How can free, libre and open source software (FLOSS) be more inclusive? This question was central to the recent launch of a new special edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch), focusing on “visions of openness from the Global South”. The launch took place during the 2026 Global Gathering in Estoril, Portugal, an event that brought together people working across human rights, technology and social justice, uniting authors and advocates invested in the revitalisation of the FLOSS movement.
This was the perfect setting to discuss the future of the movement and reflect on what “openness” means, based on the thought-provoking premise that runs through this special edition: openness is something that must be built not only into technologies, but also into the structures and power relations around them.
Developed as part of the Next Generation Internet Zero initiative, the publication examines the political and social conditions that shape participation, resources and decision making within FLOSS ecosystems, particularly in relation to marginalised communities. As summarised in the preface to GISWatch, “this edition shows how confined and under-resourced the Global South FLOSS world can be, and yet it also shows that this is exactly where resistance is forged, and where brilliance and diversity continue to find new ways to name, express and voice themselves.”
Taking this forward, the launch circle offered an opportunity to discuss concrete suggestions on how we can amplify our advocacy and bridge the North/South power imbalance with those building and sustaining this movement. APC took this opportunity to ask the authors who were present, following the launch, for recommendations grounded in their research on how FLOSS could be more inclusive. Rather than simply providing answers, the discussion underscored the need for ongoing collective reflection and redistribution of power, while tackling serious structural barriers embedded in the margins, precisely where human rights are systematically violated – such as funding, language, governance and decision-making processes.
Inclusiveness in practice
"My recommendation about making FLOSS more inclusive is for the people that are the decision makers to talk to people from these communities that are not privileged or that are diverse from the norm.” This insight by report author Penguin Selectah of Cloud68.co, writing from the Balkans, underscores the critical need to place those experiencing the real-world impacts of technologies at the very centre of planning processes, which may require not only listening to them but also supporting them to participate through, for example, specific programmes and funding.
In a similar vein, Elisa Lindinger of SUPERRR Lab points out that FLOSS discussions many times focus too much on the technical aspects, while not seeing who actually contributes to making this all possible. “I think we're actually standing in our own way when we talk about FLOSS in terms of developing software, instead of creating the communities, instead of building the networks, [and] not talking about in which context these products are being used and what kind of movements they support,” she explains. Together with Zara Rahman, Lindinger wrote a report to for this special edition asking, “is it too late to build an AI commons?” They suggest that with a technology already so deeply exploitative as AI, building a real AI commons may be too difficult to achieve.
A key issue in this field is to move beyond generalised notions surrounding terms such as the ‘Global South” and “marginalised communities” in order to truly consider lived realities – particularly given the current context in which serious human rights violations such as war crimes and genocide continue to occur with impunity on a daily basis.
Situating his analysis in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region, Ragheb Ghandour from SMEX provides a concrete example on building FLOSS by showing that this is a region where open source is widely used but rarely produced due to a lack of opportunities to develop open source software. " We have less resources in the SWANA region and usually the initiatives do not come from within the region because there isn't understanding about what is open source,” he summarises, reflecting on the lived realities of those who do not have “the privilege to sit down on a computer and code for the whole day.” While information security is vital for those living in a war zone, it is incredibly difficult for local initiatives to achieve long-term stability. More community building and support are needed to achieve both economic and livelihood stability in these regions. Ghandour also points to the urgent need for language inclusion, specifically in Arabic, and women's inclusion in a field that remains heavily male-dominated.
Starting the change by looking inwards
Another point raised by authors at the launch event for this GISWatch special edition was the need for self-reflection within the FLOSS movement, with a view to identifying and sharing best practices and key lessons learnt. A practical step is to “pay Global South developers for their time working on open source, preferably something that's a bit sustainable and long term rather than product-based or short term,” highlights Tara Tarakiyee, an independent researcher. In the opening report opening of this edition, Tarakiyee looks into how the FLOSS funding landscape shapes participation in global FLOSS communities.
Xavier Coadic, an APC consultant for the NGI0 consortium who conducted a series of interviews for this edition, points to the need to revisit the history of FLOSS, considering its technical, social and political nuances – especially regarding those who may have become invisibilised over time. “There were some diversity and inclusion somewhere in the roots of FLOSS and we lost something along the way. So we have to put it on the table and to look into it.”
Maja Kraljic from the APC tech team and author of a report on how FLOSS projects can be more diverse and inclusive, also offers a concrete suggestion: “One thing that we can do is to talk more within the teams, with other projects to share best practices or what we have learned during these processes.” Drawing on a best practices guide developed by APC as part of the NGI Zero (NGI0) consortium, their report concludes the edition by unpacking what “diversity”, “equity” and “inclusion” mean in a practical way, serving as a resource for FLOSS projects to ensure sustainable community participation. “The guide is focused on asking questions trying to figure out what have we missed? What is there that we need to talk about still? And trying to deepen the conversations."
Delving deeper into the discussions while fostering concrete steps is at the heart of this special edition of GISWatch, thanks to the powerful contributions of various authors. Some of the comments made by participants during the launch acknowledged the challenges we continue to face in the FLOSS movement, such as the imposition of Big Tech, the dogmatic nature of some in the FLOSS community, and domination of the industry by men. As Haitham Dahboor of the Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA) wrote in his chapter and reiterated at the launch,"The struggle is never over: every generation of technology, from personal computing to cloud infrastructure to AI, resets the contest between concentrated corporate power and sovereign digital alternatives, requiring renewed engagement from each new generation of advocates."
By launching GISWatch within a circle, APC hopes that its content can become a tool for all those who advocate for the inclusion of the many voices that are still absent.
Download the full 2026 special edition of GISWatch, "Free/libre and open source software: Visions of openness from the Global South"