At CIT-Services, we believe that staying at the forefront of technology means actively engaging with the communities that build it. Recently, our team had the fantastic opportunity to attend IndiaFOSS 2026, a major conference celebrating Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), organized by the FOSS United community.
Representing CIT-Services, two of our team members dove into the weekend-long event, joining developers, creators, and open-source advocates to discuss the future of software.
The CIT-Services team proudly representing at the IndiaFOSS photo booth
This year's event was a masterclass in how Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is maturing. From enterprise adoption to grassroots community building, here are the key takeaways and standout talks that resonated with the CIT-Services team.
Here are some of our biggest takeaways and highlights from the conference.
Building Businesses and Thriving Communities
Open source is no longer just a weekend hobby; it is a sustainable business model and a cultural foundation. Several talks highlighted how to build around FOSS effectively:
Building a business with FOSS: Neha Sanke’s invited talk tackled one of the most critical questions in the industry - how to monetize and build a sustainable company while remaining true to open-source principles. For IT service providers like us, understanding this balance is crucial for long-term growth.
From Institution to Community: Building COSH and a Culture of Open Source: Mohit P. Tahiliani shared insights on transitioning open-source efforts from rigid institutional structures into vibrant, self-sustaining communities.
How to Build Long-Lasting Tech Communities That Thrive: Ashutosh Pandey and Akash Singh provided a highly actionable framework for nurturing tech communities. As a company that values developer ecosystems, these lessons in community retention and engagement were invaluable.
Digital Autonomy: Taking Back Control
A core tenet of the FOSS philosophy is user freedom, which was perfectly captured in discussions around privacy and consumer hardware.
Living With a DeGoogled Phone: Privacy, Trade-offs, and Daily Use: Jasil Faras gave a pragmatic look at what it takes to untether from major tech monopolies. Understanding the trade-offs of DeGoogled environments helps us think critically about how the software we build respects user privacy in the real world.
Documentation That Drives OSS Adoption: Lessons From Bruno: Open-source API client Bruno has seen massive growth recently. The talk broke down how treating documentation as a primary driver of adoption "rather than an afterthought" can make or break an open-source project.
The Voice of the Community at Communi-Con
One of the most exciting aspects of IndiaFOSS 2026 was Communi-Con, a democratic stage where attendees voted to decide the final lineup. It was a perfect reflection of what the community actually wants to hear. Two talks from this stage stood out to us:
Say no to JS React garbage (Kailash Nadh): This highly opinionated talk challenged the current industry obsession with bloated JavaScript frameworks. It sparked great conversations about building lean, efficient, and maintainable software. Especially loved the solution for this - https://oat.ink/
My Experience Daily Driving A Real Linux Phone (Shantanu Khedkar): Amazing this high-school kid talks firsthand about the viability and the struggles of daily-driving a pure Linux mobile device and the passion it takes to overcome the challenges he has been going through. We did connect with him personally on this topic and had a long conversation about our Ubuntu Touch phones and his PostmarketOS phone.
Community, Tech, and... Stickers!
Of course, a tech conference wouldn't be complete without the community vibe and hands-on tech. From getting to check out cool hardware hacking tools like the Flipper Zero, to meeting fellow open-source enthusiasts, the energy was phenomenal.
And it wouldn't be a true FOSS event without walking away with an impressive haul of stickers representing our favorites.
Looking Ahead
Attending IndiaFOSS 2026 was a great experience for CIT-Services. We are returning with fresh perspectives on how to leverage open-source solutions to build faster, smarter, and more collaboratively.
A huge thank you to the FOSS United team and all the sponsors for putting together such an inspiring event. We’re already looking forward to the next one!
A Quick Note
With around 130 sessions happening in parallel across six different spaces, IndiaFOSS 2026 was incredibly packed! Between the hallway networking, deep-diving into community booths, and the sheer scale of the event, there were many amazing tracks and devrooms we desperately wanted to catch but physically couldn't get to. But thankfully, the FOSS United team recorded everything!
References & Talk Recordings
Want to dive deeper into the sessions we mentioned? You can learn more about the event on the official IndiaFOSS 2026 website or watch the full talk recordings over on the FOSS United YouTube Channel.