[Ghm-discuss] Programme for the GNU Hackers' Meeting 2017

[Alex Sassmannshausen]

Hello fellow hackers,

Below you will find the schedule for this year's GNU Hackers' Meeting.
As you can see, we still have a few free slots, so if you are interested
in giving a talk, please contact me!

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you spot a mistake — I'll
be happy to discuss!

Best wishes,

Alex

1 Programme
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  • Thursday evening
    ⁃ 19:00 - onwards: First evening meal
  • Friday
    ⁃ 08:00 - 10:00: Breakfast
    ⁃ 10:00 - 10:30: Welcome to GHM!
    ⁃ 10:30 - 11:00: [The GNU Behistun Package]
    ⁃ 11:00 - 11:30: Morning break
    ⁃ 11:30 - 12:30: [Introducing GNU Spread Sheet Widget] + Q&A
    ⁃ 12:30 - 14:30: Lunch & spare time
    ⁃ 14:30 - 15:30: [Guix, GuixSD, and getting to one point o] + Q&A
    ⁃ 15:30 - 16:00: Afternoon break
    ⁃ 16:00 - 17:00: [Supporting multiple bootloaders in GNU GuixSD]
    ⁃ 17:00 - 18:00: Keysigning
    ⁃ 19:00 - onwards: Evening meal
  • Saturday
    ⁃ 08:00 - 10:00: Breakfast
    ⁃ 10:00 - 10:30: Resuming the meeting
    ⁃ 10:30 - 11:00: [Libreroot - Liberating Buildroot]
    ⁃ 11:00 - 11:30: Morning break
    ⁃ 11:30 - 12:30: [My virtual machine is faster than yours] + Q&A
    ⁃ 12:30 - 14:30: Lunch & spare time
    ⁃ 14:30 - 15:00: [Using Potluck to break the Guile stalemate]
    ⁃ 15:00 - 15:30: [Still available!]
    ⁃ 15:30 - 16:00: Afternoon break
    ⁃ 16:00 - 16:30: [Still available!]
    ⁃ 16:30 - 17:00: [Still available!]
    ⁃ 17:00 - 18:00: [Lightning talks]
    ⁃ 19:00 - onwards: Evening meal
  • Sunday
    ⁃ 08:00 - 10:00: Breakfast
    ⁃ 10:00 - 10:30: Resuming the meeting
    ⁃ 10:30 - 11:00: [Still available!]
    ⁃ 11:00 - 12:00: [The Future of the GNU Hackers Meetings] +
      Discussion
    ⁃ 12:00: Closing the meeting


2 Talks
═══════

2.1 My virtual machine is faster than yours
───────────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Luca Saiu

  While I was working at making GNU epsilon faster in bootstrapping and
  interactive use I wrote a fast direct-threaded engine.  Disappointed
  by the modest speedup (4-6x) I attempted something more radical which
  eventually blossomed into an independent sub-project, completely
  independent from epsilon.

  The talk will show a succession of increasingly sophisticated
  approaches to accelerate virtual machines, from AST interpretation to
  threaded code (both stack- and register-based) and beyond, including
  techniques to reduce overhead from dispatching, VM register access and
  literal fetching; the final iteration essentially constitutes a JIT.
  I will give credit where credit is due: most of the techniques shown
  are already published, but at least one crucial bit is, as far as I
  see, original.

  My new virtual machine generator accepts as input a high-level
  instruction specification including C code, and generates a fast VM.
  The system is easy to port: very little assembly code is needed, and
  even that only serves to enable optional optimizations.  I plan to
  make this new system an independent GNU project.  Feedback is
  welcomed.

  The talk will be highly technical.  It will assume familiarity with C
  and at least some ability to read assembly.  GForth will be used in a
  few examples, but familiarity with Forth is not required.


2.2 Guix, GuixSD, and getting to one point o
────────────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Ludovic Courtès

  What's up with Guix? As in previous years, I will give an update on
  Guix and GuixSD, talk about recent developments and nifty hacks.  I
  will focus on the remaining items that will lead us to 1.0 in the
  coming months.


2.3 Libreroot - Liberating Buildroot
────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Tobias Platen

  Libreroot is a fully free embedded GNU/Linux distro based on Buildroot
  ([https://buildroot.org/]). I removes all non-free packages and
  replaces the Linux kernel with GNU Linux-Libre. Currently supported
  targets are the Thinkpad X200 and the BeagleBone Black. Libreroot
  contains an up to date cross-gcc that supports many architectures
  including ARM and X86. It can be installed on a Long-Time support
  GNU/Linux distro such as Trisquel and can be used to cross compile a
  custom kernel or device tree for a ARM Parabola GNU/Linux system.


2.4 Supporting multiple bootloaders in GNU GuixSD
─────────────────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Mathieu Othacehe

  • Refactoring Guix to support multiple bootloaders.
  • Easy bootloader switching, flexibility, testing : what are the many
    advantages of GuixSD approach ?
  • Demo : adding a new bootloader in GuixSD.


2.5 The GNU Behistun Package
────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Christopher Dimech

  GNU Behistun consists of software and utilities for geological and
  geophysical modeling and mapping of internal structures and
  dynamics. The talk will describe in detail the mathematics of imaging
  for geophysical and astrophysical applications, applications to
  disaster assessment, monitoring and early warning and the difficulties
  associated with these endeavours.

  Information about related work and collaborations will also be
  discussed, as well as possible applications to medical imaging.


2.6 Using Potluck to break the Guile stalemate
──────────────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: Alex Sassmannshausen

  How do we share Guile libraries in a convenient form? Perl has CPAN,
  Emacs has MELPA.  What do we use for Guile?  The indomitable Andy
  Wingo proposed Potluck during the last year.  An extension to the Guix
  package manager which might allow us to share Guile only libraries &
  applications in a convenient and fast way.

  In this presentation I aim to share my experiences with Potluck and
  thus perhaps stimulate the ongoing discussion of this problem.


2.7 Introducing GNU Spread Sheet Widget
───────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: John Darrington

  GNU Spread Sheet Widget is a recent GNU project to create a library
  providing a Gtk+ widget for use by anyone who wishes to present data
  in a manner familiar to users of popular spread sheet programs.
  Parameters of the project include O(1) in both time and space,
  compatability with modern user interfaces and maintainability of the
  code.


2.8 The Future of the GNU Hackers Meetings
──────────────────────────────────────────

  Speaker: John Darrington

  The GNU Hackers Meetings have been happening for approximately 10
  years.  Do we want to continue the tradition? How should we organise
  future meeetings?  Who should organise them?  Where should they take
  place?  What should happen in the meetings?


2.9 Lightning talks
───────────────────

  An open mic to present hare-brain schemes, recent hacks or tales of
  daring do!  Want to present something in over the course of about 5
  minutes and have a little space for discussion? Sign up to give a
  lightning talk during the meeting!


2.10 Still available!
─────────────────────

  Have an awesome proposal for a talk? Contact me,
  address@hidden, or sign up to give a talk during the meeting!