Free Software Developer's Meeting In Europe

physicman writes: "This weekend (3 & 4 Feb.) the first edition of the Open Source and Free Software Developers' European Meeting will be held in Brussels, Belgium. I think it is the first time that such a meeting occurs in Europe and it is very exciting to see what will come out of gathering at the same place people working on very different projects like Fyodor of nmap fame, Jeremy Allison from Samba, Rasterman (Enlightenment) and many others (full list here). Richard Stallman will also give a keynote about the danger of software patents. So, if you're in the neighborhood (for instance at the LinuxExpo in Paris) don't miss the opportunity to talk and hack (yes, there will be a hacking room too) with some of the top developers of the Open Source and Free Software movement!"

Comments

Re:Midgard a kick-ass content management system ??

[Ami Ganguli]

Some good points, but it's still kick-ass for people who need it. That's not to say it doesn't have problems. Lets see if I can address your points one by one:

Let's begin with the documentation. It's shit. There are functions described which don't exist or do what they should do. And if i remember right there are functions which are not documented but exist and work very well.

Actually I think the current documentation is pretty good. Not awesome, but not bad. Check back on the web site to see. Of course, you sound like you've got some experience with Midgard, so maybe you can contribute some improvements :-).

And it's written in PHP. I won't describe something written in PHP as ass-kicking. Sure there are quite some good stuff out there in PHP which do what they should do etc. but ass-kicking???

Actually, it's written in 'C', with PHP as the scripting language. Version 2 will be language independant, with, at least PHP & Perl. Probably a few others by the time we're done.

For something like Midgard i would have used Servlets. But maybe that's only a matter of taste.

Very much a matter of taste. I'm not really a fan of Java. Still, it should be possible to build servlet support into 2.0, but I don't know if anybody will do it. We'd have to find a developer who likes them first. Again, we'd welcome volunteers :-).

Don't understand be wrong. Midgard is a good peace of work but, until now, not more. Version 2.0 was planned to be released Q1 2000. So maybe the problem is that they have not enough time/ people.

Actually I think the problem was getting wrapped up in 1.4. I wasn't involved in the project when the "original" 2.0 was planned, so I don't know why it never got off the ground. I've been pushing the "new" 2.0 for several months now, however, and it's moving forward well. The rest of the development team is just wrapping up 1.4.1, and will be going full-force on 2.0 after OSDEM.

FSF is still an essential piece of infrastructure

[divec]

but what've they [the FSF] done lately besides bitch and moan?

I would say they do a lot. The point is not whether RMS, or anyone else associated with the FSF, is pouring out loads of code today (although Miguel certainly is). That was never the point of the FSF. The point of the FSF is to create the social forces neccessary to cause free software to flourish. In the beginning, that meant writing a free C compiler. Then it meant writing the GPL, and organising an effort to clone UNIX (but notice that the most important job they did was to ensure that the uncool, boring, essential bits got written). Another valuable thing they did was to help launch the Debian project, so that there would be a GNU/Linux distribution focused on freeness. More recently, they helped organise a lot of the infrastructure needed to launch GNOME (and hence a big factor in causing the existence of *two* free desktop environments). All those projects are now ticking along nicely and would continue if the FSF disappeared tomorrow, but none of them have quite the same scope as the FSF.
They are a big force in finding gaps which nobody is filling, and ensuring that they get filled. The FSF is unique in that its primary goal is to foster free software, and it is working and has worked on things which would be outside the scope of any of the other projects mentioned above. (Also remember that they do a lot of behind the scenes work, e.g. on ensuring that the GPL is enforced, that the public never gets to hear about).

Plug: Come see Midgard at OSDEM!

[Ami Ganguli]

Good to see this on Slashdot!

I can't resist a plug: come see me talk about Midgard, a kick-ass content management system.

I'll be focusing on the upcoming version 2.0, but version 1.4 is stable and works great for content-rich web sites. That means anything where you have a lot of content that changes often.

Re:Is RMS the correct one to represent free softwa

[gdon]

> It's time to abolish RMS. Without apology.

I definitely disagree. And I don't understand your point. RMS designed,founded and led the GNU project, hats off RMS ! He wrote the GNU GPL, and is still working on new versions and legal issues, nice work ! I wouldn't do it myself. He tries to fight software patents, to protect the right to code for the new coders you're calling. He also hacked gcc, emacs, gdb which are invaluable tools, the elementary bricks to build the whole Free Software House. He doesn't seem to code anymore, so what ?
He's useful and has certainely more clues about the real wolrd than the average 15 year old nerd. RMS pours moral salt and pepper into the whole Free Software cauldron. He insists on Freedom being more important than wealth and commerce, cooperation being more valuable for Society than greed. What an unusual and refreshing vision of the world !

Keep on speaking RMS, you're condemned to repeat the same old printer driver story over and over ! ;)

Frankly, we need him.


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FYI

[mirko]

Brussels MIDI /Zuid) train station is around 1 hour from Paris "Gare du Nord" which makes it quite quick and relatively cheap to join the Linux Expo and Brussels.
BTW, I lived in both town and I also invite cartoon lovers to make a stop at the cartoon museum ("Musee de la Bande Dessinee").

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working link and whats w/ the logo?

[nmarshall]

working link

it's it me or is there just something uh, hmmm, werd w/ their logo?


nmarshall

The law is that which it boldly asserted and plausibly maintained..