Re: [loki@fosdem.org: FOSDEM 2010: Distribution Miniconf]

From: Lucas Nussbaum <lucas_at_lucas-nussbaum.net>
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:36:11 +0200

(Also adding loki_at_fosdem.org to Cc since the original email was from
this address)

On 23/10/09 at 11:35 -0700, Stefano Zacchiroli wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 10:01:38AM +0200, Wouter Verhelst wrote:
> > Executive summary: there will not be a Developers' Room for Debian at
> > the next FOSDEM (nor for any other distribution, for that matter), but
> > instead there'll be a "distribution miniconf" that we'll be able to
> > participate in. They still need to flesh out the details on that one,
> > though, and input is requested.
>
> I, for once, think this is a bad idea, at least in the "extremist" form
> (i.e. no devrooms at all) it has been presented. I surely agree that
> having only devroom was bad and that FOSDEM can push a lot for
> cross-distro collaboration this way. Nevertheless, devrooms were also
> offering an amazing service to distro, and the argument that distros
> have their conference anyhow is not convincing (Debian has one per year,
> and alternate it around the world, having the additional devroom in a
> fixed place once per year was definitively a plus; other small distros
> do not have their own yearly conference, etc.).

I fully agree. I'm all for cross-distro collaboration, but I think that
this proposal goes too far. When I give a talk in the Debian devroom at
FOSDEM, I can expect the audience to be Debian developers or
power-users. If my audience changes to developers and power-users from
Debian and other distros, I can't give the anymore, and as a result, it
will be a lot less interesting for Debian devs and users.

> If I'm not the only one feeling that way, I think we can try to make a
> more reasonable proposal to the FOSDEM organizer: having the devroom
> *and* the cross-distro meeting room. That can be coped with a simple
> room: if you want a devroom for your own, you should participate in the
> cross-distro room *as* *well* filling a number X of slots.
>
> I'm Cc-ing the distributions_at_l.fd.o list which is a cross-distribution
> contact point. If the above proposal of mine is liked more than the
> current proposal by other distro as well, we can have a more convincing
> argument for advancing it.

Another solution could be to have a joint session at the beginning of
the saturday afternoon, where each presenter in one of the
distro-specific devrooms would do a lightning talk about what he is
going to say, and how this could be of interest to the other distros'
developers.

-- 
| Lucas Nussbaum
| lucas@lucas-nussbaum.net   http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/ |
| jabber: lucas_at_nussbaum.fr             GPG: 1024D/023B3F4F |

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Received on Fri Oct 23 2009 - 22:41:36 CEST

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