30–31 Aug 2025
St. Xavier's College
Asia/Kathmandu timezone

From Scratch to Summit: Leading a Grassroots Open Source Movement in South Asia

31 Aug 2025, 09:00
50m
0. Main hall - 4th Floor (St. Xavier's College)

0. Main hall - 4th Floor

St. Xavier's College

Maitighar, Kathmandu, Bagmati, 7437, Nepal
Keynote Community

Speakers

Mr Aaditya Singh
GNOME
Sailesh Singh

Description

In this session, I ( Aaditya Singh ), the founder of GNOME Nepal and lead organizer of UbuCon Asia 2025, and Sailesh Singh,the co-lead of Ubuntu Nepal, will share lessons learned from building and sustaining open source communities in underrepresented regions. From reviving Ubuntu Nepal after 13 years to growing GNOME Nepal to 300+ active contributors, this talk will explore practical leadership strategies, sustainable community models, cultural challenges, and the power of mentorship and collaboration.

Attendees will gain actionable insights into:

Starting and scaling an open source community from scratch

Motivating contributors with limited resources

Fostering diversity and engagement in local ecosystems

Bidding for and organizing international open source events

Whether you're an open source veteran or just starting your own community, this session will be helpful foundation for you and will equip you to lead with purpose.

Biography

Aaditya Singh is an active contributor to the GNOME and Ubuntu communities, working to help grow and strengthen the open-source ecosystem.

As the Community Lead of GNOME Nepal and Ubuntu Nepal, he works to promote collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and the adoption of open-source principles. Aaditya has also represented his community internationally, speaking at conferences like GNOME GUADEC 2024 in Denver, USA | UbuCon Asia 2024 in Jaipur, India | GNOME Asia Summit 2024 in Bengaluru, India.

Sailesh Singh, co-lead of Ubuntu Nepal is an International speaker, who have experience of presenting two talks in GNOME Asia summit 2024, Bengaluru, India. He is an active contributor to GNOME Nepal project and a confident instructor of Open source and linux.

Summary

We will share lessons learned from building and sustaining open source communities in underrepresented regions. From reviving Ubuntu Nepal after 13 years to growing GNOME Nepal to 300+ active contributors.

Things to know or prepare for this session

Folks with no understanding will also enjoy the session. So, nothing to prepare or know before attending.

What audience can learn

Encourage diversity and inclusion in the global open source ecosystem by showing what's possible in emerging tech regions.

Provide a replicable model for others looking to start or grow open source communities in their own local contexts.

Inspire collaboration between global and local communities, helping foster mentorship, knowledge sharing, and contributor growth.

Strengthen the ecosystem by spotlighting successful community-driven efforts that operate outside the traditional tech hubs.

Difficulty level Begineer

Presentation materials