Omarchy Meetup,
Southern France

An evening for people who love their computer.

Linux, Hyprland, terminals, keyboards and tinkering.

In Béziers, open to everyone, free.

Since 1209, around here, we've refused kings.

catharchy

Béziers · Arch + Hyprland · free

Next edition

Catharchy #1

Book my seat
Date
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Venue
23 avenue Auguste Albertini, 34500 Béziers
Time
6:30pm to 10pm
Seats
limited, registration required
Price
free

What is Omarchy?

Omarchy is a Linux distribution created by DHH, the author of Ruby on Rails. It combines Arch Linux and the Hyprland window manager into a ready-to-use system, carefully configured, built for developers and for anyone who wants to take back control of their machine.

The principle is “omakase”: like at a Japanese restaurant, the chef has chosen for you. You install it, everything works, everything looks great — and if you want to change something, everything is open.

Since 2026, the project has been backed by the Omacom Foundation, a non-profit funded by founders of Shopify, Stripe, Dell, Block, Cloudflare and 37signals. The stated goal: finally make the year of Linux on the desktop happen.

Three ideas to remember

The keyboard is in charge.

Windows tile themselves, you navigate without a mouse, you save time every minute.

It's beautiful, so it's motivating.

Themes, fonts, wallpapers — everything is consistent from the first boot.

It's yours.

Public source code under the MIT license, no telemetry, no forced app store.

Why Catharchy?

Eight centuries ago, the people around here refused authority that came from far away. It ended badly for them, but the idea stuck: we'd rather choose our rules than have them imposed on us.

Today that authority is called Redmond or Cupertino. It decides what your computer displays, what it sends, when it reboots. Omarchy offers something else: a system you understand, you configure, and that belongs to you.

Catharchy is the name we gave this gathering. A pun, not a manifesto. Mostly you come to show off your setup, ask silly questions and leave with new ideas.

Typical format. Each edition adjusts.

What we do during an evening

6:30pm

Doors open.

We plug in the machines, check out each other's setups, and chat.

7:00pm

Two or three lightning talks.

Ten minutes each, on anything Omarchy, Linux, terminal, keyboards, open source or tinkering. Anyone can propose one, beginners included.

7:45pm

Install party.

Got an old laptop? A spare drive? We install Omarchy together, sort out the keyboard layout, set up the first session. Those who already run it help those getting started.

8:30pm

Show your rice.

Everyone shows their config, their themes, their shortcuts, their favourite plugin. This is when you steal other people's good ideas.

9:00pm

And after.

Pizza, open conversations, ends when the venue closes.

Who is it for?

  • Developers who are fed up with their work environment.
  • Curious people who saw Omarchy on YouTube and want to touch it.
  • Fans of mechanical keyboards, terminals and configuration.
  • People who want to leave Windows or macOS but don't know where to start.
  • Computer science students from Béziers, Montpellier, Narbonne and around.

No need to be an expert. No need to run Linux. No need to own a computer. Being curious is enough.

What to bring?

  • Your laptop, if you want to try or install. A USB stick of at least 8 GB if you want to leave with the ISO.
  • Your keyboard, if you're proud of it.
  • A question, a talk idea, or just yourself.

Backing up your data before an install is on you, not on us.

Propose a talk

Ten minutes, one topic, zero mandatory slides. Examples we'd love to hear:

My first month on OmarchyHow I set up my AZERTY or Bépo keyboard on HyprlandNeovim, tmux and lazygit: my workflowI moved my firm, my team or my dad to LinuxAn Omarchy plugin I wroteWhy I left macOS after fifteen years
Register and propose your talk

House rules

Catharchy follows the Omarchy meetup rules published on omarchy.org, summarized here:

  1. 01 The evening is about Omarchy, Linux, open source, programming and hacker culture.
  2. 02 Open to everyone. No invite-only events.
  3. 03 Community-run. The organizers speak for themselves, not for Omarchy or the Omacom Foundation.
  4. 04 Nobody owns Béziers. If someone wants to run another meetup nearby, great.
  5. 05 Free. If we ever ask for a contribution, it will be to cover the venue or the pizza, nothing else.
  6. 06 Sponsors are welcome and always announced. No sponsor gives a sales pitch.
  7. 07 We behave like civilized adults, with childlike wonder. The organizer has the final say if there's a problem.

Sponsors and venue

Who organizes

Thomas Galibert, Ruby on Rails developer for over twenty years, founder of Demerys in Béziers. Rails user since day one, Omarchy user since recently, weird-keyboard user since forever.

Catharchy is a personal, community-driven initiative. It is neither a Demerys event nor an official Omarchy event.