Re: [Fsuk-manchester] FOSDEM 2009

[John Southern]

On Wednesday 12 November 2008 21:06:49 Lucy wrote:
> FOSDEM is a two-day free and non-commercial event organized by
> volunteers to promote the widespread use of Free and Open Source
> software. It's in Brussels, Belgium and is a good opportunity to meet
> like minded people (and sample some decent beer). It's also a good
> opportunity to promote Manchester Free Software.
>
> Would anyone be interested in going along? I've never been before, can
> anyone who's been previously tell me what it's like?

Fantastic fun.
Most turn up on the Friday as you really need to be at the pub event in the 
evening. Every year this has been at the Roy except last year when we changed 
to the Delirium Cafe.
This is a social night and everyone talks about what is new, what are the 
latest trends and how to solve problems. The only worry is lectures start the 
next morning so you will need some sleep at some point.

Saturday we register (get your Tshirt if you have paid the donation) and head 
for the main lecture theatre.
Welcome talk and a couple of keynotes.
Debian then normally have a keysigning that you will have needed to have 
signed up for before the event.

Off to the main talks. Here you have a wide choice and each year the number of 
streams gets bigger. Not only talks grouped into subject streams but 
development rooms that are announced (KDE, Gnome, Mozilla etc) but some that 
will just occur because a like minded group want to do something and have 
found space.
You can always go to the lightening talks which change every fifteen to twenty 
minutes.

You may see people asleep in some lectures or just in quiet corridors. Please 
try not to disturb them.

Saturday night everyone makes their own entertainment. Restaurants are 
normally full for large groups, but a chance to have a good cheap meal and a 
drink. From experience this is not normally a full on as the Friday night 
because listening to talks can be hard work.

For those that did not tag along us last year, we ended up in the Absinthe 
bar, then that funny kebab shop, then that nightclub, then that.... you get 
the idea.

However most slept.

Sunday is lectures all day. Finishes about 5pm. The problem is while the Euro 
star will get you back for 8pm, by the time you cross London no trains north.

Travel - From the UK most go by Eurostar (11 or 12noon from Waterloo)
Alternatives are fly or even the coach. Coach out is OK but coming back 
Brussels is not the first stop, so you might be split up for the sleepy trip 
home.

Car is an option but would require planning otherwise too expensive for one.

It can be very cold especially at 6am while waiting for others to arrive.

Accommodation - There are recommended hotels, but we usually end up in the 
youth hostels. A group booking means we have dorm rooms to ourselves.
They will not let girls and boys share.

The UK group is normally quite large and everyone is welcome. If we want to 
make a FSUK-Manchester group we could ask for a table, but they are probably 
all booked by now. It is possible to just have a BirdsOfaFeather meeting 
(normally on the Sunday)

Normally a few stalls, but the aim is to find out about some new things or 
just chat with everyone else.

A lot do not drink but join everyone else for the talk. New friends and old.

It is very light hearted and the main thing is to enjoy yourself.

This does make out as though I did nothing but drink, but that is not true. I 
am pretty sure I slept through some lectures as well.

Now admittedly we do have our own guide of nightclubs, bars, dens of iniquity, 
places to eat cheap etc., but you can always do whatever you want.

The talks are varied and you could always try watching some on the website, 
however, it is the light chat that is the most useful. Especially when 
someone says "So, what's new?"

Of course you need at least one other opinion as I might be biased.

Yes it is 2:30am. Yes I am fighting with a Solaris box that does not want to 
start the cluster, yes I am longing for that warm glow from the skull out to 
the tip of my nose from that little green fairy.

John