It seems that foss.in this year is undertaking a major change in its focus—away from the traditional general conference and toward a developer-oriented working event.

Atul Chitnis today posted a detailed rationale, which has also been summarized by Sankarshan. It seems that inspiration was drawn from the recent Plumbers Conf, and also the strong desire to foster actual FOSS development in India.

A FUDCon is being held in conjunction with foss.in, which should also help attract developers. It’s the closest upcoming FUDCon to me in geographic terms, and I’m working on attending for that at least.

From discussion with some of the folk involved in the wider event, it seems that many fine details are yet to be worked out, and while the emphasis is very much on Indian developers, I’d suggest that international developers who’ve been considering submitting a proposal this year definitely still do so.