Chemnitz Linux Days – one of the largest events of its kind in the German-speaking world

The Chemnitz Linux Days will take place again on 28 and 29 March 2026, as usual in the Central Lecture and Seminar Building at Chemnitz University of Technology (Reichenhainer Straße 90). This year’s theme is ‘Digital Sovereignty’. Visitors will be offered a varied programme of talks, workshops, a special programme for young people, and numerous opportunities to interact with exhibitors. The Chaos Computer Club Chemnitz is taking this opportunity to establish the monthly “Digital Independence Day” in the region and invites interested guests to a first meeting.

107 talks cover a wide range of topics – from digitalisation, networking, cryptography and containers, through to open source in schools and questions for beginners. For example, on Saturday Christian Schubert will demonstrate practical applications of the electronic ID card, whilst Merle Fäller, in her talk ‘Why even Signal is knocking on Google & Apple’s door’, will explore how push notifications work technically and what dependencies exist. Marcel Roth will provide an overview of the use of open source in German schools, and on Sunday, Prof. Dr Frank Pallas will present “Offlinetags”, an innovative mechanism for the social communication of photo preferences. This will also be put into practice on site. In the “Web” section, Tobias Heine will demonstrate how the site generator Hugo can be used to create attractive websites.

Participants can gain practical experience in a number of workshops, such as programming Linux drivers, building Debian packages or creating professional LaTeX documents. Participation in the workshops requires prior registration and costs five euros in addition to the admission fee.

The CLT Junior Programme offers exciting activities for children and young people aged ten and over: they can experiment with the Arduino and Calliope microcontrollers or make everyday objects light up using coloured LEDs. A participation fee of five euros and prior registration are required for this programme as well.

A particular highlight is the Chaos Computer Club Chemnitz meet-up on Saturday, which will serve as an invitation to set up a regional #DIDay group. Digital Independence Day (DID) is a monthly day of action designed to promote digital self-determination and support the switch to privacy-friendly, free software alternatives.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to talk to companies in the exhibition area and find out about projects, sit the Linux Professional Institute’s recognised certification exams in the neighbouring Weinhold Building, or get help with hardware and software issues at ‘Dr Tux’s Practice’. A soldering workshop featuring various kits will also be on offer.

On Saturday evening, from 6 pm, Linux Night invites you to Bar Lokomov, 102 Augustusburger Straße, to round off the evening in a relaxed atmosphere.

Tickets for the whole weekend are available in advance via the event website for €12 (€6 concessions). Children under the age of twelve get in free.

Image: Tux the penguin, the Linux mascot. Photo: By Larry Ewing, Simon Budig, Garrett LeSage