Re: [Debconf-discuss] Registration FAQ
On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 02:32:47PM +0000, MJ Ray wrote:
> Thanks for the reply, but note I didn't ask for "something really
> reliable", but for preliminary.
You're asking for something preliminary so you can plan a trip that spans
several thousand miles into a foreign country to visit, but you don't expect
it to be reliable? If I was looking for a timetable that would affect a trip
such as that, I would 1) expect it to be reliable and 2) not look for
anything preliminary. It seems you're planning this trip through the looking
glass.
FWIW, the day trip is on Wednesday, so you might want to consider talks
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - many different
kinds of talks, because there will be many different kinds of developers
present.
> The lack of topic grouping is a bug in debconf set-up, isn't it?
Hmm. Well, what one perceives as a bug, I suppose others could perceive as a
feature. From what I've seen of Debconf, the developers choose what talks
they wish to attend, and find other activities to amuse them when they're
not attending. The biggest problem they run into is two talks they would
like to attend at the same time; or for speakers, a talk occurring at the
time they are required to give one. If we group the talks according to
topic, I would expect this to happen a lot more often than it does already.
And, judging from various Continuing Education seminars I've attended that
have multiple talks on multiple days, it's not always the case that one Day
1, the topic/theme is Such and Such. Day 2, it's something entirely
different. In fact, most of the Continuing Education seminars I've attended
try to offer a variety of topics every day to 1) include the most interests
as possible and 2) to ensure people can get to as many of the talks as
possible without having to skip many because of overlapping time schedules.
> Yes, I'd really much prefer that. If I travel from Europe, I am
> unlikely to be alone (yay health) and others who would probably be
> with me don't care about debconf AFAIK. Also, as a non-geek, I find
> debconf attendees in general a stressful and tiring group to interact
> with, so I burn out after a few days of that effort. Finally, while
Well. Aside from insulting, that's rather presumptious that others wouldn't
find a way to enjoy themselves. I've now been to 3 Debconfs and enjoyed
myself the entire time at each one. I don't consider myself a geek either
(although, that point has been in contention various times), but I've NEVER
found myself stressed and tired interacting with Debconf attendees (ok, ok,
so planning the daytrip last year was a bit stressful, but only briefly, and
only *slightly* caused by a *few* attendees). Each year, I was sad to leave,
and far from burned out, was looking forward to the next time I could
attend.
Debconf is a lot about community. It's a lot about meeting the people you're
working closely with. It's a lot about being face-to-face for technical
discussions and sharing meals with people you wouldn't normally have the
opportunity to even *meet*. If it wasn't, why couldn't we all save time and
money by just having an annual IRC Workathon? Speeches can be given online
now. Notes could be available through online means. In this case, you
wouldn't have to worry about "being a non-geek finding debconf attendees in
general a stressful and tiring group to interact with" because you wouldn't
have to interact with them.
> debian *use* is mostly work for me, debian *development* is mostly a
> hobby. How many people will spend over a solid week away for their
> hobby each year? Does debconf not want mainstream developers?
Um. Many do. In fact, many bring their families as well. And I've seen
families enjoy themselves as well. In fact, I'm one of them. Hello.
> It's a shame if there's no willingness to make debconf more easily
> accessible to a wider range of developers. It seems likely to lead to
> forking as we grow, with all the drawbacks that involves.
Which naturally translates to, "It's a shame that there's no willingness to
ensure debconf will be a robotic and antisocial conference so you feel less
inclined to have to be polite to people in person that you're normally an
ass to online."
Cheers,
Patty
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Patty Langasek
harmoney@dodds.net
----------------------------------------------------------
At times, you may end up far away from home; you may not be
sure of where you belong, anymore. But home is always
there... because home is not a place. It's wherever your
passion takes you.
--- J. Michael Straczynski
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