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NLUUG Spring Conference 2026

"NLUUG is the association of (professional) Open Source and Open
Standards users in the Netherlands" You can follow them on
@[email protected]
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/
  


• 
  noreferrer" target="_blank">
  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. noreferrer" target="_blank">
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 noreferrer" target="_blank">
Ada and Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and
Raspberry Ice Cream
by
Matthias Kirschner
and noreferrer" target="_blank">
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
, Nico 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

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