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Free & OpenSource Software Weekend

Posted by michael on from the what-else-were-you-doing-anyway dept.

FOSDEM Team writes "This week-end, the fourth edition of the FOSDEM (Free and Opensource Software Developers' European Meeting) is taking place in Brussels, Belgium. Once more, famous speakers will be present for this 2 days event to talk in the different tracks presented (Linux Kernel, Accessibility, Desktop, Java, Scripting languages and Security); on Saturday evening, the FS Award ceremony will be conducted by Richard Stallman. This year, the introduction talk will be made by Tim O'Reilly and the end talk by Jon Maddog Hall. Don't miss the interviews made by the FOSDEM guys : Hans Reiser, Ian Formanek, Keith Packard, Tim O'Reilly, Robert Love and many others."

9 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. But.... by flewp · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is the meeting free? Is it free as in free beer? Or more importantly, IS THERE FREE BEER?!

    --
    WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
    1. Re:But.... by RiverTonic · · Score: 5, Informative

      And why don't you tell 'm about the Old Market Square of Leuven? It has over 50 bars.
      http://www.leuven.be/showpage.asp?iPageID=1721

      --
      This is RiverTonic's sig.
  2. Free Software is so mainstream by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Free Software movement has gotten so large and so mainstream that I would think that conferences like this that highlight the 'separateness' of Free Software would eventually wither away. As more businesses pick up Free Software, the movement would become more prominent at true software conferences that cover the entire industry.

    Free Software is not a product, but its products are products. Apache, Linux, Perl, these are all products and have a place to stand among commercial products like IIS, Windows, and Visual Studio.Net. Free Software, OTOH, only describes a group of software that really has nothing in common with each other except that they share a common license.

    I would rather see the Apache booth at COMDEX and SD than at FOSDEM. The earlier we can throw the yoke of 'Free Software' from our backs, the earlier Free Software will fulfill its mission.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    1. Re:Free Software is so mainstream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, I was on a date once and started explaining the GPL. free as in speech, etc. My date went to the bathroom and never came back.

    2. Re:Free Software is so mainstream by lowieken · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What would you say if you saw the WordPerfect and MS Office teams get together to think about how to implement a feature in their programs? Fosdem is really much closer to that kind of activity than to a trade show. This is a "Free and Open Source Developer Meeting". That means it's targeted at _developers_. Maybe similar events don't exist in the proprietary software world? Or are they just less visible and accessible?

    3. Re:Free Software is so mainstream by AigariusDebian · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, if you're a female AND you go there, then there will be chicks.

      But then I somehow miss the point of your interest in the matter.

  3. A question... by Nimloth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can the Win2k SP1 developpers attend this year?

  4. New NetBeans Release by WilsonSD · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Everyone should check out the newest beta release of NetBeans (as mentioned in the interview with Ian Formanek). It really shows how nice a rich Java application can be.


    -Steve

  5. I attended the very first FOSDEM by crimestopper · · Score: 5, Funny

    it was called OSDEM back then, and RMS was there telling audience people off because they said "Linux" and not "GNU/Linux" when asking questions.

    During his session he was talking about emulators for some reason and he said "Emulators like WINE" I yelled "Wine Is Not An Emulator!"

    serves him right!

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