Sam Hartman

DJCLI: Case Study in how Debian Opens Opportunities for those with Different Needs

As my wedding approached, my longstanding desire to learn about music and about DJing became a driving need. So, what’s the big deal? Go download DJ software and get with the mix. There’s even DJ software in Debian. I’m blind and for the work I’d like to do all the software is visual. So I decided to write my own. This is a case study about how Debian and the free software we curate made it possible for me as someone who sees the world differently to find art and achieve a dream. It’s more about how free software opens opportunities to view the world differently than the technical challenges I faced, although I’ll throw in some code for good measure. It’s a story of opportunities realized but also challenges relating to people who think differently. It’s a story of art and the power of understanding how the world works.

Trancing out with DJ DPL

Come help your DPL enjoy his new-found joy as a DJ. I’ll bring some of my favorite electronic music (mostly Trance and Progressive with a bit of other stuff thrown in for variety) and my free software DJ stack. Bring some energy, and a sense of adventure and we’ll dance the time away! Unless people point me at a lot more good open-culture electronic music than I’ve found so far, you will be tainted by non-free music. Participants who complain too loudly without providing free suggestions of their own will be placed in a room with “Share the Software” on endless repeat.

Bits from the DPL

It’s been a great year in Debian. Buster is better than ever. I’d like to discuss where we are and some of the interesting questions before us as we go forward.

One Git to Package them All, and on the Salsa, Find Them

During the DPL campaign, there was discussion of two related issues. First, we discussed moving our packaging to Git repositories on salsa.debian.org presumably as a matter of policy. Second we discussed moving away from source packages and to a model where git push is used to upload packages. This is a requirements collecting BOF for that discussion. We’ll discuss what people would like out of such and experience, how we might meet those requirements, and problems meeting the requirements. Deciding whether to make this changes is out of scope: that belongs on our mailing lists. But if we were going to do it, what would people want? That belongs here. Requirements will be conflicting. Choosing which conflicting requirements to meet is out of scope beyond noting the conflict. This is a brainstorming session.

Surprise, you're a manager!

Many of us started work in Free Software from a position of indifference, if not outright hostility, to the challenges and rewards of “management”, whatever that is. For better or worse this indifference doesn’t usually last long, as any project involving more than one person soon discovers that it’s not just about cranking out code, but about dealing with conflict, motivating volunteers, and balancing differing goals and priorities.

This session will be for sharing best practices, lessons learned, and asking questions. Whether you are the Debian project leader, or coordinating with one other developer on a project with 3 users, this BoF welcomes your ideas and your questions.

Notes: infinote://gobby.debian.org/debconf19/bof/you-are-manager