FOSS United Club Guide


General


What is FOSS United?

FOSS United is a non-profit foundation working to grow the Free and Open Source Software movement across India. We started because we saw that while India has tons of talented developers and students, there wasn't enough support for open source culture at the grassroots level.

What is FOSS Club?

FOSS Clubs are campus communities that we support. When you start a FOSS Club, you're joining our network of student-led groups across the country. We provide you with funding (subject to club activity), mentorship, connections, and a platform to manage everything. You bring the energy and passion for open source at your campus.

What type of events can we host?

  • Workshops and hands-on sessions - Teaching version control, introducing first-time contributions, exploring specific technologies and tools
  • Talks and meetups - Sessions with industry professionals, open source maintainers, and experienced developers sharing their experiences and insights through First Commit
  • Hackathons and build days - Collaborative coding sessions ranging from weekend projects to larger organised hackathons like FOSS Hack
  • Contribution drives - Dedicated sessions for contributing to real open source projects, helping students make genuine contributions
  • Study groups - Regular meetups for learning programming languages, frameworks, or technical concepts together
  • Design and UX sessions - Workshops on contributing design work, creating assets for FOSS projects, and improving user experience. Open source projects benefit significantly from design contributions
  • Documentation sprints - Sessions focused on improving documentation for open source projects. Clear documentation is essential and often overlooked
  • Policy and licensing discussions - Exploring open source licenses, software freedom, digital rights, and data privacy. These topics are relevant for students interested in law, policy, and governance
  • Community building and governance workshops - Examining how open source communities make decisions, handle conflicts, and maintain healthy ecosystems
  • Accessibility initiatives - Working on making open source software accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, through design, development, testing, and advocacy
  • Localisation drives - Translating open source software into regional Indian languages
  • Research discussions - Academic exploration of open source economics, social impact, and sustainability models
  • Art and creative sessions - Creating artwork, illustrations, and icons for open source projects

Events should be related to FOSS tools, contributing to FOSS projects, spreading open source philosophy, or building the ecosystem.

What is FOSS Hack?

FOSS Hack is the flagship hackathon program under FOSS United. Unlike typical hackathons focused on building new products, we also emphasise contributing to existing open source projects. The format exposes students to real world open source development, working with established codebases, interacting with maintainers, and making contributions that persist. Events typically run for 2 days over the weekend, often bringing together multiple colleges with mentors from actual FOSS projects as the Partner Projects. FOSS United provides additional support for FOSS Hack events, including higher budgets and logistical assistance.

How to apply as a club?

The application process is timely available on the FOSS United website at the beginning of each academic year. Applications require:

  • Information about the college and team
  • Explanation of motivation for starting a FOSS club
  • Initial team members (typically 3-5 students)
  • A coordinator who will support the club
  • Preliminary plans for club activities

Applications are evaluated based on genuine interest and thoughtful planning rather than elaborate proposals.

Application link: Apply Now

Who should apply and why?

Applications are encouraged from students who:

  • Have a genuine interest in open source and want to build a campus community around it
  • Want to create collaborative learning environments where knowledge is shared openly
  • Are willing to commit consistent effort to organising and maintaining the club
  • Seek access to funding, mentorship, speaker connections, and a network of similar clubs

Teams with diverse backgrounds strengthen clubs.

Who this is not for

FOSS Clubs may not be suitable for:

  • Students are primarily seeking leadership titles for resumes rather than building genuine communities
  • Cases where existing clubs at the college already serve similar purposes - collaboration with existing groups is preferable
  • Students without an actual interest in FOSS culture and philosophy

New/Active Status

Clubs are tracked based on activity level:

  • New clubs are in their first semester or year, establishing their team, experimenting with event formats, and building initial momentum. New clubs receive additional flexibility during this establishment period after they have performed certain activities or are active with events and other ongoing sessions
  • Active clubs have consistent event schedules, typically hosting several quality events per semester, maintaining regular community engagement, and participating in the broader network
  • Clubs without activity for certain periods (one academic year) may be marked inactive. Reactivation is possible by demonstrating renewed engagement and activity. If these clubs are inactive for extended periods, they are marked as defunct

Brand Guidelines

FOSS United maintains brand guidelines for consistency across all clubs:

  • Use the provided official FOSS Club logos
  • Follow specified color schemes and design templates
  • Maintain logo integrity without unauthorised modifications
  • Acknowledge FOSS United support in events and communications

Design assets: Find Templates

Code of Conduct


All FOSS Clubs follow the FOSS United Code of Conduct with these principles: Code Of Conduct

  • Zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination, or hate speech
  • All participants should feel welcome regardless of background, experience level, or identity
  • Questions at any level should be met with patience and support rather than condescension
  • Credit should be shared, and cooperative work encouraged, reflecting FOSS values
  • Knowledge should be shared freely, with a focus on helping others learn rather than just providing answers

Code of Conduct violations are taken seriously with clear reporting and handling processes to maintain safe, inclusive communities. The Club that violates CoC will face strict consequences, including a permanent ban. Such clubs will no longer be considered part of the program and will not be allowed to reapply in the future.

Best Practices


- Ask questions directly rather than asking permission to ask. See https://dontasktoask.com/ for detailed explanation. This saves time for everyone involved - The FOSS Club is active on Telegram, and the group is open to every member. Clubs are encouraged to learn from each other, collaborate on events, and share resources - Support is available through proper way - forum posts for general questions, messages on the right channel of the Telegram group for quick clarifications - Event reports or documentation, photos, and notes on outcomes help future club members and assist FOSS United in providing better support

Get Started

Registration begins by creating an account on fossunited.org. Use an email address that will remain accessible long-term. After registration, share the username with the FOSS United team to link it with the club.

Following club approval, the FOSS United team configures the club page on the platform, adds administrators, creates the club profile, and provides access to necessary tools. This setup typically takes a few days.

The FOSS United platform serves as the central hub for:

  • Creating and managing event pages
  • Handling participant registrations
  • Sharing community updates


Expenses and Reimbursements


Who is eligible?

Active FOSS Clubs organising events can apply for reimbursements when:

  • The club is registered with FOSS United
  • Expenses relate to approved or registered events
  • Budget requests are communicated beforehand when possible

Club members can submit reimbursements on behalf of the club with proper documentation.

What can you reimburse?

Typically reimbursable expenses:

  • Venue costs when college spaces aren't available
  • Food for event participants
  • Subject to event (FOSS Hack): Event materials like stickers or T-shirts (reasonable quantities), equipment rental for events, printing, and event supplies

Generally not reimbursable:

  • Personal expenses unrelated to club events
  • Excessive or unreasonable spending
  • Unreasonable expenses exceeding a certain amount or purchases made without prior communication
  • Expenses from events not registered on the platform

Checking with FOSS United before significant expenses helps avoid reimbursement issues.

Reimbursement form: https://account.fossunited.org/expense-reimbursement/new

How much?

Reimbursement amounts vary based on:

  • Event scale and type
  • Club's track record

  • Specific budget requirements

  • Smaller workshops typically receive ~₹5,000

  • Larger events may receive higher amounts
  • FOSS Hack events have separate, generally higher budgets

Budget requests should be realistic and justified.

FOSS Hack

FOSS Hack events receive higher budgets due to their larger, often multi-college scale. For FOSS Hack organisation:

  • Submit budget applications early with detailed breakdowns
  • Provide clear justification for expenses
  • Track all spending carefully
  • Maintain organised receipt records

How to apply

The reimbursement process:

  1. Log in/sign up to the FOSS United platform accounts.fossunited.org
  2. Complete the expense form with all details
  3. Upload clear photos or PDFs of receipts
  4. Submit the application

Receipts should clearly show date, items purchased, amount, and vendor name. Bank transfers require transaction screenshots with complete details.

Typical processing timeline: 1-2 weeks for application review and for payment processing after approval. Timeline may vary based on request volume.

Common rejection reasons

Reimbursements are rejected when:

  • Documentation is inadequate, unclear receipts, missing receipts, or incomplete information
  • Numbers don't match stated event details (e.g., attendee count versus purchase quantities)
  • Significant expenses were made without advance communication
  • Insufficient proof that the event occurred (photos, attendee lists)
  • Spending significantly exceeds necessary amounts or appears unrelated to the event


Support


Platforms (Telegram, Forum, FU Platform)

  • Telegram - Quick questions, informal discussions, and inter-club connections. Best for simple, time-sensitive matters
  • Forum - Extended discussions, advice, and experience sharing. Suitable for thoughtful questions and content that may help future members
  • FOSS United Platform - Official event management, reimbursements, and formal processes

Using the appropriate platform for each type of communication ensures efficient responses.

Who to reach out to for what?

  • Praneel, Nilibrata - Generic issues only if they are not answered in FAQs and nowhere
  • Dilip - Tech
  • Ruchika and Hari - Other questions which may require permissions or help from the Foundation team

Programme Committee

  • Ruchika
  • Hari
  • Praneel
  • Nilabrata
  • Sai Rahul Poruri
  • Siddharth Shivkumar

Expected Timeline

Typical timelines for common requests:

  • Event approval - A few days with clear proposals
  • Speaker connections - 1-3 weeks, depending on availability
  • Reimbursement processing - 2-4 weeks typically
  • Platform issues - A few days for most fixes

If responses take longer than expected, polite follow-ups are appropriate after allowing reasonable initial processing time.

Resources