NLUUG Spring Conference 2026

"NLUUG is the association of (professional) Open Source and Open Standards users in the Netherlands" You can follow them on @nluug@nluug.social on Mastodon.

I was particularly interested to attend their 2026 Spring Conference 2026 as our own Jeroen Baten was giving a talk on "Getting started with CI/CD using Forgejo Actions and why this is important AF"

He assures me he will post it as a show. cough owes me a show cough .

While there the urge to record came upon me, so I was able to snag a few interviews.

Ronny Lam representing NLUUG

NLUUG is the association for (professional) developers, administrators and users of UNIX/Linux, Open Source, Open Source, Open Systems and Open Standards in the Netherlands. The NLUUG community includes, system administrators, programmers and network specialists.

If you are working as an open professional, then NLUUG is the excellent association where you can keep track of your technical knowledge, for example during our six-monthly conferences. The aim of NLUUG is to disseminate the application and knowledge of open standards and UNIX/Linux.

NLUUG maintains close ties with many organizations and individuals who pursue the open mind.

• https://nluug.nl/organisatie/personen/ronny-lam/
• https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLUUG
• https://nluug.nl/

Nico Rikken representing the FSFE

The Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt, and share software. These rights help support other fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of press, and privacy. Learn more

While we are no strangers to chatting with the Free Software Foundation Europe ( hpr857 , hpr1957 , hpr2223 , hpr2945 , hpr2946 , hpr3388 , hpr3407 , hpr3833 ), this was the first time we had a chance to interview Nico Rikken .

We chat about freedom and Ada and Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream by Matthias Kirschner and Sandra Brandstätter .

Geert-Jan Meewisse representing Coalition for Fair Digital Education

The Coalition for Fair Digital Education (CEDO) is a group of concerned parents, IT professionals, teachers, and privacy advocates committed to enabling fair and sovereign digital education. The coalition operates as a working group within Internet Society Netherlands (ISOC). We have drafted a manifesto calling for improvements in digital education.

Today, children in education receive an online account from a foreign Big Tech company at an early age. Through this account, data can be collected, profiles can be built, and personal information can be used and exploited by these companies. This profiling leads to children being categorized and receiving tailored content that companies deem relevant—before they even discover things for themselves. And that’s not the only issue. Since schools exclusively use “standard” Big Tech solutions, children do not learn about alternative programs or tools. As a result, real digital skills and critical thinking are not developed, making children dependent on a company that profits from their data. The privacy and sovereignty of digital education are under severe pressure, affecting not only students but also teachers and parents, who are forced to use the same systems. Other countries are already ahead in this regard: in Denmark, Google products have been banned in schools in Helsingør municipality, and the German state of Baden-Württemberg has prohibited Microsoft 365.

We advocate for the development of an open-source digital infrastructure for learning and educational tools, based on public values such as autonomy, equality, sovereignty, democracy, transparency, accessibility, academic freedom, and privacy-by-design.

To achieve this, raising awareness among students, parents, teachers, and school boards is crucial. Additionally, we aim to involve policymakers by presenting our manifesto.

https://eerlijkdigitaalonderwijs.nl/english/

A working group of the Internet Society , Geert-Jan was here to tell us of their work to build a FLOSS alternative for Education.

You can get in touch with him at gj -at- eerlijkdigitaalonderwijs .nl , or @geert-jan:matrix.org

Conclusion

I had great conversations with the sponsors who were a little shy about doing an interview. They do have a range of jobs available for those of us with Dutch nationality, and have lived in the Netherlands for the last 10 years.

The event was fantastic, professional, held in a great venue, and the closest thing to real life xkcd: Shibboleet as you are likely to get.

I would like to thank the NLUUG team, volunteers, venue staff and of course the attendees for a wonderful day. With any luck this will not be the last time you hear about this team on HPR.

The recordings will be available on the NLUUG FTP Server