LibrePlanet: Conference/2014/Conference brainstorm

If you would like to share a quick idea for a workshop, topic, or a speaker you’d like to see at LibrePlanet, please add your thoughts below. You'll have to use the buttons in at the upper right to sign in to this wiki or make an account.

Topic ideas

• GNU Hurd! Perhaps one of the lead developers can speak about the current status and how the community can contribute to the project.
• A session or discussion involving the Electronic Frontier Foundation and/or Fight for the Future (which seems Boston based).
• Free access to information and privacy concerns as it relates to online public libraries such as the Digital Public Library (dp.la), Open Library (https://openlibrary.org/) and the Internet Archive (https://archive.org). Recently, the Open Library and Internet Archive moved to support https (https://blog.archive.org/2013/10/25/reader-privacy-at-the-internet-archive/). It would be great if the DPLA could commit to doing likewise (if they haven't already).
• Relationship between FLOSS and the Open Hardware/Maker Space communities, perhaps in collaboration with Artisan's Asylum of Somerville?
• Relationship between FLOSS and voting machines that cannot be easily hacked, perhaps in collaboration with osdv.org?
• Relationship between FLOSS and charitable efforts, perhaps in collaboration with the Developers for Good meetup out of New York?
• Relationship between FLOSS and local monopoly pricing of broadband internet connections, and government violation of the Bill of Rights, perhaps in collaboration with occupyhere.org and with http://www.whoismcafee.com/future-tense-d-central/
• Free Software and Politics: The different uses and campaigns that political activists can run and conduct
• Automated aquaponics systems: scalable, sustainable food production, using open hardware/software for remote monitoring and automation. Free software, free society, free food!
  • Internet of Farming: Arduino-based, backyard aquaponics
  • Internet of food: Arduino-based, urban aquaponics in Oakland
  • APDuino
  • Smart Aquaponics by Kijani Grows
• As a developer, I would like to publish/donate software for noncommercial purposes, but require paid licensing from the big commercial corporations. I believe many others would want the same. But I have not seen any copyleft discussions or documents that address that type of arrangement.
• Hardware that supports free software and free/open formats (What is available currently, and ways to promote more libre-friendly hardware)
  • What can be done to compete against the rise of Raspberry Pi, in particular kits like Kano (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexklein/kano-a-computer-anyone-can-make) which are tremendously attractive to hobbyists and students.
  • The Improv was just announced as new Open Hardware: https://makeplaylive.com/#/open-hardware/improv
• Best practices/suggestions for migrating from proprietary ecosystems to free ecosystems (especially for newbies and non-programmers)
• How to run a profitable free-software company (as a newcomer to free software and an end-user/non-programmer, I want to trust that whatever software I use will be supported for years to come (i.e. will be updated regularly), which requires a profitable business model)
  • Cooperatives
• FLOSS medical devices
  • Safe hacking

Speaker ideas

• Alison Chaiken
• Eben Moglen
• Chris Montgomery
• Jay Sulzberger
• John McAfee
• Bruce Schneier (ciaran comments: Schneier promotes non-free software, uses Windows, and disagrees that every software user should have the four freedoms.)
• Jessamyn West (http://www.librarian.net/)
• Aaron Seigo (http://makeplaylive.com/#/who-we-are/our-philosophy)

Other suggestions

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