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.
Contents
Workshop ideas
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!
- 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
For each speaker, please note what they work on and what they promote.
For their ideals, please try to be precise if they differ from FSF's philosophy. The goal is not to build a list of "sins" (ex: I heard X say "open source" in 2011), but to avoid surprises. For example, some free software supporters promote SaaSS or web services which look like free software but actually leave computer users with no control at all over their computing.
A person doesn't have to share 100% of FSF's ideals to be a speaker, but it would be nice to avoid surprises and giving an audience to someone who would encourage people to value convenience over taking a firm stance for freedom.
A link to their project is useful, but it's more important to make our own assessment of their work and standpoints.
Alison Chaiken
Work:
- ...?
Ideals:
- ...?
Eben Moglen
Work:
- FSF legal counsel, SFLC free software law firm
Ideals:
- Well known to be very similar to FSF's
Chris Montgomery
Work:
- audio vide formats (Ogg vorbis, theora, opus...)
Ideals:
- ...?
ciaran comments: does a lot of work on free software, does some useful work regarding software patents. Supported Mozilla's recent decision to use a binary video codec, but he did this because he things it helps free software most in the long run - people can disagree with the strategy but I don't see a philosophical conflict.
Jay Sulzberger
Work:
- ...?
Ideals:
- ...?
John McAfee
Work:
- ...?
Ideals:
- ...?
Bruce Schneier
Work:
- Security Technologist, writer, and board member of the EFF
Ideals:
- Outspoken critic of massive surveillance and the need for the engineering community to help fix it:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/05/government-betrayed-internet-nsa-spying
- Doesn't agree that all software users deserve the four freedoms.
- Uses Windows
- Promotes non-free software
Jessamyn West
Work:
- Library Technologist http://www.librarian.net/
- Volunteers with the Open Library
Ideals:
- Online Privacy
- Supports Fair Use
- Education to reduce the Digital Divide
- Co-authored an edition Library Reports concerning OSS (were they confused about the definitions?): http://maisonbisson.com/oss4lib/ West's contribution seems to be Chapter 10. Her politics are generally aligned with free software: "I believe that humans have a responsibility to look after each other and take care of one another so that everyone's strengths and creativity are utilized and maximized. I also think everyone should be actively working towards this.." http://www.jessamyn.com/me/faq.html#politics I think she offers an opportunity for dialogue with someone on the front lines of reaching out to the community through libraries and education.
Aaron Seigo
Work:
Ideals:
- http://makeplaylive.com/#/who-we-are/our-philosophy (are these his ideals or the ideals of the project group?)
- ...?
Other suggestions
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