LAC is the international conference about Free/Open-Source Software for music, sound, and other media with GNU/Linux as the main platform. For this 2026 edition, the conference is hosted on Maynooth university south campus (53.3781433,-6.5961569 comaps), from the 18th to the 20th of June, and facilitated by Maynooth’s music department.

Conference theme:

Large language models and Free/Libre/open source software.

Important Dates:

• March 10, 2026: Paper/music submission deadline
• April 20, 2026: Review deadline
• April 27, 2026: Notification of acceptance
• May 25, 2026: Camera-Ready version deadline

Call for Papers / Presentations / Demos / Workshops

LAC 2026 invites submissions of papers, presentations, and workshops addressing all areas of audio processing based on Linux and open source software.

We particularly encourage submissions engaging with the conference theme of LLMs and FLOSS.

All submissions and presentations are in English.

Submissions can focus on technical, artistic, and/or scientific issues and target developers and/or users.

This includes (but is not limited to) the following categories:

• Audio and Music Languages
• Audio Hardware Support
• Audio Plugins
• Drivers, System and Sound Architecture
• Education and E-Learning
• Games
• Interactive Art
• Interface Design
• Live Coding
• Live Performance
• Media Art
• MIDI, OSC...
• Mobile Audio
• Music Composition
• Music Production
• Networked Audio
• Physical Computing
• Projects Realised using Linux Audio
• Realtime Kernel and Linux Distributions
• Signal Processing and Sound Synthesis
• Sound Specialisation
• Standards and Protocols
• Video
• Etc.

Full Papers

Full papers must be written and presented in English. The length of papers is 4 to 8 pages, with up to 5 keywords, including an abstract of up to 200 words. The abstract will be published on the conference website once the paper has been accepted. Full papers will be available on the website during the conference, and after in the proceedings (which will be published with an ISBN number).

All papers are peer reviewed by a committee of experts from different disciplines. Reviewers may suggest improvements to the author(s), require changes in order to accept the submission, or reject it.

Full papers will be presented during the conference as in-person oral presentations.

Presentations Without an Associated Paper

LAC 2026 welcomes oral presentations not associated to a peer-reviewed paper published in the conference proceedings. Such presentations are selected by the scientific committee, based on a abstract up to 500 words, with up to 5 keywords. No full paper is required in this category. The abstract will be available on the website during and after the conference.

Presentations in this category have the same format as full paper presentations and will hence be presented during the conference as in-person oral presentations.

Demos

Demos are informal project (e.g., plug-in, software, interface, idea, etc.) presentations that will be carried out between the papers presentation sessions.

Workshops

Workshop presentations (max duration of 2h) should be 1-4 pages, with up to 5 keywords, including an abstract of up to 150 words to be published on the conference website. Make sure that your proposal indicates if participants are expected to have a specific level, if there are prerequisites, if you’d like to limit the number of participants, if you have specific technical requirements, etc.

How to Submit Papers / Posters / Workshops?

All the submission should be carried out through this portal

Choose the relevant submission type.

The required file format is PDF. For the full paper category, authors must use the provided template for paper formatting (see below). For the other categories, your PDF should contain the title of your presentation/demo/workshop, the name of the authors and their affiliations, and abstract/description (you can either use the full paper template or your own).

Please let us know if you need a special technical setup for your presentation. Templates

Call for Music

LAC 2026 invites submissions of artistic works involving the use of free, libre and open-source software and/or hardware. Pre-recorded music, interactive installations and live performances are accepted. A jury will select the compositions and installations to be included in the conference program according to artistic merit and technical feasibility. Please be prepared to perform your work yourself and make sure that you have all resources needed to perform your piece (e.g. instruments, props, other performers, etc.).

To help the selection and scheduling process, submissions must also include a pdf with the following information:

1. Title of the work.
2. Name(s) of artist(s) / collective.
3. Category of work:

• Pre-recorded music (fixed media).
• Live performance.
• Interactive installation.
• Other (please specify).

1. Duration (approximate, in minutes).
2. Short artistic description (200–500 words). Describe the concept, context and audience experience.
3. Use of free / libre / open-source tools:

• Which FLOSS software/hardware do you use?
• How are they essential to the work?

1. Technical requirements:

• Hardware you will bring.
• Hardware you need us to provide.
• Audio I/O (number of channels, routing, speaker layout).
• Video / projection needs (resolution, aspect ratio, outputs).
• Space requirements (stage size, dark/quiet room, etc.).
• Network / internet needs.

1. Setup and tear-down times:

• Approx. time to set up: ___ minutes.
• Approx. time to tear down: ___ minutes.

1. Number of performers and roles.
2. Direct, non-expiring link for jury to review the work (required):

• Link to the work itself.
• Additional documentation (images / diagrams / website).

1. Previous presentations (if any). Where and when has this work been presented before?
2. Special constraints. Any safety, volume, light, or accessibility considerations.

If accepted, all submission are expected to be presented in person.

Diversity Statement

The Linux Audio Conference welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. We want to foster a variety of perspectives, and our goal is to create an inclusive, respectful conference environment that invites participation from people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, and sexual orientation.

LAC is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference at the discretion of the conference organisms.

Previous conferences

Past editions of LAC are listed on the Linux Audio website

Partners

In addition to Maynooth’s music department, the conference will also benefit from the collaboration of Maynooth’s computer science society and the Dublin Linux community