On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 10:55:45PM -0600, Gunnar Wolf wrote: > Adrian Bunk dijo [Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 01:24:36AM +0200]: > > > - Strongly recommend vaccines for infectious diseases before attending > > > debconf (covid, flu, etc.) > > > ... > > > > Chances are that everyone already had multiple covid infections during > > the past 6 years, which makes it a mostly moot question whether someone > > got a covid vaccination 5 years ago. > > > > I will be eligible for the next covid booster when I reach the age of 75, > > which is still a few decades away. > > > > Non-medical people trying to push covid vaccinations in the year 2026 > > sounds to me like trying to continue an old culture war where everyone > > else has moved on years ago. > > > > Regarding flu, it's questionable whether conference organisers should > > give medical advice that contradicts the recommendations from the > > experts in the field of healthcare. At least here in Europe, flu > > vaccination tends to not be a recommended vaccination covered by > > public healthcare for working age people. > > Things are different in each part of the world. As I bragged in Debian > Planet¹, in Mexico we have COVID and Influenza reinforcement vaccines as a > non-mandatory yearly campaign,
That's a questionable practice, unless the Mexican healthcare system has the problem of receiving more money than it can spend. Every time somewhere else in the healthcare system something is not possible due to lack of money, you have to ask whether financing that would be better than free COVID and Influenza boosters for healthy adults. Here in Finland the public healthcare system is so vastly underfunded that cutting a few hundred million Euro elsewhere in healthcare to finance free boosters for everyone might cost many lives. >... > > What conference organisers should do instead is to inform about venue > > specific vaccination recommendations: > > > > Most countries recommend Hepatitis A vaccination for their citizens who > > visit Argentina, this is something that should be informed about during > > registration for a DebConf in Argentina. > > > > And the region of the venue, in the context of yellow fever vaccination. > > You have a point there, we didn't even discuss Hepatitis A, and I have > never heard about it being important to cover when traveling to Argentina > (and I travel to Argentina at least once a year, for over 15 years > already). But that may speak bad about myself. A DebConf Health Policy should state clearly that conference organisators must know and communicate venue specific travel advice relevant for attendees. Chances are DebConf is not the first international conference at a venue, and such information might already exist somewhere. > Regarding yellow fever, I do > not consider it to be sensible, as it is a disease closely related to hot > weather — there have been yellow fever outbreaks as much South as in Buenos > Aires, but _not_ in the Winter season (July). Attendees from India might face up to 6 days in a quarantine facility after travelling to Argentina unvaccinated. Whether a day trip entered Corrientes might be relevant when entering other countries after DebConf. This is the vaccination information conference organizators should actually know and inform about. > > - Organize DebConf as a hybrid conference, enabling full remote > > participation for attendees and speakers. > > A very sensible point — and one I take pride in saying we are pioneers in, > and we take as much care as we can to keep. We have live-streamed most of > DebConf talks since 2005, and part of the roles of the talkmeister is to > chack for activity in IRC channels; we _could_ add an open Jitsi session to > each talk, but I know videoteam will kick me if I propose it, because it > introduces a lot of noise (in many ways) in the process, and lessens > overall quality. Are you thinking of something in particular we could add? Talk and BoF submission for remote attendees. > > Looking at it from my own point of view: > > > > Based on experience, when I travel abroad where I go through two > > airports and one or more trains my assumption is that I will catch > > some contagious disease during the travel. > > > > For myself I just do whatever mitigation is required for the symptoms > > (which tend to be mild), and I do not really care whether the inevitable > > infection is a cold or a flu or some other contagious disease. > > > > I do care about the people I visit, spending Christmas alone or > > cancelling a travel a few hours before takeoff are actions I have > > each done multiple times and would do again without hesitation > > whenever it is the best option to protect the people I would > > have visited. > > (...) > > Someone asking my on the evening before travel to take a covid test and > > me asking "Why?" is a "cancelling a travel a few hours before takeoff" > > story - it doesn't matter whether I was infected before the travel when > > the main infection risk is during the travel. > > If you test positive before boarding your first train or airplane, you will > be very unhappy, but will be able to remain unhappy (and, hopefully, not > too sick) at home, with your full usual environment. >... A test before boarding does not really make a difference when my assumption is that I will have caught something when I exit my last train or airplane. > We have > determined we will cover whatever trip cancellation costs arise due to this > decision. For all attendees or only the few who are receiving a travel bursary? >... > > > - Be excellent to each other. Understand that some attendees are more at > > > risk than others, and we don't all take the same risks in handling > > > infectious disease. > > > ... > > > > DebConf organisers should also be excellent by organizing a hybrid > > conference instead of excluding people like me from participation. > > Please help us understanding how to better include you. I might be too > naïve in my thinking that DebConf is close to the ultimate hybrid > conference; >... Can every talk be presented by a remote speaker? Can remote attendees fully participate in every BoF? > Greetings, > > – Gunnar cu Adrian
