linux foundation, lfx, and a trip to mumbai i didn't pay for
i'm a member of the linux foundation — and, more than that, an active contributor and maintainer across its projects. that membership isn't a sticker on a laptop; it's the door that led to mumbai.
in june 2026 the linux foundation ran its open source summit in mumbai, june 16-18. i was there. and i didn't pay for the trip — it was covered by an exclusive travel fund from lfx, the linux foundation's own mentorship and training program. lfx funded the travel itself, outright.
being a maintainer and contributor is what made the funding possible. the work i'd put into upstream projects — reviews, fixes, the slow accumulation of trust — turned into something concrete: a sponsored seat at a room full of people who build the infrastructure the rest of the world runs on.
what stuck with me wasn't any one talk. it was the confirmation that open source is a relationship, not a repo. you show up, you maintain, and the community shows up for you — sometimes with a plane ticket.
i'm a linux foundation member, a contributor, and a maintainer. and for three days in june, mumbai was the payoff.
written by dharun ashokkumar · more reflections