I (a Strine, free software advocate, sysadmin / devops / something living in Europe for a few years) went to four FOSDEMs between 2008 and 2013 -- and even in that short space noticed the increasing difficulty in getting into rooms I thought would be interesting.
Happily they're rapidly approaching, or have just reached, the state where all talks are filmed and made available online.
The Delerium Cafe event on the first night was (and likely still is) one of the most memorable events for free software tourists.
Sort of my feeling as well. I'm usually over in London for another event the week before and I used to take the train over to FOSDEM (and Config Management Camp) afterwards. But as it became more crowded, I basically lost interest. Even the Delirium Cafe event became just too mobbed to be interesting.
I wouldn't really discourage anyone from attending but it just stopped working for me a couple years back.
I'm not much of a bar fly, but I've never seen a three-person-deep wall of people for drinks at the bar before that event. Or a line that long for the bathroom... Fun place :)
Same here, as Brussels is a short hop from where I am in Germany.
The last years, it seems that one has to commit to a specific room, or risking not being able to enter anywhere else for one hour if switching rooms, which happens frequently.
Still this year appears to have quite a few interesting talks.
Happily they're rapidly approaching, or have just reached, the state where all talks are filmed and made available online.
The Delerium Cafe event on the first night was (and likely still is) one of the most memorable events for free software tourists.