The open-source virtualization community will add a new event to the European map this December. German company credativ GmbH has announced the first Open-Source Virtualization Gathering in Germany, a free meetup to be held on Thursday, 11 December 2025 in Mönchengladbach. The goal is to bring together professionals, system administrators, IT leaders, and homelab enthusiasts who work every day with platforms like Proxmox VE, XCP-ng, bhyve, Harvester and many other open infrastructure projects.
The initiative is driven from inside the community itself. Florian Paul Azim “gyptazy” Hoberg, Technical Lead at credativ and a well-known open-source advocate, summed it up on social media with his motto: “Code, Commit, Contribute – Open-Source is the way.” The idea is to create an informal space where people who build, use, or contribute to open infrastructures can share experiences without the filter of a big commercial trade show.
A Community-First Event, Not a Marketing Show
Unlike large vendor-driven virtualization conferences, this gathering is designed as a community-focused format. Attendance is completely free, with registration through LinkedIn, Meetup, or email, and the program is concentrated into a single evening of talks and networking.
Event at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Open-Source Virtualization Gathering |
| Date | Thursday, 11 December 2025 |
| Time | 17:00 – 20:00 CET |
| Venue | credativ GmbH, Hennes-Weisweiler-Allee 23, 41179 Mönchengladbach |
| Price | Free |
| Languages | English and/or German, depending on attendees |
The meetup will take place in the credativ GmbH meeting rooms, right next to the Borussia-Park football stadium and just a minute from the A61 highway. The building is fully accessible, with dedicated parking spaces and step-free access. Organizers emphasize that they’re ready to provide additional assistance to anyone who needs it — a key point for a community that wants to be inclusive from day one.
The location in western Germany is strategic: Mönchengladbach is very close to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and the organizers expect attendees from across the region.
Proxmox VE, Ceph and Free VPS Platforms: First Topics on the Agenda
The evening will begin with two community talks focused on real-world use cases:
| Talk | Speaker | Key focus |
|---|---|---|
| “Enterprise-Ready? How people use Proxmox VE & Ceph” | Ronald Otto, CEO at Tuxis B.V. | Production experiences with Proxmox VE clusters and Ceph storage, high availability challenges, and lessons learned in enterprise environments. |
| “BoxyBSD – Creating a free VPS hosting platform” | Florian Paul Azim “gyptazy” Hoberg, credativ GmbH | Design of a free VPS platform based on BSD and open-source virtualization technologies, with a focus on automation and long-term sustainability. |
Both talks are planned in English, although the second one may switch to German if the audience is mostly German-speaking. After the presentations, the floor will open for questions, informal discussions, and spontaneous lightning talks.
Organizers invite anyone who wants to present a use case, a personal project, or a tool of their own to propose a short talk. The goal is not to lock in a rigid agenda but to offer a meeting point where new collaborations can emerge — from automation scripts for Proxmox to experiences with lesser-known hypervisors like bhyve or Harvester.
Why a Dedicated Open-Source Virtualization Gathering?
In recent years, virtualization and cloud have become heavily concentrated around proprietary platforms, both at the hypervisor and public cloud levels. In parallel, projects such as Proxmox VE, XCP-ng and KVM- or BSD-based stacks have gained traction among companies looking for more flexible, self-managed solutions without license lock-in.
For many system administrators, the reality is hybrid: Proxmox clusters in production, Ceph for distributed storage, homelabs built on recycled hardware, automation with Ansible or Terraform, and various services running in public clouds. Yet most major events still focus primarily on commercial solutions.
The Open-Source Virtualization Gathering aims to fill that gap:
- A space to openly discuss migrations from proprietary hypervisors to open platforms.
- Real-world stories about Ceph, ZFS or GlusterFS as storage backends for virtualization clusters.
- Experiences with BSD- or Linux-based VPS infrastructures competing with commercial offerings.
- Day-to-day challenges around monitoring, backup and high availability in environments built entirely on free software.
All of this within a relaxed format: drinks provided during the first part of the evening and, afterwards, an optional group dinner at the Italian restaurant downstairs to keep the conversations going.
From Sysadmin to Contributor: The Value of Sharing
Beyond the talks, the organizers stress that the real value of the meetup will be in the hallway track: system administrators, hosting providers, developers and power users will have the chance to compare setups, exchange scripts and, above all, put a face to the people maintaining key open-source projects.
For those running Proxmox VE, XCP-ng or Harvester in production, this kind of forum is a chance to cross-check architectural decisions with other teams that have solved similar problems: from how to organize Ceph storage to balance performance and cost, to integrating backup systems like PBS, Borg, Restic or commercial solutions.
For homelab enthusiasts, the event offers an opportunity to learn directly from people operating large server farms, understand which design patterns are worth replicating, and where it makes sense to keep things simple.
And for the wider community, the gathering could become the seed of a recurring series of open-source virtualization meetups in Germany and neighboring countries, something that doesn’t yet exist with such a specific focus.
How to Register and What Attendees Can Expect
Registration for the Open-Source Virtualization Gathering is free and can be completed via:
- Community platforms like LinkedIn or Meetup, where the event is listed; or
- A short email to credativ’s general contact address confirming attendance.
There are no formal experience requirements: professionals managing large production clusters and people just starting out with Proxmox VE, XCP-ng, bhyve or Harvester are equally welcome. If the final group is highly international, English will be the main language; if most participants are German-speaking, German will be favored for general discussion.
Attendees can expect:
- A relaxed atmosphere, without exhibition booths or sales pitches.
- Short, technical talks focused on real use cases.
- Space to propose ad-hoc topics, from live demos to Q&A sessions.
- A chance to strengthen ties between free-software communities in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
For Florian “gyptazy” Hoberg and the credativ team, this first edition is just the beginning. The ambition is for the Open-Source Virtualization Gathering to grow into a regular meetup where part of the future of open virtualization in Europe is shaped.
FAQs About the Open-Source Virtualization Gathering in Mönchengladbach
Who can attend the Open-Source Virtualization Gathering, and what technical level is required?
The event is open to anyone interested in open-source virtualization: system administrators, hosting professionals, IT managers, students, or homelab enthusiasts. There is no strict technical entry bar; some participants will have years of production experience, others may have just spun up their first test node. The goal is that everyone walks away having learned something, regardless of their starting point.
In which languages will the gathering be held?
The planned talks are prepared in English, but one of them can be delivered in German if the audience is mostly German-speaking. Discussions and networking will naturally switch between English and German depending on the group. Given the proximity to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, international participation is expected.
How do I register for the Open-Source Virtualization Gathering for free?
Registration is simple and free of charge. You can sign up via the event pages on LinkedIn or Meetup, or by sending a short confirmation email to credativ. There are no ticket fees and no obligation to book travel or accommodation through the organizers; each attendee arranges their own.
What topics will be covered besides Proxmox VE and Ceph?
Although the initial agenda includes a talk on Proxmox VE plus Ceph and another on the BoxyBSD free VPS platform, the meetup is open to the entire open-source virtualization ecosystem. Expect discussions on running XCP-ng in production, experiences with bhyve and Harvester, backup and high-availability strategies, automation with Ansible or Terraform, and best practices for deploying clusters built on free software. Participants are encouraged to bring their own questions and topics to the table.
source: gyptazy
