Hi Gregor, Am 13.04.2018 um 02:35 schrieb gregor herrmann: > From what I've personally learned historically, my assumption was that > DebConf is for Debian contributors, i.e. people who are in some, at > least minimal, ways connected to Debian and are (at least: on their way > to) contributing something to Debian. And that the overall objective > of DebConf is to foster Debian development by connecting > contributors.
>From the discussions I've had over the last DebConfs this still seems to be the primary purpose. We (as in the DebConf Committee these days but also the chair people before the Committee was put in place) deliberately encourage local teams to use their degree of freedom to make each _their_ DebConf. Also there the annual DebCamps, MiniDebConfs and some long time DebConf organizers have created SunCamp and SnowCamp now as more "extended family" get together events with little formal structure so people can create freely within that common space and time. The more events evolve around Debian and bring the community together in various places around the globe, the better. A secondary goal for DebConfs is outreach and there is a separate budget for this to not cut into the primary objectives' budget and create tension. Moray has summarized all this very well in 2012 at https://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/Goals and I think this is still a very valid summary, at least from what I have seen discussed. > Maybe these assumptions were always wrong; or maybe things have > changed and they are wrong now … In the end, I think DebConf would > benefit from discussing these basic issues at some point. I think there is no right or wrong here. There are aspects of a DebConf that cater to specific interests more or less and some want - for example - more open space and some more formal lectures. This is why there is a DebCamp and that seems to get longer every year now. And why - on the other end of the scale - the content team puts a lot of work into selecting good presentations and discuss inviting distinguished FLOSS-but-not-Debian speakers each year. If you or anybody else wants to see a change in direction, the DebConf committee would very much welcome proposals. These can either be proposals for adjustments to the Goals as laid out in the wiki article linked above (which is also replicated to the DebConf website) or as a proposal for a DC20. We would love to see somebody make the DebConf cruise[1] a reality. Or anything else that sounds crazy first but could very well foster the community. Best, Daniel [1] https://bits.debian.org/2018/04/debconf20-in-a-cruise.html NB: This was meant as a April's fools' story this year from the publicity team.
