Bits from the Front Desk
There was a legitmate complaint received yesterday regarding hacking access
during the daytrip. I would like to take a moment to address that complaint
and offer my personal apologies for distress and inconvenience experienced
yesterday. I've always said I learn better from my failures than from my
successes, and this is certainly no exception. The failure was in ensuring
there would be backup hacking space available during daytime hours when
volunteers are not available to man, monitor or assume responsibility for
the facility. I have relayed the concern to the local organization team,
and it will be kept in mind for future DebConfs.
Since Brazil, DebConf 4.0, the DayTrip has become an expected, but by no
means obligatory, part of the DebConf experience. This bloomed due to the
rotation of hosting country, and that hundreds of people are traveling to a
new area, sometimes thousands of miles, and wish to learn more about the
country that is hosting them. This is understandable, and long-held in my
opinion, to be beneficial to the community as a whole. Understanding each
other will always make it much easier to communicate, and in better
communication, better work flow. Debian is a community; it's as simple as
that. Understanding one another is crucial to supporting each other in this
technical medium. The DayTrip is a way for the hosting country (in my case
this week, hosting city) to offer a chance to experience their culture, what
they have to share, and give an opportunity for developers to come together
and socialize while enjoying themselves (sometimes a rarity due to Debian
mailing lists).
Since Brazil, DebConf 4.0, the DayTrip has been an *overwhelming* success
and interest. People who have been to DebConfs will often look for
information about the DayTrip to determine if they're going, and in most
cases, choose to go. People volunteer countless hours to making the DayTrip
happen (thank you, Clint Adams and all leaders: Michael Schultheiss, Kevin
Mark, Jeremy Baron, Daniel Kahn Gillmor, Luke Faraone yesterday for your
time) and to ensure everyone has an opportunity to enjoy their host country.
But. I said earlier it is not obligatory, and it's not. And it's also
important to remember what DebConf is about, and it is and always will be, a
technical conference for people to work out problems, discuss concerns,
raise issues, hack on bugs, improve software and initiate or continue
discussions.
A wise man continues to tell me on a daily basis that DebConf isn't
relaxing. It's fun, certainly, but not relaxing. It's not a holiday; it's a
technical conference. He's right, and I would like to assure anyone who was
inconvenienced yesterday that we *will* learn and improve, just as we
always do. And, I want to simultaneously apologize for their inconvenience
and thank them for their understanding and patience while everyone involved
in DebConf organization strives to improve on the last conference.
I, personally, want to encourage anyone who has a concern or complaint to
voice it in a polite, professional way, and want to ensure everyone has the
opportunity to do so. If you have any concerns, please feel free to direct
them towards me and I'd be happy to either address it or pass it on as
appropriate.
Happy Hacking,
Patty
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Patty Langasek
harmo...@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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