My Debconf23

Finally, those days have arrived – Debconf in my home country. This year's Debconf was a mix of some emotional and happy moments, and I'm eager to share some of these experiences.

"Debconf23 Group photo" Debconf23 Group photo, for enlarged view: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YQEbbPQqAvwuwCRk6 | credits: Aigars Mahinovs

Even though Debconf spanned 14 days (7 days of Debcamp and 7 days of Debconf), I could only attend the last two days due to my academic schedule. However, a week before Debconf, I learned that my university, KTU, had granted a holiday for their valuation camps. Upon arriving at the venue, I realized that if I had informed the organizers, who happened to be my friends, earlier about this development, they could have assisted me in arranging accommodations and other arrangements for those days.

I arrived at Debconf23 venue on September 16, 2023. In the days leading up to it, I followed Debconf through a live stream, adjusting my daily schedule. Fortunately, I had received both food and accommodation bursaries, so all I needed to do was check in at the hotel lobby and the registration desk. After checking out of the hotel, I made my way to the registration desk and received some really nice swags. Swags: Stickers, T-shirt, debian umbrella, water bottle, steel cup, side bag, Mostly Harmless USB, ubuntu coffee mug At the time of checking in at the registration desk, I had the opportunity to meet some of the owners of very famous Telegram and IRC usernames within the Debian and FOSS communities.

The hotel was a luxurious experience for me, and I took some time to explore every floor used for Debconf. While the elevators were occasionally slow, the staff's hospitality was excellent. My room The food offerings were diverse, catering to participants from different countries and lifestyles. Unfortunately, due to some health issues, I could only consume a limited amount of food. However, dining provided numerous opportunities to meet and interact with various personalities. Food setup | credits: Aigars Mahinovs My focus at this year's Debconf was primarily on talks related to Linux on mobile devices, as mainline GNU/Linux distributions had begun to shift their attention towards mobile development. The developments in projects like Phosh (Phone Shell) and Mobian seemed especially promising. In addition to mobile Linux talks, I attended a session by Joenio Marques da Costa on live coding tools on Debian, which, despite a slow start, turned out to be rhythmic and interesting.

I also participated in a session on "Localization of Mobile Linux," primarily discussing Varnam, a transliteration engine developed by Subin. The session shed light on how contributors from various languages could contribute to Varnam.

There was also an OSM India Meet-up at night. Although I wasn't a potential contributor to the OSM project, it provided an opportunity to connect with some OSM contributors from India. OSM India Meetup - Group picture | credits: Aigars Mahinovs I attended several other talks, but I won't cover them all in this blog. My primary aim was to use Debconf as a venue for meeting many FOSS/OSS contributors from around the world since this was my first offline FOSS event. Looking forward to attend more FOSS events in future.

A special mention goes to Manojettan, Athulvis, Subin, Sadik, Arun Mani J, and others for keeping me company, as well as my roommate, Vysakh G Nair, for accompanying me.

All recorded talks are available at: https://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2023/DebConf23/

Missing @avronr

"Some voids are not fillable by anyone." Book of Condolences installed in debconf venue | credits: Aigars Mahinovs Abraham Raji, known by his IRC and Matrix handle @avronr, was one of the volunteers who made Debconf possible in Kochi, Kerala. His dedication to Debian and open-source and free software communities was invaluable. While I hadn't met him in person, I was excited to meet him during this year's Debconf. We had interacted online through Telegram, Matrix, and various online events. Sadly, just two days before my arrival, he passed away, leaving us all in shock. His scheduled talk at Debconf23 for the following morning would remain unspoken.

Abraham was a potential contributor to many FOSS projects in Kerala and across India. From an early age, even during his college years, he contributed to numerous Free and Open-Source Projects. His contributions, ranging from design work to coding, were truly countless. His passion for Debian and FOSS communities played a significant role in promoting FOSS in Kerala. Many Debian contributors took their first steps with his simple packaging tutorial. His contributions will always be remembered, and perhaps, we may meet again in a place beyond this world.

Releases dedicated to him:

Tails project Hoppscotch waka-readme

Missing @avronr

Releases dedicated to him:

Other posts about him: