My 3-Day Open Source Learning Journey at TOSSConf 2026:
Attending TOSSConf 2026 was one of the most memorable learning experiences for me. It was a three-day journey filled with open-source technologies, workshops, a hackathon, conversations, and new experiences.
Before attending the conference, I knew about and used some open-source technologies, but TOSSConf gave me an opportunity to understand the open-source ecosystem from a completely different perspective.
Each day gave me something new to learn, but the third day became especially memorable because, for the first time, I got an opportunity to run a stall and share my own experience with others.
Day 1 – Finn Lens and the Hackathon
My TOSSConf journey started with a session about the Finn Lens project, presented by Suresh Kumar D.
Through the session, I learned about the project and got to see how ideas can be developed and shared through the open-source community. It was a good start to the conference and made me more curious about the projects and technologies that were going to be discussed over the next few days.
A hackathon was also conducted on the first day.
I wasn't a participant in the hackathon, but I spent time observing it. Even though I wasn't coding or building a project myself, watching the participants work was a learning experience.
I could see how people approached problems, discussed ideas, collaborated with their teams, and tried to build solutions within a limited amount of time.
One of my biggest takeaways was that you don't always have to participate directly to learn something from an event. Sometimes observing how other people think, collaborate, and solve problems can teach you a lot.
Day 2 – A Day Full of Workshops
The second day was more hands-on for me because I attended two workshops.
Frappe Framework Workshop
The first workshop I attended was about the Frappe Framework, conducted by Bowrna Prabakaran.
It introduced me to Frappe and gave me exposure to another open-source framework. Instead of only hearing about open source as an idea, workshops like this helped me see how open-source technologies can actually be used to build applications.
Nix Workshop
My second workshop was about Nix, conducted by Vivekanandan KS.
Nix was another interesting technology for me to explore. The workshop introduced me to a different way of thinking about packages and development environments.
Both workshops made Day 2 valuable because I was able to move from simply listening to talks to actually exploring open-source tools and technologies.
I didn't walk away knowing everything about Frappe or Nix — and that wasn't the goal. The important thing was that I discovered technologies I hadn't explored deeply before and now have a starting point to continue learning.
Day 3 – My Best Experience at TOSSConf ❤️
The third and final day was the most memorable part of TOSSConf 2026 for me.
What made this day even more special was that I wasn't doing it alone. I was team with my friends Vigneshwaran, Raja Veera Pandi, and Karthick. They were very supportive throughout the event, and having them alongside me made the whole experience even better.
I would like to sincerely thank all three of them for supporting me and attending the event with me. Sharing this experience with friends made an already memorable day even more meaningful.
On this day, I got the opportunity to put up a stall about the Brave web browser and explain it to other people.
What made this experience special was my personal connection with Brave.
I have been using Brave for around three years, but for a long time, I didn't even know that it was open source!
I originally started using Brave because of the experience it provided. It helped block many ads and trackers, focused heavily on privacy, and gave me a fast browsing experience.
After learning more about open source, I realized that something I had been using regularly for years was itself connected to the open-source ecosystem.
That realization made Brave a perfect topic for me to share at the stall.
I Didn't Explain Brave as an Expert
One thing I want to be clear about is that I didn't present myself as someone who knew every technical detail about Brave.
Instead, I shared my experience as a real user.
I talked about why I started using it, what I liked about it, how privacy and tracker blocking affected my browsing experience, and what I had discovered about Brave while preparing for the stall.
My friends Vigneshwaran, Raja Veera Pandi, and Karthick were there with me as part of the team, supporting me throughout the experience. Having supportive friends around gave me more confidence to interact with people and share what I knew.
This was one of the biggest lessons I learned from the experience:
You don't need to know everything before you start sharing what you know.
When someone asked me something, it also gave me an opportunity to think, learn, and explore further. Explaining a technology to another person showed me where my understanding was strong and where I still needed to learn more.
From a User to Someone Sharing Knowledge
For almost three years, I was simply a user of Brave.
At TOSSConf 2026, along with my friends, I became part of a team that stood at a stall and shared our knowledge and experience with other people.
That transition felt special.
The stall wasn't only about Brave. For me, it was also about teamwork, communication, confidence, curiosity, and sharing knowledge.
This is definitely an experience that I'll remember for a long time. ❤️
A Special Thanks to Payilagam ❤️
Before ending this blog, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Payilagam.
Without Payilagam, I might not have even known about TOSSConf 2026. They were the ones who introduced us to this opportunity, encouraged us to attend, and constantly motivated us to step out, explore, learn, and enjoy the experience.
A very special thanks to my mentors Muthu Sir, Vijay Sir, and Valarasu Sir. They have always been kind and supportive, and they continuously encourage and appreciate our work. Their motivation gave us the confidence to participate in opportunities like this and make the most out of them.
For me, good mentorship isn't just about teaching technical concepts. It's also about showing students opportunities, encouraging them to try something new, and appreciating their efforts along the way. That's something I truly experienced from my mentors at Payilagam.
From attending the sessions and workshops to finally presenting the Brave browser at our stall, this three-day journey gave me memories, knowledge, confidence, and a new perspective on open source.
And of course, thanks to my friends, mentors, speakers, organizers, volunteers, and everyone I met during these three days.
TOSSConf 2026 wasn't just an event I attended — it became an experience I'll remember. 🚀
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