Greetings!
Welcome to FOSS United’s monthly newsletter. This past month has been packed with developments of a lifetime. It holds yet another stark reminder of how much power — technology and the discourse around it — holds over our lives. Whether it was the week-long spectacle of the AI summit in the capital, with highly curated diplomatic and industry-grade AI optimism sprinkled with blunt open-washing and promises of happiness for all, welfare for all. Or yet another human conflict, powered by the SOTA models, turning algorithmic precision into real-world tragedy.
It reveals a sobering reality: technology isn’t an inherent, neutral path to prosperity. Without a moral compass, innovation is merely a more efficient tool for concentrating wealth and power.
It is a call to action for those of us who build; code does not exist in a vacuum. It is never enough to just ship. It doesn’t stop at “building the future”. We’re here to ensure it remains open, forkable, and most importantly, human.
Highlights
FOSS Hack begins
We are almost a week into FOSS Hack 2026. This time, it is a month-long marathon. So far, we have an exciting lineup of projects. If you are participating, here’s what you need to know.
Throughout the month, we’ve organised check-in calls and conversations with builders from previous FOSS Hack editions. Check out the agenda here and stay involved.
We’ve got mentors. We’ve got partner projects. Most importantly, we’ve got rules that you should be familiar with.
And just in case you are one of those who are fashionably late to parties — registrations are still open.
Mozilla × FOSS United OSAI Meetup in Bengaluru
On the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit, we hosted a small community meetup with friends at the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla AI. A jam-packed agenda with short talks, unconference sessions, and a lively AMA at the end. By the end of it, we realised that a lot is missing from the mainstream discourse around open source AI — and maybe that is where our community can step in.
Stay tuned for more.
Supporting NMG 2026
FOSS United is pitching in to support the 2026 Nagarathna Memorial Grant.
NMG was started as a yearly ₹1,00,000 no-strings-attached micro-grant to support meaningful work happening in India, started by Thejesh GN.
Community
Events
- Hybrid FOSS Hack 2026 | March 2026
- In-person FOSS Meetup Hyderabad | March 21
- In-person FOSS Meetup Bengaluru | March 28
- In-person ADCx India 26 | Bengaluru | March 29
- Virtual: The Craft of Science with AI – Data & Society | March 19
- Virtual: Can Middleware Save Social Media? – Knight First Amendment | March 27
- Virtual: Against Surveillance & Spectacle | March 10
- Virtual: Digital Governance for Democratic Renewal | March 11
To view other upcoming and past FOSS events, visit the FOSS Events Timeline.
Jobs and Grants
- [NEW] Open Source Endowment | Rolling Basis
- [NEW] Democracy × AI Cohort – Mozilla Foundation | Deadline: March 16
- [NEW] Sustainable Peering Infrastructure Grant Program | Deadline: April 23
- Nagarathna Memorial Grant | Deadline: March 15
- NGI Fediversity | Deadline: April 01
- NGI Zero Commons Fund | Deadline: April 01
- FOSS United Grants | Rolling Basis
- FLOSS/fund | Rolling Basis
News
- An Open Letter to Google regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Android App Distribution
- Tracking legislation to restrict or ban teen social media access worldwide | TechPolicy Press
- India’s AI sovereignty: Why open source is the new infrastructure | Rest of World
- Poisoned Wells | Examining the scale of DNS censorship in India
- LibreOffice Online: a fresh start | TDF Community Blog
- Words Without Consequence | The Atlantic
- Mapping India’s Data Centres: Aspirations, Realities and Futures
- First round of Innovation Challenge Advances | CoRE Stack
- People, Protocols and AI: Power and Governance in Open Social Networks
- Reframing Impact: AI Summit 2026 | AI Now Institute
- Why AI Sovereignty Depends on Interoperability Standards | TechPolicy Press
- India’s tech sovereignty is built on digital dependence
- The volunteer Wikipedia army protecting against AI slop
- BehanBox Talkies: We Need To Remove The Halo Around AI
- Can social media age verification really protect kids?
Projects
- Sightline – Shodan-style OSINT tool using OpenStreetMap
- Amche Atlas – Digital public library of maps from Goa’s open data community
- Oat – Ultra-lightweight UI library
- Ente Locker – Safe space for your most important documents
Want to showcase your project? Post it on the forum and we’ll include it in the next edition.
Housekeeping @ FOSS United
This month in Forklore
Here’s who joined the lore last month, projects worth bookmarking, and the maintainers behind them:
As usual, know someone who should be here? Let us know.
Governing Board Updates
The GB meeting for February took place on Wednesday, 25 February 2026. The call primarily focused on the Grants program. Check out the notes.
Grant Updates
Check out the latest updates from the FOSS United Grants program. We supported 1 new project grant, 4 event grants, fellowships, and more. Read the full update.
Monthly Tech Report
Check out the FOSS United Platform Monthly Tech Report for February 2026. Read the report.
Have thoughts on the newsletter? Reach out to us at team@fossunited.org
"May the FOSS be with you" 🚀
FOSS United. Strengthening the Indian FOSS ecosystem.
