How do we engage avg citizens to care about FOSS?

[Muneer_S]

@ansh

How do we engage avg citizens to care about this?

IndiaFOSS 2026 - Planning

I’ve been mulling the idea of giving talks to the general public about “how to take control of your technology”. I feel people have a vague sense about things like “Instagram does not have my best interests in mind” or “Why does my phone running out of space every 2 years” but don’t have the power to do anything about it. Even if we just peel back the top layer and put in the idea of (for example) looking at who is behind an app, rather than just going by looks and features, that could be a sta…

Recently saw this discussion on the IndiaFOSS planning thread and thought I’d add a bit to it. I’m sure a lot of people in the community have interesting ideas about this.

My take
So, how do we engage average citizens to care about this?

Cultural penetration. Meeting people where they already are, speaking in formats they already consume.

Maybe borrow from what already works. Political parties, social movements, and consumer brands have all cracked this code. They don’t lecture. They infiltrate culture. FOSS could use the same playbook.

We could organize a nationwide awareness campaign where we partner with FOSS communities and companies, creators and influencers, and just start making stuff. Short videos, memes, documentaries, ads on buses and metro stations, content all over social media. Be real about what Big Tech is doing (the tracking, the lock-ins, all of it) and show people that FOSS is more than piracy, more than a way for corporates to cut costs, more than something only techies know about. It is for everyone. It is for us, the users, not just for corporates to take advantage of. It is about owning your stuff: your data, your digital life. A movement anyone can be part of.

Because playing it cool in 2026 is not going to get us anywhere except preaching to the same people who are already in the room. If we really want to grow the community and the ecosystem, this is how you do it ig. Focus on getting people in as users first, and they will find their way to becoming contributors.

Anyway, just throwing the idea out there. I haven’t really seen anyone thinking in this direction

[Badri_Sunderarajan]

This sounds like a great idea actually. I wonder if we can make some kind of list for “public action” that can be taken. I have no idea about the budget required for bus and metro ads (maybe it can be done, after all?) but digital content sounds quite doable.

We could also do something like hang out on Church Street and talk to interested passers-by, if that kind of thing still works these days?

And like I said earlier, I think think reaching out to non tech focused groups and meetups is a good idea. There are a lot of concepts and ideas that FOSS has to offer that we can go into without having to get too technical. Unfortunately, I am largely unaware of what other kinds of events are happening. Random suggestions are welcome.

[Badri_Sunderarajan]

@Muneer_S since this could do with more discussion, I decided to propose a BoF for this topic at IndiaFOSS 2026. Would you (or anyone else really) be interested in co-moderating?

[Badri_Sunderarajan]

I have proposed a BoF here! Still looking for a co-moderator

Propose Birds of a Feather (BoF) session @ IndiaFOSS 2026

FOSS in the Public Consciousness This is inspired by @Muneer_S’s thread on how to engage the average citizen to care about FOSS, Background To paraphrase the linked discussion: we have numerous FOSS events, and while they have their purpose, a lot of them are “preaching to the converted” in the sense that they are limited in getting more people to learn about FOSS. If you look at the reach of such meetups and conference outside tech circles, this reach plummets to nearly zero. We need to thi…

[Muneer_S]

I have no idea about the budget required for bus and metro ads

its going to be a lot but it could be some sort of partnership thing where we reach out to some good user friendly people centric foss projects like brave, proton, ente, etc. and their funds could be used to do one giant campaign where we suggest users to try these as an alternative, along with some other projects which could not afford ads, etc.

this way all these projects gets more users, who could be taught about the principle of foss and everything.

and when a person is introduced to these project, they should not use it because its foss. they should use it because its better. so ultimately put more effort on the ui/ux part, perhaps form a foss design community.

but overall ideas to make foss for everyone, not just the techies.

[Muneer_S]

I have proposed a BoF here! Still looking for a co-moderator

im already one of the design devroom managers, if these two doesn’t collide, ill be more than happy to be a part of this as well

[Badri_Sunderarajan]

Oh nice! I keep bumping into design devroom managers

Sure. I will keep an eye out for other co-moderators in the meantime.

[Badri_Sunderarajan]

Hmm, that sounds more doable. On a related note, I was surprised to see Odoo ads in various places such as billboards and even on the side of taxis! I guess they have a good marketing fund.

I agree about people using things not because it’s FOSS, but because it’s better. Already, I have been recommending Linux to people not because of their philosophy but because it will work better for them (runs fast, more immune to viruses and malware, no need to buy a new computer).

The major gap there is people wondering “what will happen if something goes wrong?” Or in such cases, they usually take their laptop to a computer repair shop whose first action would be to get rid of this weird Linux thing and “put back” Windows.

This is where recommending good software on peoples’ existing OSes (rather than trying to make them switch over completely) can be effective. If people are already used to Firefox, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice, it greatly reduces the barrier to move to Debian later without having to learn those new things as well. And even if they don’t move over, it is still a win for them to be using some FOSS solutions.

UX/UX is something projects definitely have to pay more attention to, as it is one area where proprietary software currently shines (not because it is proprietary, but because the companies running it happen to be the ones with money and motivation to get designers to pay adequate attention to their products)

[lalitha_a_r1]

@Badri_Sunderarajan

bus and metro ads

Not sure about the cost for this, but this seems to be more efficient than digital for the non tech people we are aiming for. I remember my aunt calling me to ask of that Wispr flow ad they saw in auto cover few days back.

We have to enquire the costs for that tho. Anytime I go out, I am met with buses and I feel like it’s almost a habit to read what’s written in the buses while waiting for your bus to arrive.

[Shree_Kumar]

The “free” tiers of commercial software really make this much more harder now than in the past.

One efficient way (bang for the buck) is by helping people use more FOSS. Maybe like run free workshops. Give some FOSS philosophy gyaan in the beginning and see how much it sticks

Also maybe run with tempered expectations. The community overall itself isn’t so much into FOSS philosophy etc now!