MonkiGras 2026 - the most important thing in open source isn't the code

MonkiGras doesn't fit neatly into the usual enterprise technology coverage template. There are no product launches, no analyst briefings, no vendor keynotes about the future of AI. What there is, instead, is something rarer and considerably harder to find on the conference circuit – a room full of people who genuinely care about each other, about their craft, and about what technology is actually for.

MonkiGras is organized by RedMonk analyst James Governor, and this year's theme was prepping craft – being prepared in software and in life. It was a theme that turned out to be more layered than it first appeared. Because MonkiGras isn't really a conference about software, even though software is what most of the attendees build and maintain. It's a conference about the people who build it, the communities that sustain it, and the values that hold both together. Those feel like urgent ...