About
From FOSS.IN/2007
FOSS.IN is one of the world's largest and most focussed FOSS events. It is held annually in India. Over the years, it has attracted thousands of participants, and eminent speakers. The speaker roster usually reads like a "Who's Who" of FOSS contributors from all over the world.
FOSS.IN is extremely focused on FOSS developers and contributors. It does not cater to FOSS advocacy and basic introductory talks that User Groups and other conferences already cater to.
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[edit] Where and When
FOSS.IN/2007 will be held from December 4 to December 8, 2007 (Tuesday through Saturday), at the National Science Symposium Centre of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.
[edit] Who should participate
If you are are someone who
- Possesses skills such as coding, testing, documentation, etc. that are useful for a FOSS project.
- Wants to participate in a FOSS project - Find a forum to get new ideas.
- Already contributes to a FOSS project - Come and exchange your thoughts and experiences with like minded people.
... then FOSS.IN is for you.
[edit] What to expect
The event is divided into two major parts:
- "Project Days" - December 4 and 5 (Tue and Wed)
- The Main Conference - December 6, 7, and 8 (Thu, Fri, and Sat)
Both the formats are very different from each other and yet are integral parts of the event. Both will take place at the main venue.
[edit] The Main Conference
The Main Conference (Dec 6, 7, and 8) is similar to the format of the event in previous years, with some dramatic differences:
[edit] No Tracks
Unlike in previous years, the main conference will not have tracks. Each session will be self-contained. The talks will still be classified according to the broad topic. However, to encourage movement and wider exposure, all of the talks will not be concentrated in one hall.
[edit] Talk Slots
Each slot will extend for a duration 90 minutes instead of the usual 60 minutes. Each talk will include about 45 minutes talk time, and about 30 minutes discussion time. There is also a 15-minute buffer between talk slots to allow audiences and speakers to move between halls, grab a coffee or a snack, etc.
In addition, the main conference will only use the 750, 120, and 90 seat halls. The 250-seat hall may be used if the number of high-quality talks selected exceeds our capacity. The 60-seat hall will not be used for talks.
[edit] Talk Depth
The Main Conference will differentiate itself from previous years in the way talks are selected. Most of the talks will be by recognised experts in their fields. Because our new format dramatically reduces the number of talks from previous years, we can afford to be choosy.
And we will be.
While we will still have a formal Call for Participation (CfP) for all talks, many talks will be invited, and others will be brutally scrutinised for depth, context and value to audiences.
[edit] Talk Feedback System
In addition, we are introducing a talk rating/feedback system that will allow people to comment on and rate talks online after the talk completes. The feedback system will be moderated and authenticated (you know, to prevent our friends selling body-part enhancements from turning this into a market place :), but the comments will be public and permanent.
This will achieve two things:
- The feedbacks for each talk will act as a reference for the speakers, if they need to prove their bonafides as speakers, they simply have to point at the FOSS.IN site where information about the talk and the feedback from the audiences will be recorded.
- This will encourage speakers to be far better prepared than some have been in the past. A last-minute preparation speaker is almost certainly going to get bad feedback, so the tag "was a speaker at FOSS.IN" can work against the speaker if s/he wasn't prepared, but work wonders for those speakers who do prepare, deliver an in-depth talk and who interacts with the audience.
Feedback will be on a per-talk basis, not per-speaker, but multiple-talks per speaker will be an exception anyway - you'd have to be a superstar to achieve that. :)
[edit] Focus
Both the Main conference and Project Days (described below) will focus on development and contribution to FOSS Projects. General talks will be limited to a few, and in general the nature/background of the speaker will decide whether the talk will be selected.
As it was last year, advocacy and basic introductory talks will not be accepted. This is to avoid the "preaching to the choir" problem, as well as avoid duplicating the efforts of other FOSS events in India.
[edit] Project Days
Project Days (Dec 4/5) are new to FOSS.IN. Loosely based on the mini-conferences made popular by events such as Linux.conf.au (LCA), these will be an implementation of the "topics" idea proposed in 2005.
Project Days will be full day sessions on a single topic, and the topic will be a specific FOSS project. Led by project leaders/contributors, the sessions will expose audiences to the current state and future plans of the project, and show where and how people can get involved. Workshops are encouraged to be part of such sessions.
The number of projects will be limited. As the 750 seater hall will not be used for Project Days sessions, sessions will take place in the 60/90/120 and 250 seater halls. That means there can be (2 days x 4 halls)=8 Project Days Sessions.
To make it clear what we are looking at, here are some examples of Project Day Sessions:
- KDE
- Gnome
- Fedora
- Ubuntu/Debian
- OpenOffice
- IndLinux
- etc.
Here are examples of topics that are NOT eligible for a Project Days Session:
- Web Development
- Developing in PHP/Python/Perl/Ruby
- System Administration
- etc.
If look closely, will that we are targeting contribution to the project, not deployment of the project. For example, "Developing Python" is a good topic, "Developing with Python" is not.
[edit] Talk Slots
Talk slots will be 1 hour in length, with no more than 45 minutes talk time. This works because unlike the Main conference, all talks related to the topic are in the same hall.
However, actual distribution of talks will be decided by both Team FOSS.IN and the Session organizers. Since there will also be workshops involved, things have to be a bit more flexible.
[edit] Talk/Workshop selection
The actual Project Day sessions will be decided over the next two weeks.
First, discuss on the mailing list, identify topics, scope of topics and who possible speakers could be.
Next, formal Project Days Session Proposals have to be made. These proposals will be evaluated for completeness, scope, context and other factors, very similar to the way talks will be selected for the Main Conference.
The 8 sessions will then be selected, session organizers appointed and sessions will be announced, and the CfP will open. People will now be able to submit talk proposals, choosing either the Main Conference or one of the Project Day sessions.
[edit] Other Features
[edit] The FOSS.IN HackCenter
The Hack Center is a new addition to FOSS.IN this year.
It is a large area which will be open throughout the conference duration, from 9:00am to 7:00pm, where people can get together to work on FOSS projects.
The Center will be provided with PCs, power, switched networks and internet connectivity, tables and chairs.
[edit] Rules
There are a few rules that are expected to be followed:
- This is not a download or surfing centre. People are not expected to settle in and use the bandwidth to download stuff from the net. The area is provided for people to get together to work on FOSS projects.
- PCs provided will be few. In general, there will be one PC per group - people are encouraged to bring their own laptops.
- This is not a general community assembly hall. People are requested to only use this hall for actual development work, not for general sit-downs and discussions. For discussions, BoF tents are provided.
[edit] BoFs
Birds of a Feather is a shortening of the proverb "birds of a feather flock together", meaning that people (birds) of the same kind or interest (of a common feather) enjoy spending time (flocking) together. This proverb is believed to date back as far as Greek and Roman times, but has become commonly used as jargon by various groups since the nineteenth century.
Birds-of-a-feather sessions will happen throughout the main conference, in semi-open tents equipped with wireless LAN, power and whiteboards. Topics will be free-form and impromptu.
[edit] Exhibition
As every year, there will be an exhibition of commercial and non-commercial, FOSS-related products. Details will appear on the website.
[edit] COSTS
As every year, we are restricting costs to cover only direct expenses on delegates. The conference fees will be Rs. 600. The fees for students with a valid ID card will be Rs. 500. This cost includes Lunch, tea/coffee and snacks for each day.
[edit] Corporate Delegate Package
In addition, there is an optional "Corporate Delegate" package, to help companies support the event. This package is identical to the package above (Main Conference + Project Days), at Rs.3000 per head.
This package is optional and meant for organizations who wish to help support the event. All other full delegate benefits are included in the package.
In addition, all passes and other materials will be sent to the organization before the event, so that such sponsored attendees will not have to stand in the queue to register at the conference.
Additional funds raised this way will go towards additional facilities for delegates.
Please go here for more information.
[edit] Travel Assistance
As usual, we have a limited budget for aiding selected speakers to travel to Bangalore. Speakers are requested to first attempt to get sponsorship from other sources before asking for Travel Assistance.
All speakers at the event (Main Conference or Project days) get complimentary passes to the event, and other speaker-specific goodies.
[edit] Website
The website for the event is now open. It will not contain all details yet - this will improve as we pin down various things, and as feedback and suggestions come in on the Mailing List.
You are best served by adding http://foss.in/rss to your newsreader of choice to keep track of changes on the website, and of course to subscribe to the FOSS.IN mailing list.
This note does not cover a lot of details, so feel free to start asking questions, discussing things, making suggestions, etc. Note that not every suggestion can be implemented, so don't take it personal if we have to reject one. Also note that FOSS.IN is one of four international FOSS events (the others being Linux.Conf.Au, OLS and now Linuxconf.EU), and because of this there are certain things we can do, and some which we cannot.
As usual, we ask people to leave the politics at the door, and help make this an enjoyable event for everyone. A lot of hard work has gone into this event already, and a lot more will happen in the months leading up to it.
For now, the best way to help is to spread the word (buttons, banners, etc. will be on the website, as will be PDF brochures, posters, etc.), and to discuss on the FOSS.IN mailing list.
Please remember - this is an to get people get involved in FOSS development and contribution. Our primary objective is to get more Indians involved, and to get them to interact with people from all over the world.
Expect a lot more news from us as time goes by. Tons of stuff up our sleeves. :)
