I need read no further than the first word of an announcement for FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Developers’ European Meeting) to see that it is not an event for me. It is not that I fear that my non-drinking won’t be tolerated. Rather, I don’t want to have to put up with inebriated or half inebriated people.
Far too often in my working life, I have had to attend events populated by people who didn’t know the limits of propriety, after consuming alcohol.
Even though I share many of the aspirations of FOSDEM, this ad clearly demonstrates that this non-commercial, volunteer-based free and open-source software development community, is not sufficiently mature to warrant my attention, at least at this annual event held at the Université Libre de Bruxelles since 2000.
Alcohol use is a health concern, and with so much abuse in society it should not be promoted.