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As a reader of this blog you’re already well aware that you can use the Librem 5 while travelling.

This is the (highly anticipated, I’m sure) follow up to the previous post about FOSDEM 2023.

With sufficient time for all impressions to settle in, let me share my experiences of this trip.

The travel itself was pretty uneventful, although I have to admit that it always fills me with joy showing train tickets from the lockscreen.

Ticket box plugin on phosh’s lockscreen

Having arrived in Brussels, the first order of business was getting to the hotel to drop off luggage before adventuring into the city.

Finding my way around was easy using Pure Maps, which is particularly nice if you want to find nearby points of interest such as coffee places or restaurants.

Getting around in Brussels

I have to admit that my modus operandi for exploring a foreign city is usually just “pick a direction and start walking”. Still, being able to look up where you are is obviously very useful. Especially if you intend to meet up with someone!

Having wandered around (aimlessly?) I ended up at the Grand Palace. Time to whip out the phone and take some pictures all tourist-like 🙂

Grand Palace

Some roaming later a wild kaleidoscope appeared:

Infinite Me

Now I know what you’re thinking: What a strange camera bug. Nonsense! This sort of thing is perfectly normal at the Museum of Illusions ✨.

By the way: All images are unedited, but can be improved considerably if you follow the photo processing tutorial.

Fast forward a bit to Saturday, the first conference day. With confy keeping track of the schedule would be easy.

Confy showing the schedule for the FOSS on mobile devices track

I spent the first half of the day in watching every talk of the FOSS on mobile devices track as well as giving a talk of my own about improvements to
Phosh in 2022.

I think the track was a huge success as evident by the room being full with people and others queueing outside to get in. A shoutout to Mobian and postmarketOS is in order for helping making the track happen!

Most of the rest of the day I spent near the Linux on Mobile stand, a cross-project collaborative effort between Mobian, postmarketOS, UBports and Sailfish OS.

It was pretty crazy how many people came by to this little bazaar to talk with developers and, of course, grab some stickers!

Linux on Mobile Devices stand

On Sunday, not a single talk was watched, instead I leisurely strolled by all the stands to either have a chat or hunt for stickers to add to my collection.
The odd random encounters with some Debian folks as well as the slightly less random meetings with colleagues (some for the first time!) were the cherry on top of a really great weekend that went by maybe a little too fast.

Hanging out at the GNOME hallway. From left to right: Evangelos, João, Tobias, Jonas, and Julian.

In the evenings a large number of mainline Linux phones (and people too!) got together for dinner, and there was much rejoicing.

Phones, lots of phones!

It was very nice meeting all the people I only knew virtually in real life and having a chat.

Before concluding this post, I want to give my personal recommendation
for talks to watch (in no particular order):

Sharp photos and short movies on a mobile phone
Where do we go from here?
Convergent camera applications for mobile devices
Ondev2: Distro-Independent Installer For Linux Mobile
Mobian: to stable… and beyond!
Open Source Software at NASA

Of course there are a lot more presentations worth watching, so just browse the website and you’re bound to find some interesting to you!

And if after all this you’re still craving for more, I’d point you towards, linmob‘s
posts, as well as the postmarketOS podcast recorded live at FOSDEM.

So long and see you next year in Brussels (and/or earlier somewhere else)!

Purism Products and Availability Chart

 ModelStatusLead Time 
USB Security Token Purism Librem KeyLibrem Key

(Made in USA)
In Stock
($59+)
10 business days
Librem 5In Stock
($999+)
3GB/32GB
10 business days
Librem 5 + SIMple
(4 GB Data)
In Stock
($99/mo)
10 business days
Librem 5 + SIMple Plus
(10 GB Data)
In Stock
($129/mo)
10 business days
Librem 5 + AweSIM
(Unlimited Data)
In Stock
($169/mo)
10 business days
Most Secure Laptop Purism Librem 14Librem 14In Stock
($1,370+)
10 business days
Most Secure PC Purism Librem Mini
Librem MiniMar 2024
($799+)
Shipping March, 2024
Purism Liberty Phone with Made in USA ElectronicsLiberty Phone
(Made in USA Electronics)
Mar 2024
($1,999+)
4GB/128GB
Shipping March, 2024
Librem 11Mar 2024
($999+)
8GB/1TB
Shipping March, 2024
Most Secure Server Purism Librem ServersLibrem ServerMar 2024
($2,999+)
Shipping March, 2024
The current product and shipping chart of Purism Librem products, updated on February 7th, 2024

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