Call for papers First Software Freedom Conference 2008 (SFK09) in Pristina/Prishtina/Prishtinë/Prishtina Kosova/Kosovo :
JamesMi...@googlemail.com
Pristina/Prishtina/Prishtinë/Prishtina Kosova/Kosovo :
Authors are invited to submit Papers for the
First Software Freedom Conference of Kosova.
As a newborn and developing nation the focus will be on :
0. What is free software and open source?
1. How can free software help a developing nation?
2. Practical Work on using free software for Schools and Business?
3. How Government and Institutions can benefit from Free Software and
Open Source?
4. Local developers presenting work on projects.
5. Also any other topic relevant to Free Software and Open Source.
6. Voice Over IP
7. How to work with Microsoft using Free Software and Open Source?
8. Copyright, Licensing and Patents
Note :
The focus of the conference is on Free Software and Open Source, but
because of the fact that it is a small country and that there is a
great need for investment into IT,
papers and presentations will be accepted after review if they are
from a local company or have something to do with the country.
We would like the papers to be also made available under the GFDL or
Creative commons if possible.
Talks will be held in one of the four national languages :
Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, English
But papers and presentations will be also held in German, if wanted.
There is a great need of sponsors and also guests.
We have now a location reserved and sponsorship from the university.
But we still need more companies who would like to invest into Kosova
to sign up!
You will find forms for submitting papers, registering for help and
also registering for the conference.
We also need more translators, and people to help with the joomla
webpage.
We have a basecamp project setup for organizing the work.
Here is the new web 2.0 way to submit your Abstract for the papers :
https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=pANifPM_UTW4aUkvcId6NUQ
See Also, The original call for papers on the Call For Papers Wiki:
http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=3640
HomePage:
http://www.kosovasoftwarefreedom.org/cms/
Thank you very much,
James Michael DuPont
JamesMi...@googlemail.com
<JamesMikeDuP...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Call for papers First Software Freedom Conference 2008 (SFK09) in
> Pristina/Prishtina/Prishtinë/Prishtina Kosova/Kosovo :
>
This was a typo! it is of course in 2009. August 24 2009 till
September 04 2009
Call for papers First Software Freedom Conference 2009 (SFK09) in
Pristina/Prishtina/Prishtinë/Prishtina Kosova/Kosovo
JamesMi...@googlemail.com
just sign up on the google calender.
http://tinyurl.com/SFC09EventCal
Thank you google, without you this would be MUCH MORE WORK or
impossible!
Ryan McCoskrie
I'm being very serious here.
When you say that point 0 is:
> What is free software and open source?
Do you mean that you'll be using the Stallman-esque
"Open Source is the lesser of two evils" / "All conversations should be
about politics" approach?
Some people (unfortunately) cannot be bought about by by the ethical
issues involved. I think usually it's because they're too technophobic
to believe that anything involving computers can be that important.
In those cases talking about the technical advantages is much less likely
to scare them away.
--
Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable.
Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.
-- Gilb
JamesMi...@googlemail.com
> When you say that point 0 is:> What is free software and open source?
>
> Do you mean that you'll be using the Stallman-esque
I am not RMS.
He has done a great service to me and has given me a lot of good
things.
> "Open Source is the lesser of two evils"
Open source is better than nothing.
/ "All conversations should be
> about politics" approach?
I have tried to avoid politics, but some people continue to try and
bring them up.
So to break the mold on this,
I have a new definition for this I have thought up : FLOWS:
http://tinyurl.com/9xpkyy
FLOWS:
* Free (Freedom)
* Libre (Lire,Liberty)
* Open (Source,Minds,Society)
* Wiki (media,pedia,tionary)
* Society (source)
I mean that :
1. Freedom Libre Software is the best to have and we should strive to
support it, it is our first choice.
2. If we cannot have it, we will take open source and OSI supported
licenses.
3. Wikimedia Wikipedia Wiktionary etc are the next thing to support,
free content.
4. and of course the purpose is to create a free society with open
minds and hearts.
We need to take the best of what we can get.
You will find the statute of the new group here:
http://code.google.com/p/sfck/wiki/CHARTER
I have tried to define the GPL and GFDL as the first choice
and all other OSI approved license and Creative commons as the second
choice.
We have agreed to create a NGO (non profit association) under the laws
of Kosov* to
run the conference and to interface with all the the worldwide
associations.
we will be sending out letters to all of them to ask for them to help
out and join our cause.
We want to get people on the board of directors from all different
groups to create a strong and
networked organization.
I myself am not from Kosov* and wil help out as much as possible, but
the NGO will be run by natural citizens of the new republic of Kosov*.
We have been reviewing the charters of all the free software
associations we can find to create a synthesis
of them all. Two I am still looking for
1. Charter of Incorporation of the fsf
and the
2. Charter of Incorporation of the wikimedia foundation. If anyone has
a copy, please send them.
we are in the process of editing it and would appreciate any comments
and help.
My original purpose was to create a conference like what I saw at
FOSDEM but I am very pragmatic.
Really what we want to do here is help the people of the region to
adapt and grow in the new internet generation,
and the best way for that is to give them the best tools.
We have invited also the people from all the IT industry of Losov*
http://www.stikk-ks.org/
because it is such a small country of 2 million people, we need to get
as many interested people as possible.
I say, the *FOCUS* should be on FLOWS, but the reality of the
situation is that we have to help the people.
The focus is on FLOWS, but we will not forbid other ideas, we need to
be pragmatic.
In our opinion the best tools are the ones that are FLOWS (FLOSS +
Wikimedia)
I am pragmatic and not dogmatic, we warn people against using
Proprietary software and tools, and from what I have seen, much of it
is copied without license in that area of the world, but really with
no enforcement of the laws
and no understanding or respect for copyright, FLOSS is at a
disadvantage.
Why should someone use eclipse cdt with gcc if the school tells them
they need Microsoft products?
Why should they care about using illegal software if Microsoft has not
payed to brainwash them about it?
Why should the University care if the students cannot afford to
purchase the software or if they sign away their rights in getting a
"free version"?
So, really, people will follow the path of least resistance and will
not care about licensing until someone decides that it is even
possible to extract the money from them without breaking them. This
will happen first in 10 years in my opinion.
So the arguments need to be about how to prepare yourself for the
future, how to learn the best and newest things,
and these things are nowadays FLOWS.
Gone are the times of the niche market of FLOWS, when jimmy wales get
the 2008 award from the economist, and the New York Times writes about
open source, we know that there has been a serious shift in
perception.
Nowadays companies are scrambling to position themselves in the open
source arena.
The Wikipedia is however very popular there, and we hope to improve
the help pages and recruit new editors to make it even better. I am
personally working on the http://sq.wiktionary.org right now to make
it easier to get new people working on it.
> Some people (unfortunately) cannot be bought about by by the ethical
> issues involved.
Really, for me it is now, in 2009 a matter of sinking or swimming.
Those who use FLOWS will swim, the others will sink.
>I think usually it's because they're too technophobic
> to believe that anything involving computers can be that important.
well, the generation that I am looking at is very computer saavy, they
all have facebook accounts,
hi5 accounts they chat all day on messenger, watch youtube and are
excellent counterstrike fighters.
we want to show them the way forward to become productive members of
the world society in taking part in the FLOWS.
> In those cases talking about the technical advantages is much less likely
> to scare them away.
I agree with you, I think that really the monetary advantage is the
biggest motivation for most people.
for a young person, the time invested in learning about FLOWS
technology is the the best investment they can make
it is sure to pay them off, and if not it will not be wasted.
The problem with Proprietary software is that people are really just
cheated, they spend all their time learning a system
and then the "rug" is pulled out under their feet.
How many times have I had to try and help a friend who was trapped in
this new "vista" system and I cannot even find anything on it, having
used microsoft windows since version 2.0 I feel betrayed by them.
At least with FLOWS you know that you can stick to the versions you
know and understand and noone can forces you
to move to a new version that is *****.
So, we have created yet another collaboration server after trying
everything out,
you are all invited to join up and help out :
http://groups.google.com/group/free-software-conference?hl=en
and the code and wiki is hosted on code.google.com
you are also invited.
http://code.google.com/p/sfck/
Ps: I write Kosov* because some people like to fight over the name.
Call it Kosovo, call it Kosova,
I call it free!
Kosov* is my way of avoiding the naming issue, see my picture about
that :
http://tinyurl.com/7uojmz