> "let's all get together and build some free software collaboratively".

G0v hackathons in Taiwan are still this, at the end everyone presents what they worked on and there's no judging or anything. Some of the projects have been going for years.

There was a hackathon two weeks ago, you can see all the videos from all the demos here https://m.youtube.com/@g0vTW

They happen every two months. Some people have started g0v chapters abroad, maybe you could consider it for your region!