Every year, a group of open source enthusiasts, usually a few hundred, get together in Texas. It’s a great event called Texas Linux Fest. (Next year’s event is scheduled for September 17-18, 2027.)

It has all the usual trappings of your average tech industry event, such as vendor booths, presentations, lightning talks, and after parties. However, there’s something different about this one.

I talked to some first-timers in the hallway as the event was wrapping up and they mentioned how much they enjoyed everything. Every attendee had something interesting to share about what they do at work or their hobby projects at home. Everyone talks in the realm of what is possible.

Each year, the question inevitably comes up:

Where can I find other events like this one? This is so much better than those massive conferences.

Texas Linux Fest is special.

This year’s event covered broad topics from great speakers:

  • Traveling across international borders with less (or no) data
  • The intricacies of DNS
  • A raspberry pi handheld computer with a XBox 360 keyboard in a 3D printed case
  • Burnout, and what’s it’s like to be laid off
  • Kalpa Linux, a new desktop Linux idea
  • How Cloudflare uses BPF-LSM to mitigate vulnerabilities on a large infrastructure
  • Recruiting friends into a backup cult

I did a talk about AI fears and engineering with a Dune theme.

Every presenter answered questions until they were pushed out of the room and then offered their time graciously in the hallway afterwards. It’s hard to describe, but there’s a “love of the game” type of feeling at Texas Linux Fest. If you come to the event feeling frustrated, burned out, or confused, you leave with a new excitement about how open source makes so many things possible.

Lots of people wanted to talk about AI in the hallway and it was amazing to see how a little ambition and a little help from an LLM allowed people to accomplish amazing things. Nobody wanted AI to replace them, but they wanted to use it to make their ideas a reality. Simple thoughts while taking a shower can turn into prototypes a short while later. We truly live in an amazing time.

If you haven’t been to Texas Linux Fest before, try to get there next year. Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone. You will have plenty of new ideas and people to collaborate with when you leave. 😉