End of Year Recap 2025
Author: Compiled by Sophie
Below excerpt is taken from LUV Subcommittee report for the Linux Australia Annual Report, drafted by Alexar Pendashteh.
Around a year ago, a small team put their hands up to take an active role in defining and shaping our local Linux community here in Victoria.
It is my honour as the lead organiser to share our journey, what we tried as a team and accomplished as a community and what we learned. We are hoping this will be helpful for our future partners, volunteers and communities who are in similar positions as we are.
The 2025 LUV committee was formed at a long overdue AGM in an entirely different world than the previous AGM back in 2019.
Looking back, the work of the committee in 2025 can be described as re-building organisational infrastructure as well as revisiting the identity of the group and the broader community.
Below is a brief list of activities, initiatives and outcomes from 2025.
Linux Regional Summit
Linux Victoria, in partnership with Federation University, hosted the Linux Regional Summit at the Morwell Innovation Centre. This full-day conference included talks, demos and a visit to the Gippsland Tech School. We learned a lot and with the feedback we received, and are hoping to run this event in the following year with a bigger impact.
Linux and AI Series
We ran a weekly online discussion on the intersection of Linux and AI, titled "LAIT Night -- Linux & AI Tuesday Chats". This series ran consistently from July to the end of September and delivered an event in partnership with MLAI Melbourne group in August. We are hoping to incorporate all the learnings for re-launching this initiative in the coming year.
Workshops
The idea for this initiative is to enable community members to share their expertise with the broader community using the vehicle of structured workshops that can be delivered by volunteers and reach a wider audience. We have a model for making this initiative financially sustainable which I encourage you to look at and provide feedback for.
Computerbank Victoria
Computerbank Victoria is a technology charity with a beautiful business model. Refurbish second hand computers, install Linux and distribute back to those who need them at discounted price.
Our Tech Help initiative, in partnership with Electron Workshop in 2024, helped us connect with Computerbank and in 2025 we had the opportunity to bring the two community together in Computerbank's farewell party at their iconic North Melbourne location. Since then, Computerbank has moved to their new home in Broadmeadows. We are hoping to work more closely with the Computerbank in the coming year, especially since many are dealing with the challenge (read opportunity) of End of Support for Windows 10.
Software Freedom Day
We had the privilege of returning the flagship event of Software Freedom Day to one of its legendary past hosts, Melbourne PC User Group! We are grateful for the support provided by the Melbourne PC committee and are hoping to bring the two communities closer in the coming year to have a higher impact for the broader society.
Infrastructure
If above is the tip of the iceberg, a big part of its body would be the work that went to building up the infrastructure. Website, mailing-list, bot integrations, and more are underway. I encourage readers to read our full report which is on our website. This initiative is in its early stage and there is a great need for tech expertise. If you're keen to learn please reach out or turn up to one of the Volunteer Info Sessions.
Honourable mentions
It has all been the result of the work and support of many from our community (Sophie, Simon, Les, Terry, Andrew, Nate, Brian, Brok, Steve et al) and our sister organisations (Marty, Kirsten, Mic, Bill, Paul, Lisa, and Russel). As I strongly feel there were many more whom I've missed, I apologise: my bad!
Special thanks to...
Serversaurus, Inspire9 & Vinny's Eatery for providing their resources to our community very generously and without any expectation.
Coming up in 2026
Author: Sophie
2026 is shaping up to be a busy year for Linux Victoria, with a mix of familiar events and a few new formats we’re excited to try. We’ve spent some time looking at what worked well in 2025 and how we can build on that in a way that’s sustainable for everyone involved.
Part of that means planning further ahead and being clearer about what’s coming up, so people have time to put events on their calendar. It also means structuring our events in a way that gives enough lead time and keeps the workload realistic for our volunteer organisers.
Key Dates
While most event dates are still being worked out, the following are already locked in, so feel free to mark your calendar.
22nd January
LUV Breakfast at Everything Open
31st January
LUV BBQ
25th March
Document Freedom Day
18th April
Hardware Freedom Day
25th August
Linux Regional Summit Ballarat
19th September
Software Freedom Day
Repeating events
For 2026, each month will have a different theme, with events planned around that topic.
Alongside this, we’ll also be running a set of quarterly events, which gives everyone a bit more breathing room to plan and prepare.
LAIT Night Chat
In February, season 2 of the Linux and AI Tuesday night chats will kick off. These will move to a fortnightly schedule instead of weekly, allowing more time to gather news and for people to prepare and share what they’ve been working on.
Monthly
Monthly Discussion and Town Hall
Similar to 2025, there will be a monthly online event. The first half will be a town hall, and the second half will be an open discussion centred around the theme of the month.
Hello World
Hello World is a monthly event, run online and potentially also in person. Each month, we’ll pick a specific open source tool or project, something that many of us have been meaning to try but haven’t quite found the time to start.
The idea is simple: we get started together. It’s a low-pressure way to explore new tools, share early progress, and learn alongside others who are also starting from scratch.
Volunteer onboarding
In 2025, a number of people expressed interest in helping out but weren’t quite sure how to get involved. In 2026, we’ll be running a monthly online information session and onboarding meeting for volunteers.
The first half will cover what Linux Victoria does and how to get involved, and the second half will be a volunteer team meeting. If you’re curious about helping out, these sessions are a good place to start.
Quarterly
Collab (with interstate)
Once per quarter, we plan to organise an event in another state, in collaboration with the local Linux user group (and potentially other community groups) in that city or town.
Regional (Victoria)
Each quarter, we’ll also be running an in-person event in a regional town in Victoria. These events are intended to bring people together locally, while also encouraging members from Melbourne to travel out and take part.
Over the year, these regional events will gradually build towards the Linux Regional Summit in August.
Technical Talks (in Melbourne)
To balance the interstate and regional events, each quarter will also include an in-person event in Melbourne. These may be held at the same venue or rotate between different spaces such as libraries.
This event effectively replaces the online Monthly Discussion and Town Hall for that quarter, and will include talks.