It is hard to sustainably support #OpenSource as government - after all, the public sector's subsidy programs tend to be short term focused, fragmented. They are sadly doing little to shift the billions now spent on proprietary US SaaS solutions towards sovereign open source, and have little staying power and permanence.

I'd argue the public sector should work with existing communities that have managed a sustainable financial model, commit to deploy these & shift real procurement money rather than be distracted by subsidies.

I will keep my argument short - and leave the time for discussion!

speakers: 'Jos Poortvliet'

link: 'https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/TWBVC8-how_the_public_sector_can_sustainably_work_with_open_source_communities/'