[KDE-India] Fwd: [fedora-india] [Fwd: [blug-non-tech] FOSS.IN/2008: The Omelette Post :)]

[Aditya Godbole]

Sorry for top posting. This is a bit funny. When I suggested on the
FOSS.in list that there shouldn't be any talks, I was blasted and told
that the conference isn't for me. I promptly stopped my list
subscription to prevent further flames.
The funny part is that the organisers come up with this original,
brilliant idea after the discussion. Hmm. Also I still haven't been
given an acceptable definition of 'contributor'.

-aditya

On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 5:29 PM, Kushal Das <kushaldas at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
>
> Subject: [fedora-india] [Fwd: [blug-non-tech] FOSS.IN/2008: The Omelette
> Post :)]
> Date: Wednesday 01 October 2008
> From: "Sankarshan (সঙ্কর্ষণ)" <foss.mailinglists at gmail.com>
> To: The Fedora Project Community in India <fedora-india at redhat.com>
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [blug-non-tech] FOSS.IN/2008: The Omelette Post :)
> Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 16:51:06 +0530 (IST)
> From: Atul Chitnis <listadmin at linux-bangalore.org>
> Reply-To: linux-bangalore-non-tech at yahoogroups.com
> To: FOSS.IN <foss-in at yahoogroups.com>
>
> All:
>
> A lot of people have noticed that unlike in previous years, we are not as
> loud about FOSS.IN as we usually are. Now that the Call for Participation
> is about to be published, it is time to explain why FOSS.IN/2008 is going
> to be different from earlier incarnations.
>
> First a quick reminder: FOSS.IN/2008 happens November 25-29, 2008, in
> Bangalore, India. The website is at http://foss.in.
>
> EVENT FOCUS
> -----------
>
> FOSS.IN has never been about advocacy, or philosophical discussions. While
> such discussions may have their place, they steal valuable bandwidth when
> it comes to getting things done. Especially here in India, where we tend
> to lean towards political and religious aspects more easily than we tend
> to roll up our sleeves and get some work done, it is important to
> understand that FOSS.IN is meant to achieve tangible results.
>
> With this in mind, FOSS.IN/2007 (last year's event) did not accept talks
> that did not deliver practical, technical knowledge related to FOSS. And
> the talks had to be delivered by actual contributors to the project being
> discussed.
>
> Also, FOSS.IN is NOT a newbie event. A "newbie" is defined as someone who
> has no skills or knowledge or experience that would allow him or her to
> immediately contribute to FOSS development. As has been repeatedly
> explained to anyone who would listen - there are lots of newbie oriented
> events all through the year, all over India, and people should be geting
> their introductions to FOSS and their initial learning at such events,
> including at user group meetings.
>
> However, I personally was still unhappy with last years' results. Despite
> the fact that we made it clear that we did not want to see elementary
> stuff being covered at FOSS.IN, many of the talks were just that. The
> Projects Days were very popular, but FOSS.IN is not about popularity, it
> is about results.
>
> And the bottom line is that while there was a measureable increase in
> people getting involved in FOSS contribution, the quality left a lot to be
> desired. Most new contributors focused only on low hanging fruit, such as
> translations, and distro-specific packaging. If people got involved with
> code, it was usually bug fixes and code maintenance.
>
> While all these activities are extremely important, they do not need an
> event like FOSS.IN to be triggered off - these are things one can get
> involved with instantly, without really asking anyone, or attending a
> talk.
>
> FOSS.IN is far more ambitious, and is definitely not meant to cater to the
> equivalent of "outsourcing" code/package maintenance.
>
> Our event is meant to highlight Indian contribution to Free and Open
> Source Software - not just bug fixes, but real code contributions, real
> innovation, real projects.
>
> Last year, we changed the event slogan from
>
>                "Technology for a Free World"
>
> (that we had used since Linux Bangalore/2001) to Linus Torvalds' immortal
> oneliner:
>
>                "Talk is Cheap, Show Me the Code"
>
> This, in no uncertain terms, firmly declares the focus of FOSS.IN.
>
> Effective this year, FOSS.IN will focus on developers, and results. It
> will highlight credible efforts by people in India contributing to FOSS,
> and will bring together developers at peer level, to allow them to
> interact, discuss, develop and deliver.
>
> "Delivery" does not mean mere bug fixing. Delivery will be new features to
> existing applications, completely new subsystems (e.g. file systems,
> device drivers, etc.), (re)design of systems and applications, etc.
>
> Now I understand that many people will feel left out. There will be howls
> from the detractors about us abandoning the basis for Free and Open Source
> Software, and us being "Anti-FOSS". This is because in their minds, we
> must always cater only to beginners, and "bring more people into the
> fold".
>
> Thank you, but that line of thinking was old when someone said that "Linux
> is cancer" and "Anti-American" (and I think there were a few chairs
> involved, too). Just because we choose to do things differently does not
> mean that we are doing it wrong.
>
> Yes, we realise that this will reduce the number of people who may come to
> the event. Maybe we will be 500 people, maybe 1000. But that is OK. We are
> trying to produce results that are measurable by our yardsticks
> (active/increased contributors out of India), not those invariably used by
> others ("4.91 quantillion participants").
>
> At FOSS.IN/2008, we want to see the best of the best from India. We want
> to see the people who actually write the code, and who ARE contributing,
> interact face to face with their peers from across the world. And at the
> end of the event, we want to be able to publish results. *REAL* results.
> And the names of the people involved. *PEOPLE*, not companies.
>
> Over the five days between November 25th to 29th, we are going to change
> the way the world perceives India in the context of Free and Open Source
> Software.
>
> EVENT FORMAT:
>
> So how are we going to do this?
>
> First of all, we are dropping the talks.
>
> Yes, you heard that right.
>
> No talks.
>
> Well, no generic talks, bunched back to back.
>
> This year, there will be talks only in the big 750 seater hall. There will
> be an opening and a closing keynote each day, by a well known FOSS
> contributor (except the closing keynote on the last day, which, by
> tradition, is a non-FOSS, but related, talk). We already know who the
> event opening keynote speaker will be, and the closing keynote speaker,
> and I will introduce them as we get closer to the event.
>
> Between the keynotes, there will be 3-5 talks through the day - again,
> only in the 750 seater. These will in general be talks by important
> FOSS contributors or FOSS project leads. They can/will be of variable
> length, but in general between 45 to 75 minutes long. They will be
> carefully chosen to ensure that maximum value is delivered to the
> audiences.
>
> SPOTLIGHT ON INDIAN CONTRIBUTORS
> --------------------------------
>
> FOSS.IN is about highlighting and encouraging Indian contributions to
> FOSS. But along the way, the "Indian" part of FOSS.IN's mandate has been
> kind of lost. When we look at last year's speaker/talk lineup, the number
> of international speakers is overpowering. Almost all talks in "prime
> slots" were by non-Indians, and the number of Indian contributors
> presenting talks was seriously low.
>
> This year, this is going to change, and dramatically so.
>
> While there will certainly be a international speakers at FOSS.IN, the
> spotlight will be on Indian contributors. And if we don't have enough of
> them submitting talks - well, then we will just have fewer talks.
>
> So then what happens in the other halls?
>
> That, ladies and gentlemen, is where history will be made.
>
> FOSS WORKOUTS
> -------------
>
> In each of the smaller halls, as well as across the venue campus
> (including the lawns, the corridors, the BoF tents, and the cafeteria),
> you will find small groups of people.
>
> Really smart people.
>
> Really, really smart people.
>
> People who will huddle together, use the facilities available to them,
> discuss, and code.
>
> Each hall will be equipped with its own wifi and cabled network setup, a
> local server serving up the latest git/svn/bzr/whatever repositories of
> code, the tools and the bandwidth. Everything that these people need to
> get cracking.
>
> In the afternoon of the first day, after the inauguration, these groups
> will meet to decide on their broad and specific objectives. They will
> already have interacted over the weeks leading up to the event, and once
> they have finalized things on day 1, they will use the next four days to
> change the world.
>
> Only people with laptops, and a clear understanding of the tools, and a
> clear understanding of the project, will be able to participate in these
> hacking sessions. If you don't have a laptop, or don't know anything about
> FOSS or the tools or the project, don't bother sitting in, you will just
> get in the way. To join the group, you need to have FOSS credibility, code
> to show that you have written, that proves that you can deliver. If you
> ave never written FOSS code before, then this is not a place you want to
> be.
>
> In general, we do not expect more than about 10-15% of each hall being
> occupied, in some cases, it could be as few as 4 people. Given that we
> have three formal halls (apart from the 750 seater), with seating
> capacities of 120, 90 and 60 people, we dont expect to see more than
> 12-18, 9-14 or 6-9 people in each of these halls. Hall marshalls will
> ensure that things are left undisturbed, and that people inside have
> everything they need - projector, whiteboards, bandwidth, connectivity,
> etc.
>
> To ensure that the sessions are undisturbed throughout the day, yet
> "visible" to the people outside the halls, giant Plasma screens will
> display what's happening inside, both in terms of camera video, as well as
> what is being shown on the projector in the hall.
>
> These screens will also be listing out the objectives of each group, and
> their progress. This information will be available across the venue,
> including on the venue LAN and on IRC, which will have channels for each
> group/project, and will allow people not inside the halls (or at the
> event) to participate (where feasible). The hall marshal(s) will monitor
> the channels to alert the group inside if something would be worthy of
> their attention.
>
> And these groups won't just be in the halls.
>
> FOSS EVERYWHERE
> ---------------
>
> There is a reason why we will be gently cooking your brains with a massive
> flood of wifi.
>
> It is to allow people to remain connected anywhere they are on the
> premises. And this means that if a group wants to sit on the lawn and
> work, they can. If they want to sit on the steps of the lobby, they can.
> If they want sit in the parking lot, they can. If they want to spread
> themselves across the venue, keeping in touch via IM and IRC, they can. If
> they want to sit in on one of the few talks in the 750 seater hall, and
> continue working, they can.
>
> If a bunch of people need to learn a new programming technique, or learn
> about agile programming in FOSS - grab a tent, and get cracking. Or if you
> want to reverse engineer the latest device driver over coffee and snacks -
> by all means do.
>
> And this is where the major aspect of FOSS.IN comes out and stretches in
> the sunlight:
>
> FOSS.IN is supposed to be a meeting ground for existing and potential FOSS
> contributors, so that they can put faces to IRC nicks, discuss, interact,
> collaborate, plan, debug, etc. all through the event.
>
> We want people to come to FOSS.IN with definite goals in mind, and fulfil
> them at the event. Whether it is improving an existing project, launching
> a new one, brainstorming with your peers, with international participants,
> etc. We want to see high-intensity FOSS contribution happening, or being
> seeded, in the 750 seater hall, the corridors, the BOF tents, the lawns,
> the lobbies, etc.
>
> So what happened to Project Days?
>
> PROJECT DAYS -> PROJECT OF THE DAY:
> -----------------------------------
>
> An important aspect of FOSS.IN is Project Days - one FOSS project per
> hall per day.
>
> Last year, we had set apart two days exclusively for PDs, and eight
> projects were covered in the process.
>
> Unfortunately, while the selected projects themselves were pretty happy,
> we weren't. Complaints of mildly condescending, talk-down presentations,
> blatant commercial positioning, and no real take-home from some of the
> sessions, has led us to believe that this approach wasn't optimal.
>
> In addition, we seem to have split audiences last year - some people
> coming for the PDs, some for the Main Conference.
>
> So this year, there won't be separate Project Days. Instead, every day of
> the 5 days, there will be a "Project of the Day" in the cavernous 250
> seater hall - the Project Hall, where talks, discussions, BoFs, etc.
> related to that project will happen.
>
> And if the people handling that Project of the Day don't do things right -
> well, then their audiences will have the choice of other things to do,
> other talks to attend.
>
> The selection of "Project of the Day" will be based on normal talk
> submissions, along with a "Letter of Intent" by someone from the project
> saying that s/he would like to have their project as a PoD. We will then
> consider that request, taking into account the talks submitted related to
> that project.
>
> OTHER STUFF
> -----------
>
> You will have noticed by now that FOSS.IN/2008 is going to be very, very
> different from any conference you have been to before. It will certainly
> be interesting (we have a number of things planned for every day, so that
> if you decide to be picky and only attend some days, you lose out
> MAJORLY).
>
> We are STILL in negotiation with the Indian Institute of Science (the
> venue owners) to allow us to make the event a little more human - simple
> things, like being able to have coffee machines active throughout the day,
> and to allow some simple, light Indian entertainment to show our foreign
> participants a bit of our culture.
>
> But if we fail to be allowed to bring the event to 21st century,
> international standards, then we encourage people to provide their own
> entertainment. We'll try and arrange for a few guitars, bongos and
> keyboards for informal use in the community centre (the big, flat,
> three-sides-open, carpeted, roofed area behind the venue).
>
> THE EXPO
> --------
>
> Last year, we had FOSS projects tucked away near the big hall, to exhibit
> their stuff.
>
> This year, make sure you have clean jeans on - we are taking the FOSS EXPO
> up front, right into the main lobby, alongside the sponsor stalls.
>
> Remember the huge Platinum Sponsor stalls last year? Well, that entire
> area will now be the FOSS Expo, as will some areas in the central area
> between the 60 and 90 seater halls and the steps leading up to the 750
> seater.
>
> FOSS community/projects only - no commercial exhibits allowed.
>
> THE CFP
> -------
>
> The call for participation, which isn't very different from what you have
> just read, just a little shorter, and a little clearer on some points,
> will go out tomorrow. Because of the nature of the changes to the event,
> registration will be very different for "speakers".
>
> Since we are going to have so few talks (including keynotes, no more than
> 5-7 each day), we are going to accept only about 35 talks. So you bet that
> we expect them to be high calibre. We are going to research each talk
> proposal, look at the bonafides of the speaker, the history each one has.
> Any speaker who looks remotely corporate ("you must get involved in this
> project because my company is so great") gets /dev/null'd immediately. Any
> talk that doesn't look technical enough quickly follows. And a talk by a
> non-Indian speaker makes it only if there is no Indian contributor
> offering to talk about the topic. And don't even bother submitting a talk
> that is basically a computer science topic, with no relation to FOSS.
>
> Shortlisted talks will be run past serious developers and contributors
> from across the world - you know who you are. If a talk doesn't cut it
> with them, it doesn't cut it with us.
>
> Basically, we want you to respect the event focus, and the audiences. Dont
> expect newbie audiences - so expect to get deep comments and questions.
> and people voting with their feet and walking out on you. If we see a talk
> going south, or becoming commercial (like one guy did last year during the
> Debian PD), we are going to embarrass the hell out of you and yank you off
> the stage. Even if you work for a sponsor organization.
>
> Speaking of which...
>
> FUNDING THE EVENT:
> -----------------
>
> One of the bigger problems that we (Team FOSS.IN) face every year is
> chasing sponsors.
>
> You see, the cost of everything is up. The venue gets more and more
> expensive every year, cost of travel is through the roof, and even simple
> things like printing are more expensive.
>
> But we have sworn that we will stick with with our low cost model for
> participation - which is why delegates just pay Rs.600 (Rs.500 for
> bonafide students, Rs.2500 for corporate delegates), which pays for their
> food and goodies.
>
> This means that while "income" (as delegate fees can laughably be called)
> remains fixed, we need to make up the deficit with (you guessed it) more
> sponsor money. And that means more sponsor chasing, which in turn means
> more sponsor demands (which we don't give in to), which leads to more
> stress on everyone, which no one needs.
>
> Clearly, we need to change a few things to balance things out, and since
> we cannot reduce the venue fees, it means that this year, we have to
> reduce the allocation for international speaker travel, which is the
> second largest figure after the venue costs.
>
> Instead, we are going to ask employers, community and commercial
> organizations to pitch in to help speakers from outside India to come to
> the event. It will be up to speakers to check if they will be able to get
> travel sponsorship.
>
> This is a major change from previous years, where we had to bend over
> backwards to raise tens of thousands of dollars to help selected speakers
> to come to India. This year, that simply won't be possible. The economic
> climate is miserable, the Indian Rupee is 47 INR to the USD, and rising
> sharply.
>
> We will, of course, still provide accommodation to all our outstation
> speakers. We are proud of our reputation of being excellent hosts, and no
> speaker has ever had any complaints in this department. So if a speaker is
> selected, and tells us that s/he has funding to come to the event, s/he
> can expect to be put up in the comfort that speakers at FOSS.IN are
> accustomed to.
>
> We are going to try and talk to a few airlines and maybe they will sponsor
> some tickets in exchange for being tagged the Official FOSS.IN/2008
> Airline. And we are talking to our employers to help as well.
>
> But otherwise, we are going to raise just enough sponsorship to cover
> event facilities and hospitality. We are NOT a commercial event, and don't
> want to make finances the major focus, eating up all our time.
>
> We are also levelling out sponsorship slabs - just two types, Gold (with a
> stall in the front lobby) and Silver (with a stall near the Community
> Centre).
>
> And we are actually lowering sponsorship rates, to encourage more sponsors
> to come in. And we are going to be picky as well. If you aren't a
> recognised FOSS-friendly/supportive organization, you really don't want to
> be at this event. Your employees will tell us if you are a good fit for
> our event. And if you are on the sponsor roster, it will be like a
> certificate of authenticity - A Genuine FOSS-Friendly Organization.
>
> We are doing this because we don't want the FOSS community to feel
> exploited or targeted. And we are levelling out sponsorships to avoid what
> has happened before - one sponsor grabbing all the limelight. Not
> happening again. We love our sponsors, but we love them equally.
>
> Yes, we know that we sound unrealistic, even idealistic. But we want to
> raise this event to quality levels that exceed anything anywhere else. And
> by that we mean in terms of results, not glitz. We won't have hostesses
> escorting speakers to the stage. We aren't going to have receptions for
> celebrity speakers, where the twist and turn in the limelight for the
> press. We aren't going to raise huge sponsorship, just to spend it back on
> the sponsors. This is a community event. Please recognise that.
>
> We are FOSS.IN, and we are going to help change the world.
>
> One pointer and null-terminated string at a time.
>
> Atul Chitnis
> Project Lead
> FOSS.IN
>
> p.s. Why did I call this the Omelette Post? Because to make an Omelette,
> you have to break eggs.
>
>
>
>
> --
>
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>
>
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> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> --
> Fedora Ambassador, India
> http://kushaldas.in
> http://dgplug.org (Linux User Group of Durgapur)
>
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