In accordance with our security release policy, the Django team is issuing releases for Django 6.0.4, Django 5.2.13, and Django 4.2.30. These releases address the security issues detailed below. We encourage all users of Django to upgrade as soon as possible. Django 4.2 has reached the end of extended support Note that with this release, Django 4.2 has reached the end of extended support. All Django 4.2 users are encouraged to upgrade to Django 5.2 or later to continue receiving fixes for security issues. See the downloads page for a table of supported versions and the future release schedule. CVE-2026-3902: ASGI header spoofing via underscore/hyphen conflation ASGIRequest normalizes header names following WSGI conventions, mapping hyphens to underscores. As a result, even in configurations where reverse proxies carefully strip security-sensitive headers named with hyphens, such a header could be spoofed by supplying a header named with underscores. Under WSGI, it is the responsibility of the server or proxy to avoid ambiguous mappings. (Django's runserver was patched in CVE-2015-0219.) But under ASGI, there is not the same uniform expectation, even if many proxies protect against this under default configuration (including nginx via underscores_in_headers off;). Headers containing underscores are now ignored by ASGIRequest, matching the behavior of Daphne, the reference server for ASGI. This issue has severity "low" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to Tarek Nakkouch for the report. CVE-2026-4277: Privilege abuse in GenericInlineModelAdmin Add permissions on inline model instances were not validated on submission of forged POST data in GenericInlineModelAdmin. This issue has severity "low" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to N05ec@LZU-DSLab for the report. CVE-2026-4292: Privilege abuse in ModelAdmin.list_editable Admin changelist forms using ModelAdmin.list_editable incorrectly allowed new instances to be created via forged POST data. This issue has severity "low" according to the Django Security Policy. CVE-2026-33033: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in MultiPartParser via base64-encoded file upload When using django.http.multipartparser.MultiPartParser, multipart uploads with Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 that include excessive whitespace may trigger repeated memory copying, potentially degrading performance. This issue has severity "moderate" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to Seokchan Yoon for the report. CVE-2026-33034: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in ASGI requests via memory upload limit bypass ASGI requests with a missing or understated Content-Length header could bypass the DATA_UPLOAD_MAX_MEMORY_SIZE limit when reading HttpRequest.body, potentially loading an unbounded request body into memory and causing service degradation. This issue has severity "low" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to Superior for the report. Affected supported versions Django main Django 6.0 Django 5.2 Django 4.2 Resolution Patches to resolve the issue have been applied to Django's main, 6.0, 5.2, and 4.2 branches. The patches may be obtained from the following changesets. CVE-2026-3902: ASGI header spoofing via underscore/hyphen conflation On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2026-4277: Privilege abuse in GenericInlineModelAdmin On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2026-4292: Privilege abuse in ModelAdmin.list_editable On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2026-33033: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in MultiPartParser via base64-encoded file upload On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2026-33034: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in ASGI requests via memory upload limit bypass On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch The following releases have been issued Django 6.0.4 (download Django 6.0.4 | 6.0.4 checksums) Django 5.2.13 (download Django 5.2.13 | 5.2.13 checksums) Django 4.2.30 (download Django 4.2.30 | 4.2.30 checksums) The PGP key ID used for this release is Jacob Walls: 131403F4D16D8DC7 General notes regarding security reporting As always, we ask that potential security issues be reported via private email to security@djangoproject.com, and not via Django's Trac instance, nor via the Django Forum. Please see our security policies for further information.

We are looking for the next group of organizers to own and lead the 2027 DjangoCon Europe conference. Could your town's football stadium, theatre, cinema, city hall, circus tent or a private island host this wonderful community event? DjangoCon Europe is a major pillar of the Django community, as people from across the world meet and share. Many qualities make it a unique event: Unconventional and conventional venues, creative happenings, a feast of talks and a dedication to inclusion and diversity. Hosting a DjangoCon is an ambitious undertaking. It's hard work, but each year it has been successfully run by a team of community volunteers, not all of whom have had previous experience - more important is enthusiasm, organizational skills, the ability to plan and manage budgets, time and people - and plenty of time to invest in the project. For 2027, rest assured that we will be there to answer questions and put you in touch with previous organizers through the brand new DSF Events Support Working Group (a reboot of the previous DjangoCon Europe Support Working Group). Step 1: Submit your expression of interest If you're considering organizing DjangoCon Europe (🙌 great!), fill in our DjangoCon Europe 2027 expression of interest form with your contact details. No need to fill in all the information at this stage if you don't have it all already, we'll reach out and help you figure it out. Express your interest in organizing Step 2: We're here to help! We've set up a DjangoCon Europe support working group of previous organizers that you can reach out to with questions about organizing and running a DjangoCon Europe. The group will be in touch with everyone submitting the expression of interest form, or you can reach out to them directly: events-support@djangoproject.com We'd love to hear from you as soon as possible, so your proposal can be finalized and sent to the DSF board by June 1st 2026. Step 3: Submitting the proposal The more detailed and complete your final proposal is, the better. Basic details include: Organizing committee members: You won't have a full team yet, probably, naming just some core team members is enough. The legal entity that is intended to run the conference: Even if the entity does not exist yet, please share how you are planning to set it up. Dates: See "What dates are possible in 2027?" below. We must avoid conflicts with major holidays, EuroPython, DjangoCon US, and PyCon US. Venue(s), including size, number of possible attendees, pictures, accessibility concerns, catering, etc. Transport links and accommodation: Can your venue be reached by international travelers? Budgets and ticket prices: Talk to the DjangoCon Europe Support group to get help with this, including information on past event budgets. We also like to see: Timelines Pictures Plans for online participation, and other ways to make the event more inclusive and reduce its environmental footprint Draft agreements with providers Alternatives you have considered Have a look at our proposed (draft, feedback welcome) DjangoCon Europe 2027 Licensing Agreement for the fine print on contractual requirements and involvement of the Django Software Foundation. Submit your completed proposal by June 1st 2026 via our DjangoCon Europe 2027 expression of interest form, this time filling in as many fields as possible. We look forward to reviewing great proposals that continue the excellence the whole community associates with DjangoCon Europe. Q&A Can I organize a conference alone? We strongly recommend that a team of people submit an application. I/we don't have a legal entity yet, is that a problem? Depending on your jurisdiction, this is usually not a problem. But please share your plans about the entity you will use or form in your application. Do I/we need experience with organizing conferences? The support group is here to help you succeed. From experience, we know that many core groups of 2-3 people have been able to run a DjangoCon with guidance from previous organizers and help from volunteers. What is required in order to announce an event? Ultimately, a contract with the venue confirming the dates is crucial, since announcing a conference makes people book calendars, holidays, buy transportation and accommodation etc. This, however, would only be relevant after the DSF board has concluded the application process. Naturally, the application itself cannot contain any guarantees, but it's good to check concrete dates with your venues to ensure they are actually open and currently available, before suggesting these dates in the application. Do we have to do everything ourselves? No. You will definitely be offered lots of help by the community. Typically, conference organizers will divide responsibilities into different teams, making it possible for more volunteers to join. Local organizers are free to choose which areas they want to invite the community to help out with, and a call will go out through a blog post announcement on djangoproject.com and social media. What kind of support can we expect from the Django Software Foundation? The DSF regularly provides grant funding to DjangoCon organizers, to the extent of $6,000 in recent editions. We also offer support via specific working groups: The dedicated DjangoCon Europe support working group. The social media working group can help you promote the event. The Code of Conduct working group works with all event organizers. In addition, a lot of Individual Members of the DSF regularly volunteer at community events. If your team aren't Individual Members, we can reach out to them on your behalf to find volunteers. What dates are possible in 2027? For 2027, DjangoCon Europe should happen between January 4th and April 26th, or June 3rd and June 27th. This is to avoid the following community events' provisional dates: PyCon US 2027: May 2027 EuroPython 2027: July 2027 DjangoCon US 2027: September - October 2027 DjangoCon Africa 2027: August - September 2027 We also want to avoid the following holidays: New Year's Day: Friday 1st January 2027 Chinese New Year: Saturday 6th February 2027 Eid Al-Fitr: Tuesday 9th March 2027 Easter: Sunday 28th March 2027 Passover: Wednesday 21st - Thursday 29th April 2027 Eid Al-Adha: Monday 17th - Thursday 20th May 2027 Rosh Hashanah: Saturday 2nd - Monday 4th October 2027 Yom Kippur: Monday 11th - Tuesday 12th October 2027 What cities or countries are possible? Any city in Europe. This can be a city or country where DjangoCon Europe has happened in the past (Athens, Vigo, Edinburgh, Porto, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Florence, Budapest, Cardiff, Toulon, Warsaw, Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin), or a new locale. References Past calls Interested in organizing DjangoCon Europe 2016? | Weblog | Django Could you host DjangoCon Europe 2017? | Weblog | Django DjangoCon Europe 2019 - where will it be? | Weblog | Django Could you host DjangoCon Europe 2023? | Weblog | Django Last Chance for a DjangoCon Europe 2023 | Weblog | Django Want to host DjangoCon Europe 2024? | Weblog | Django DjangoCon Europe 2025 Call for Proposals | Weblog | Django Last call for DjangoCon Europe 2025 organizers | Weblog | Django Could you host DjangoCon Europe 2026? Call for organizers | Weblog | Django

For March 2026, we welcome Theresa Seyram Agbenyegah as our DSF member of the month! ⭐ Theresa is a passionate community builder serving in the DSF Events Support Working Group. She has demonstrated strong leadership by taking on roles such as Local Organizer Commitee (LOC) Program Lead at PyCon Africa 2024 and Programs Chair for PyCon Ghana 2025. She also organized DjangoGirls events across multiple PyCons, including PyCon Ghana 2022 and PyCon Africa 2024. You can learn more about Theresa by visiting Theresa's LinkedIn profile and her GitHub Profile. Let’s spend some time getting to know Theresa better! Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc)? I’m Theresa Seyram Agbenyegah, mostly referred to in the community as Stancy; a backend engineer, social entrepreneur, and an open source advocate/contributor passionate about using technology for impact. My background is in technology, community management, and systems design. Over the years, I have grown into roles that combine engineering, leadership, and ecosystem building. I know many folks call you Stancy, me included, why specifically this name? So “Stancy” is my initials 😁, People think it is my nickname. How did you start using Django? I was introduced to Django through a Django Girls workshop, and oh i’m a Django girl. I loved how opinionated yet flexible it was. The “batteries-included” philosophy made backend architecture feel structured without being restrictive. The admin interface especially blew my mind early on; being able to scaffold powerful internal tools so quickly felt magical. What other frameworks do you know, and if you had magical powers, what would you add to Django? I have worked with Flask, FastAPI, and explored the Dart framework. Each has strengths, especially FastAPI in performance and modern async patterns. If I had magical powers, I would: Make async patterns even more seamless across the ecosystem Improve first class support for large scale distributed system Provide even more built-in tooling for observability and performance profiling But overall, Django’s maturity and ecosystem are hard to beat. What projects are you working on now? I’m not working on any big projects at the moment, I'm mostly working on client projects at work. Which Django libraries are your favorite (core or 3rd party)? Some of my favorites: Django Rest Framework (it’s practically essential for modern APIs) django-filter django-allauth Celery (for async task processing) Django Debug Toolbar (for development clarity) The ecosystem really makes Django powerful. What are the top three things in Django that you like? The admin interface The ORM The strong community and documentation (FYI: it gives me a sense of belonging) Django feels stable, mature, and production-ready which builds developer confidence. You have been in the organization of PyCon Africa and DjangoGirls that happen during this conference in 2024. That's great, do you have any advice for people who would like to join or create their own DjangoGirls event in their city? Start small and start with intention. You don’t need a massive budget. What you need is: A committed small team Clear structure Support from the global DjangoGirls organization, Django Software Foundation, and other communities. A safe, welcoming environment Most importantly, center the participants. The goal isn’t just teaching Django, it’s building confidence and introducing them to the Tech industry. How did you become a leader of the PyLadies Ghana chapter? My Leadership journey in the PyLadies Ghana community began with a simple step: attending a Django Girls workshop at Ho while I was in school. At the time, I was just curious and eager to learn more about programming. After the workshop, I was introduced to the PyLadies Ghana community and added to the group. That was my first real connection to a tech community. I started by simply showing up, participating in conversations, attending events, and learning from others in the community. Over time, I became more involved. I joined the PyLadies Ghana Tema Chapter, where I supported the community lead with organizing activities that are bootcamps, meetups,etc. Through that experience, I had the opportunity to contribute more actively. Because of my commitment and willingness to help, I was later asked to volunteer as a co-lead of PyLadies Ghana Tema Chapter. I accepted the opportunity and began working more closely with the Lead to organize events, support members, and grow the community. It was a period of learning, collaboration, and service. As I continued contributing and volunteering, more opportunities opened up. When there was a chance to volunteer with PyLadies Ghana programs and events, I stepped forward again and volunteered as PyLadies Ghana Programs and Events Lead. That experience eventually led to me becoming a lead. Looking back, my journey with PyLadies Ghana has been shaped by community, consistency, and volunteering. What started as attending a workshop grew into leadership and the chance to help create opportunities for others. It reminds me that sometimes all it takes is showing up, contributing where you can, and being willing to grow with the community. You have been organizing a lot of events in Africa, especially in Ghana. How do you envision organizing an event? Would you like additional support? For me, events are ecosystems, not just gatherings. Focus on: Clear goals and impact Accessibility Diversity of voices Strong logistics planning Follow-up community building Yes, more funding support, institutional partnerships for internships, and long-term sponsorship pipelines would significantly help African tech communities scale sustainably. This is the international women's day today, I'm glad to have you featured on this special day. Do you have any word to mention in relation to this? International Women’s Day is a reminder that representation is not a trend, it's a necessity. We need more women building systems, shaping infrastructure, leading conversations, and owning technical spaces. And to every woman in tech: your presence is powerful. Keep building. Keep speaking. Keep leading. Keep mentoring and raising the next tech women. What are your hobbies or what do you do when you’re not working? When I’m not working, I’m usually reading books/articles, mentoring, watching movies or documentaries, cooking, reflecting, or exploring new ideas around technology and social impact. I also enjoy quiet strategy sessions with myself, thinking about how to build things that outlive me. Is there anything else you’d like to say? Technology is more than code, it's access, power, and possibility. I hope more people see themselves not just as users of technology, but as architects of it. Thank you for doing the interview, Stancy !

In accordance with our security release policy, the Django team is issuing releases for Django 6.0.3, Django 5.2.12, and Django 4.2.29. These releases address the security issues detailed below. We encourage all users of Django to upgrade as soon as possible. CVE-2026-25673: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in URLField via Unicode normalization on Windows The django.forms.URLField form field's to_python() method used urllib.parse.urlsplit() to determine whether to prepend a URL scheme to the submitted value. On Windows, urlsplit() performs NFKC normalization (unicodedata.normalize), which can be disproportionately slow for large inputs containing certain characters. URLField.to_python() now uses a simplified scheme detection, avoiding Unicode normalization entirely and deferring URL validation to the appropriate layers. As a result, while leading and trailing whitespace is still stripped by default, characters such as newlines, tabs, and other control characters within the value are no longer handled by URLField.to_python(). When using the default URLValidator, these values will continue to raise ValidationError during validation, but if you rely on custom validators, ensure they do not depend on the previous behavior of URLField.to_python(). This issue has severity "moderate" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to Seokchan Yoon for the report. CVE-2026-25674: Potential incorrect permissions on newly created file system objects Django's file-system storage and file-based cache backends used the process umask to control permissions when creating directories. In multi-threaded environments, one thread's temporary umask change can affect other threads' file and directory creation, resulting in file system objects being created with unintended permissions. Django now applies the requested permissions via os.chmod() after os.mkdir(), removing the dependency on the process-wide umask. This issue has severity "low" according to the Django Security Policy. Thanks to Tarek Nakkouch for the report. Affected supported versions Django main Django 6.0 Django 5.2 Django 4.2 Resolution Patches to resolve the issue have been applied to Django's main, 6.0, 5.2, and 4.2 branches. The patches may be obtained from the following changesets. CVE-2026-25673: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in URLField via Unicode normalization on Windows On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2026-25674: Potential incorrect permissions on newly created file system objects On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 4.2 branch The following releases have been issued Django 6.0.3 (download Django 6.0.3 | 6.0.3 checksums) Django 5.2.12 (download Django 5.2.12 | 5.2.12 checksums) Django 4.2.29 (download Django 4.2.29 | 4.2.29 checksums) The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E General notes regarding security reporting As always, we ask that potential security issues be reported via private email to security@djangoproject.com, and not via Django's Trac instance, nor via the Django Forum. Please see our security policies for further information.

When we learned that the Django Software Foundation has been accepted as a mentoring organization for Google Summer of Code 2026, it marked another steady milestone in a long-standing relationship. Django first participated in GSoC in 2006, and 2026 represents our 21st consecutive year in the program. Over two decades, GSoC has become a consistent pathway for contributors to engage more deeply with Django — not just through a summer project, but often through continued involvement that extends well beyond the official coding period. For many of you reading this, this might be your first exposure to how Django’s open source ecosystem works. So before we get into applications and expectations, let’s take a step back and understand the environment you’re stepping into. Understanding the Django Ecosystem The Django Software Foundation (DSF) is the non-profit organization that supports the long-term sustainability of Django. Django itself is developed entirely in the open. Feature discussions, architectural debates, bug reports, design proposals, and code reviews all happen publicly. That openness is intentional. It allows anyone, from anywhere in the world, to participate. But it also means decisions are rarely made quickly or casually. Changes are discussed carefully. Trade-offs are evaluated. Backwards compatibility is taken seriously. If you are new, it helps to understand the main spaces where this work happens: The Django Forum is where broader discussions take place — new feature ideas, design direction, and community conversations. Django Trac is the issue tracker, where bugs, feature requests, and patches are formally recorded and reviewed. If no one is working on an issue, you can assign it yourself and start working on it. Code contributions happen through pull requests, where proposed changes are reviewed, tested, and discussed in detail before being merged. New features are proposed and discussed in the new-features repository. There is a project board view that shows the state of each proposal. For someone new, this ecosystem can feel overwhelming at first. Threads may reference decisions made years ago. Review comments can be detailed. Standards are high. That is precisely why GSoC matters to us. It provides a structured entry point into this culture, with mentorship and guidance along the way, helping contributors understand not just how to write code — but how Django evolves. Why the Django Forum Is Central Most GSoC journeys in Django begin on the Django Forum — the community’s public space for technical discussions about features, design decisions, and improvements to Django. Introducing yourself there is not a formality; it is often your first real contribution. When you discuss a project idea publicly, you demonstrate how you think, how you respond to feedback, and how you handle technical trade-offs. Questions and challenges from mentors are not barriers — they are part of the collaborative design process. Proposals that grow through open discussion on the Forum are almost always stronger than those written in isolation. What To Do If you are planning to apply for GSoC 2026 with Django, here is what we strongly encourage: Start early. Do not wait until the application window opens. Begin discussions well in advance. Engage publicly. Introduce yourself on the Forum. Participate in ongoing threads. Show consistent involvement rather than one-time activity. Demonstrate understanding(very important) Read related tickets and past discussions. Reference them in your proposal. Show that you understand the technical and philosophical context. Be realistic about scope. Ambitious ideas are welcome, but they must be grounded in technical feasibility within the GSoC timeframe. Show iteration. If your proposal evolves because of feedback, that is a positive signal. It shows adaptability and thoughtful engagement. What Not To Do Equally important are the expectations around what we will not consider. Do not submit a proposal without prior discussion. A proposal that appears for the first time in the application form, without any Forum engagement, will be at a disadvantage. Do not generate a proposal using AI and submit it as-is. If a proposal is clearly AI-generated, lacks discussion history, and shows no evidence of personal understanding, it will be rejected. We evaluate your reasoning process, not just the surface quality of the document. Do not copy previous proposals. Each year’s context is different. We expect original thinking and up-to-date understanding. Do not treat GSoC as a solo internship. Django development is collaborative. If you are uncomfortable discussing ideas publicly or receiving detailed feedback, this may not be the right fit. Do not submit empty or placeholder proposal documents. In previous years, we have received blank or near-empty submissions, which create unnecessary effort for volunteer reviewers. Such proposals will not be considered. Do not repeatedly tag or ping maintainers for reviews. Once you’ve submitted your proposal or patch, give reviewers time to respond. Maintainers are volunteers managing many responsibilities, and repeated tagging does not speed up the process. Patience and respectful follow-ups (after a reasonable interval) are appreciated. On AI Usage We recognize that AI tools are now part of many developers’ workflows. Using AI to explore documentation, clarify syntax, or organize thoughts is not inherently a problem. However, AI must not replace ownership. You should be able to clearly explain your architectural decisions, justify trade-offs, and respond thoughtfully when challenged. If you cannot defend your own proposal without external assistance, it signals a lack of readiness for this kind of work. The quality we look for is not perfect language — it is depth of understanding. I’m a First-Time Contributor to Django — What Should I Do? If this is your first time contributing to Django, start simple and start early. First, spend some time understanding how Django works as an open source project. Read a few recent discussions on the Django Forum and browse open tickets to see the kinds of problems being discussed. Next, introduce yourself on the Forum. Share your background briefly and mention what areas interest you. You don’t need to have a perfect project idea on day one — curiosity and willingness to learn matter more. Then: Read the official first time contributor guide carefully. Try setting up Django locally and run the test suite. Look for small tickets on trac (including documentation or cleanup tasks) to understand the workflow. Ask questions on the Forum or in Discord if something is unclear. Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Django is a mature and widely used framework, and it takes time to understand its design principles and contribution standards. Strong contributors are not the ones who know everything at the start — they are the ones who show up consistently, engage thoughtfully, and improve through feedback. To conclude We are excited to welcome a new group of contributors into the Django ecosystem through Google Summer of Code 2026. We look forward to thoughtful ideas, constructive discussions, and a summer of meaningful collaboration — built not just on code, but on understanding and shared responsibility.

For February 2026, we welcome Baptiste Mispelon as our DSF member of the month! ⭐ Photo by Bartek Pawlik - bartpawlik.format.com Baptiste is a long-time Django and Python contributor who co-created the Django Under the Hood conference series and serves on the Ops team maintaining its infrastructure. He has been a DSF member since November 2014. You can learn more about Baptiste by visiting Baptiste's website and his GitHub Profile. Let’s spend some time getting to know Baptiste better! Can you tell us a little about yourself? (hobbies, education, etc) I'm a French immigrant living in Norway. In the day time I work as software engineer at Torchbox building Django and Wagtail sites. Education-wise I'm a "self-taught" (whatever that means) developer and started working when I was very young. In terms of hobbies, I'm a big language nerd and I'm always up for a good etymology fact. I also enjoy the outdoor whether it's on a mountain bike or on foot (still not convinced by this skiing thing they do in Norway, but I'm trying). How did you start using Django? I was working in a startup where I had built an unmaintainable pile of custom framework-less PHP code. I'd heard of this cool Python framework and thought it would help me bring some structure to our codebase. So I started rewriting our services bit-by-bit and eventually switched everything to Django after about a year. In 2012, I bought a ticket to DjangoCon Europe in Zurich and went there not knowing anyone. It was one of the best decisions of my life: the Django community welcomed me and has given me so much over the years. What other framework do you know and if there is anything you would like to have in Django if you had magical powers? I've been making website for more than two decades now, so I've used my fair share of various technologies and frameworks, but Django is still my "daily driver" and the one I like the best. I like writing plain CSS, and when I need some extra bit of JS I like to use Alpine JS and/or HTMX: I find they work really well together with Django. If I had magical powers and could change anything, I would remove the word "patch" from existence (and especially from the Django documentation). What projects are you working on now? I don't have any big projects active at the moment, I'm mostly working on client projects at work. Which Django libraries are your favorite (core or 3rd party)? My favorite Django library of all time is possibly django-admin-dracula. It's the perfect combination of professional and whimsical for me. Other than that I'm also a big fan of the Wagtail CMS. I've been learning more and more about it in the past year and I've really been liking it. The code feels very Django-y and the community around it is lovely as well. What are the top three things in Django that you like? 1) First of course is the people. I know it's a cliche but the community is what makes Django so special. 2) In terms of the framework, what brought me to it in the first place was its opinionated structure and settings. When I started working with Django I didn't really know much about web development, but Django's standard project structure and excellent defaults meant that I could just use things out of the box knowing I was building something solid. And more than that, as my skills and knowledge grew I was able to swap out those defaults with some more custom things that worked better for me. There's room to grow and the transition has always felt very smooth for me. 3) And if I had to pick a single feature, then I'd go for one that I think is underrated: assertQuerySetEqual(). I think more people should be using it! What is it like to be in the Ops team? It's both very exciting and very boring 😅 Most of the tasks we do are very mundane: create DNS records, update a server, deploy a fix. But because we have access and control over a big part of the infrastructure that powers the Django community, it's also a big responsibility which we don't take lightly. I know you were one of the first members of the Django Girls Foundation board of directors. That's amazing! How did that start for you? By 2014 I'd become good friend with Ola & Ola and in July they asked me to be a coach at the very first Django Girls workshop at EuroPython in Berlin. The energy at that event was amazing an unlike any other event I'd been a part of, so I got hooked. I went on to coach at many other workshops after that. When Ola & Ola had the idea to start an official entity for Django Girls, they needed a token white guy and I gladly accepted the role! You co-created Django Under the Hood series which, from what I've heard, was very successful at the time. Can you tell us a little more about this conference and its beginnings? I'm still really proud of having been on that team and of what we achieved with this conference. So many stories to tell! I believe it all started at the Django Village conference where Marc Tamlin and I were looking for ideas for how to bring the Django core team together. We thought that having a conference would be a good way to give an excuse (and raise funds) for people to travel all to the same place and work on Django. Somehow we decided that Amsterdam was the perfect place for that. Then we were extremely lucky that a bunch of talented folks actually turned that idea into a reality: Sasha, Ola, Tomek, Ola, Remco, Kasia (and many others) 💖. As a former conference organizer and volunteer, do you have any recommendations for those who want to contribute or organize a conference? I think our industry (and even the world in general) is in a very different place today than a decade ago when I was actively organizing conferences. Honestly I'm not sure it would be as easy today to do the things we've done. My recommendation is to do it if you can. I've forged some real friendships in my time as an organizer, and as exhausting and stressful as it can be, it's also immensely rewarding in its own way. The hard lesson I'd also give is that you should pay attention to who gets to come to your events, and more importantly who doesn't. Organizing a conference is essentially making a million decisions, most of which are really boring. But every decision you make has an effect when it's combined with all the others. The food you serve or don't serve, the time of year your event takes place, its location. Whether you spend your budget on fun tshirts, or on travel grants. All of it makes a difference somehow. Do you remember your first contribution in Django? I do! It was commit ac8eb82abb23f7ae50ab85100619f13257b03526: a one character typo fix in an error message 😂 Is there anything else you’d like to say? Open source is made of people, not code. You'll never go wrong by investing in your community. Claude will never love you back. Thank you for doing the interview, Baptiste !