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Fwd: Proposal for a Debian-NP-Organized Miniconf at Debconf/FISL

Greetings!

This is a proposal I've just sent to the coordination and organization
lists for Debconf4 and International Free Software Forum (FISL). Both
events will be happening during last week of May, first week of June
(Debconf first, then FISL) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The basic idea is that we would create a Debconf-NP miniconf at
Debconf4/FISL and that it would brings in people from both the
non-profit and "civil society" communitues and the free software
development community for some cool dialog, discussion, networking and
HACKING. :)

I also like the idea that we'd also be able to use this as a way to
use money to fund Debian-NP development by flying developers to Brazil
and such without having to the step of paying developers directly. :)

I'd love to hear any feedback anyone has.

Regards,
Mako


-- 
Benjamin Mako Hill
mako@debian.org
http://mako.yukidoke.org/
--- Begin Message --- 
[ Sorry for the English if it's inappropriate. I don't speak
  Portuguese. :( ]

Background
------------

Debian-NP is a internal Debian subproject to create a Custom Debian
Distribution specifically designed for the needs of non-profit
organizations. Started less than a year ago, the project has received
a lot of attention from non-profit organizations around the world.  In
particular, there seems to a lot of excitement focused in Italy and
Brazil. More info is on the Debian-NP website[1].

A number of Debian-NP hackers were flown to Croatia by a group called
the Tactical Tech Collective[2] for a one week conference called
Summer Source. The conference aimed to be a session for networking
between NGOs and non-profit organizations and Free Software
developers. Most participants were from Europe, Asia and North
America. More info on the camp is available online[3].


The Proposal
--------------

About five weeks ago, I sent a sort of pre-proposal to the Summer
Source list. The idea was a Debian-NP mini-conference held along side
Debconf and the FISL in Porto Alegre. The basic goal is to bring in a
number of NGOs, organizers, and civil society groups, and others
(perhaps those in some sort or technical managerial role) with an
interest and commitment to using free software but who, for whatever
reason, are not doing so yet -- this is, not coincidentally,
Debian-NP's target group of users.

The proposal would be to hold a series of sessions (grouped mostly
together on the last days of Debconf leading up to FISL probably)
designed to get developers and users talking about ways that they can
work together. The sessions would include a number of more
tutorial-based workshops aimed at less experienced developers, some
brainstorming, and some collaborative work between hackers and NGOs.

One idea that I strongly support is to keep the lines between the
events fuzzy. Last year at Debconf, Skolelinux held something of a
mini-conference alongside/inside Debconf. I attended a number of
Skolelinux sessions and was so impressed that I've applied much of the
knowledge I gained in those session to the work I've done with
Debian-NP. I imagine many Skolelinux folks without a lot of Debian
experience might say the same thing about the experience. It's also a
great way to pool resources -- whether it's money, organization,
spaces, computers, or speakers and facilitators.

I see this as a great opportunity to get the NGO folks who support
free Software -- either in word or action -- in a more active
discussion with development communities. The NGO folks will get a
better idea of the developers' work, the developers will get a better
idea of NGOs' needs and everyone gets a better idea of how we can use,
support, and develop free software to meet all our needs.

So far, the response to the pre-proposal I've sent to the Summer
Source participants and organizers has been good. I'm optimistic that
if we put effort into this, we may be able to get organizational
and/or financial support from some of the more traditional NGO funding
communities. Of course, any funding will be useful in supporting
Debconf and FISL in terms of advertising, getting spaces, and flying
in speakers and participants.

Ian Lawrence (another summer source participant) who is (not currently
but usually?) in Brazil has offered to take an important role in
helping organize this. Michelle Ribeiro and Fernanda Weiden -- both in
Porto Alegre and both Debian-NP hackers -- have said they'd be willing
to help out on the ground. Both Ian and myself have spoken with Pablo
Lorenzzoni who seems to be very positive about the idea as well.

I'm sure I can speak for everyone involved so far and say that we are
interested in coordinating and discussing this and in hearing any
feedback anyone has.

Ian has suggested an IRC as one good way to proceed. If people would
like, I can send an announcement of that to this list when this
happens.

Regards,
Benjamin Mako Hill



[1] http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-nonprofit
[2] http://www.tacticaltech.org/
[3] http://www.tacticaltech.org/summersource/

-- 
Benjamin Mako Hill
mako@debian.org
http://mako.yukidoke.org/

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