We also learned that a LibreLocal was organized inside Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, Iran by a free software supporter. Originally planned to be held in Shiraz, we were informed of this change in location on the LibreLocal wiki page set up for listing all LibreLocals. The updated entry, by another free software supporter in Iran, reads:
« This year, one of our dedicated activists organized a LibrePlanet event from within prison in Iran. Currently serving a sentence for « cyber-crimes » related to his promotion of free software, he continues to introduce the principles of software freedom to his fellow inmates. We have placed this banner to honor his resilience and the community of individuals in prison who continue to stand for technological freedom. His identity will be revealed when it is safe to do so. »
Advocating for user freedom should never result in a prison sentence. We especially admire and respect the bravery and strength of those who fight for software freedom in the most dangerous and oppressive of environments.
Previous LibreLocal organizers see greater turnout this year
Other LibreLocals were hosted by some of last year’s organizers, including Lucio Albenga of LibreCan Comunidad de Software Libre y Cultura Libre de Canarias in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands of Spain and William Goodspeed (Gong Zhile) in Beijing, China. William reported that the attendance doubled from last year! He wrote:
« Like last year, this year’s LibreLocal had no designated topics and no activities scheduled but since most of the participants were also hackers, we quickly came to the same conclusion — « this year we are going to hack together! » […] We ended up diving into different groups discussing different topics regarding free software.
We did have some ideas in common and quickly implemented them. Again, most of us are hackers so at the very start, we did a key signing party with people writing their name and fingerprint on the white board and introducing themself while others helped those who aren’t familiar with GnuPG and Web of Trust. »
 |
Building on connections in Oceania and beyond
Free software supporters also showed up in Oceania. LibreLocals were held in Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. Carmen-Lisandrette Maris, founder of Mission:Libre, an organization that connects tweens and young teens with free software, told us that:
« In Auckland, we had a cozy meetup near the beach. We shared our experiences spreading free software in the city and had a deep discussion on how to strengthen the movement in New Zealand. »
Many of this year’s LibreLocal organizers were new to organizing a free software meetup. This included Ahmad, the organizer of the Sydney, Australia meetup. He reported back to say that:
« I really enjoyed the LibreLocal meetup in Sydney… Please do more next year! »
He also mentioned that attendees want to continue to meet informally going forward.
Building on the connections made through LibreLocal meetups was a common theme not just in Sydney but in many other meetups. In Europe, the LibreLocal in Salamanca, Spain, put together by Rodrigo Santamaría, was a wonderful example of this. His meetup, which took place at the University of Salamanca, attracted students, professors, lab techs, and outside professionals. He wrote:
« In the end, we have set up an email group and are discussing there what to do next. We will possibly set up a ‘group for the promotion of free software in Salamanca (FRESA)’ and will start with some activities. By now, ‘low effort, moderate impact, stability in time’ is our strategy. »
Sounds very wise, and we hope to hear more from FRESA as it develops.
First-time organizers raise awareness
In Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Lionel Jeannerat reported on a large LibreLocal meetup, co-organized by be-BOP, Nym, Fair Social Net, PVH éditions, Coffice, and Coworking Neuchâtel. Lionel reports:
« LibreLocal Neuchâtel was a great success, bringing together many local stakeholders and free software promoters, including GNU Taler, Nym, be-BOP, PVH éditions, Fair Social Net, and Coworking Neuchâtel.
The event attracted around fifty participants: free software enthusiasts, curious onlookers, and several representatives from economic organizations. The city of Neuchâtel honored us with its presence through its digital affairs officer.
The city supported us with free bottles of local wine (free as in beer). Coworking brought delicious pizzas for dinner.
The event raised awareness among visitors about the importance of free software, and the install party resulted in the liberation of several machines.
But, the greatest achievement was forging connections between several local free software stakeholders and strengthening their cohesion. Collaborations are already underway.
We thank the FSF for the impulsion and the financial support. »
Thank you all for organizing!
Of the multiple LibreLocals organized throughout Africa, including Nairobi, Kenya and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, the first-time Duoala, Cameroon meetup was a net positive. The organizers of the Duoala meetup, the OSS Cameroon community, told us of a small but no less important gathering held in both French and English. Organizer Brady told us that:
« the event was good and the participants weren’t aware of the free software movement before it. […] We started by watching a FSF movie, then we talked about the free software movement, showcased some free software products, and finally had an open talk around the free software movement. »
 |
Similar connections blossomed in the Americas, too. In Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, Ariel Del Valle, another first-time LibreLocal organizer, noted that the attendees came to the meetup with different but complementary aims:
« Maria expressed her desire to try free software for the first time and learn from others. Rafael and Ariel, being the oldest, talked about how over the years proprietary software companies have abused the user, and gave examples of how free software has liberated them. Daniel talked about how in high school he encountered Inkscape and GIMP, and how he is implementing free software in his college years. George talked about his experience using vi and neovim with plug-ins, and how he loves the chance to study how everything works.
Finally, we all agreed to create a group with monthly reunions with the objective to invite more people to try and learn about free software, helping them with the installation process, and talking about the free software ideas. »
 |
In Durham, North Carolina, USA, LibreLocal organizer Brenda Estrella reported that they had a gathering powered by cookies and mandarins. Brenda writes,
« A total of eleven people attended and it was a great time! In fact, by the end of the four-hour gathering, the majority of the attendees were still chatting.
The group was fully engaged and we all shared our interests, enthusiasm, and tips. Here are some of the topics I noted: compiler projects; cyberdecks; de-googlifying our lives; regional conferences; Durham user group recommendations; setting up media servers; favorite GNU/Linux distros; gaming emulators; hardware sourcing tips; Matrix vs. Simplex vs. IRC; unlocking/jailbreaking proprietary hardware; and guides on how to wrest away control of information and tech from corporations. »
 |
One of the LibreLocal held in South America was in Bariloche, Argentina. Co-organized by Comunidad Software Libre Bariloche and Barca Furilofche en el PIP, the May 30 meetup drew a passionate crowd. Co-organizer ~soru shared the following in Spanish (kindly translated by an anonymous volunteer):
« »LibreLocal Bariloche was held in the « Biblioteca Popular Aime Paine », a social space where we develop monthly activities related to free software and computer science, always in a critical sense.
We had several formal talks planned, although a relaxed tone to the meetup prevailed, lots of personal connections, the review of the history of local free software communities in Bariloche and Argentina, talks about the local history of computer science. Of the four talks, two were finally developed (one about routers and another about the history of the Connecting Equality program, and the impact that free software had on public policies).
For us, « LibreLocal » was an opportunity to meet again as « Bariloche Free Software Community, » and we believe that the experience strengthens the project we are building. We are also proud to have the support of the Free Software Foundation! There were attendees who proposed talks and workshops in the coming months! There are many expectations for strengthening the space!
We encourage the international community to continue proposing LibreLocal because, as the FSF says, today free software is even more necessary than ever. »
These are only ten stories among many more of free software supporters from across the globe that we wanted to share with you today. We envisioned LibreLocals meetups to become a positive way to bring together free software supporters so that they could come to build lasting, robust, and vibrant communities. And we are very happy to see that those intentions have borne out again this year.
Join us in supporting this work
FSF programs like LibreLocal 2026 are funded almost completely by free software supporters just like you. We supported these local organizers in a number of ways, including through monetary grants for those who applied, by using our communications channels to ensure other free software supporters who may be interested in attending a local meetup were informed, and by providing some of the logistical and technical infrastructure like our LibrePlanet website to help organizers connect with their local communities. You may have seen that we are in the middle of our summer fundraiser, which allows us to help others support the global free software movement so that we may all thrive. Please help us reach our goal of 175 new members by July 10, 2026.
We know not everyone is in a position to give, but if you can, support our efforts by joining the FSF as an associate member. A major way programs like LibreLocal 2026 are able to continue is through donations from supporters like you. An associate membership is a great show of support we can rely on. The FSF does not compromise when it comes to defending your freedom. Without the continued commitment of people like you, the progress we have made is in danger, and software freedom could be reduced to a mere wish instead of today’s reality. Please help us continue to protect software freedom and increase its global support. Every membership this summer will help us towards our goal of 175 new members. Associate members will also be able to enjoy all the member benefits which include merchandise discounts, a 16GB bootable membership card, and use of our associate member videoconferencing server.
We are so grateful to all the organizers and attendees of all forty-seven LibreLocals held so far this year. The organizing they have all helped create has been inspiring, and we also thank you our donors and associate members for the support that makes such meetups possible. And we aren’t done yet! We will share even more stories shortly in part two of our recap of LibreLocal 2026.
- « LibreLocal meetup Bariloche » © 2026 by ~soru. This photo is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- « LibreLocal meetup Beijing » © 2026 by William Goodspeed (Gong Zhile). This photo is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- This work, « LibreLocal meetup Neuchâtel collage, » is adapted from the « LibreLocal-Neuchatel-2026-05-21_1, « LibreLocal-Neuchatel-2026-05-21_2, » LibreLocal-Neuchatel-2026-05-21_3, » and « LibreLocal-Neuchatel-2026-05-21_4 » © 2026 by Lionel Jeannerat. These four photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. « LibreLocal meetup Neuchâtel collage » © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc., by Eko K. A. Owen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- « LibreLocal meetup Duoala » © 2026 by OSS Cameroon. This photo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- « LibreLocal meetup Mazatlán, Sin. » © 2026 by Ariel Del Valle. This photo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- This work, « LibreLocal meetup Durham collage, » is adapted from « LibreLocal-Durham-2026-05-30-1 » and « LibreLocal-Durham-2026-05-30-2 » © 2026 by Brenda Estrella. Both photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. « LibreLocal meetup Durham collage » © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc., by Eko K. A. Owen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Source: FSF
