Bradley M. Kühn — 🔜 FOSDEM (24)
To old guard of #FOSS:
When you reach ages ≥ 0x32 —as I have— ∃ a saying: you're old enough to “have no 🤬s left to give”. It's liberating, but take care w/ that new feeling; it *can* turn you into a mean person.
I'm watching a talk by ███¹ who has some interesting things to say, but is flippant & rude to the audience who ask about any issue not of ███'s interest.
No matter how smart you are: as a speaker, your audience has something to teach you.
Open your mind.
#FOSDEM #FOSDEM2026 #FOSDEM26
😷🫵
Last year @ #FOSDEM, I got COVID. I ∴ missed my own keynote.
@karen & @ossguy filled in for me well, but I also *could not work on #FOSS for a WHOLE MONTH after*!!!
We all have important work after #FOSDEM2026. Why let the #FOSDEM26 flu/COVID slow down #OpenSource?
Wear a mask all day today & tomorrow unless you're on stage or asking a question.
If you need a mask or hand sanitizer, visit #SoftwareFreedom Conservancy's stand at K level 2 (group A).
https://fosdem.org/2026/stands/
Cc: @akareilly
Foiled again by my heavy work schedule. I just saw @sjn at this #FOSDEM Fringe event thing, & he noted that I had failed to properly place my Brown Cheese order with him. My own fault for letting it fall off my @fosdem prep agenda.
Any Norwegians who haven't left for FOSDEM yet want to deliver me some Brown Cheese? I'll take as much as you can carry of G35 and Geitost. I'll pay you a 5% markup for your trouble.
Cc: @aslakr
@bortzmeyer overheard at #FOSDEM
> “There is a guy who does a lot of work to help the fediverse and to push people toward it. His name is Donald Trump.”
This statement contains multitudes b/c #TruthSocial is a fork of #Mastodon. Initially, $DJT violated the #AGPLv3, but AFAIK they now comply with the license. I examined the fork & they primary code they added was an advertising platform. Obviously it doesn't have federation turned on.
Cc: @jzb
Journalism is the 1ˢᵗ draft of history.
10 months ago, @lwn published¹ that 1ˢᵗ draft re: #OSI 2025 Board of Directors elections.
At @fosdem, @jzb'll moderate a panel writing the 2ⁿᵈ draft of history of OSI's ballot tampering & related shenanigans.
Time remains to sign the petition: Ask #OpenSource Initiative to release the real election results: https://codeberg.org/OSI-Concerns/election-results-2025
& If you're at #FOSDEM, visit UB5.230 on SAT at 17:00² for the panel!
¹ https://lwn.net/Articles/1014603/
² https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/QZN3GR-foss-election-governance-open-source-initiatives/
I thank those at #FOSDEM who set aside a moment to talk to me about what I wrote upthread.
I think often of my first introduction to PTSD — which I saw 1st in the 1990s in ST:DS9 & Sisko's loss of his spouse to the Borg.
Science fiction always has something to teach us about the human condition. When the Wormhole Aliens tell Sisko that he “exists here” at the trauma & “it is not linear”, & he admits it's not.
This is #PTSD. At this moment, my mother was murdered yesterday. It is not linear.
Note that since University staff are not available during weekend, FOSDEM bathrooms are cleaned periodically by young #FOSS enthusiasts every few hours.
I have given up a lot of convenience & comfort in my life for FOSS, but I've *never* cleaned a toilet that wasn't my own toilet.
These toilet cleaning volunteers ARE THE TRUE HEROES OF FOSS & #FOSDEM!
They are literally cleaning up our FOSS 💩!
Thank them for their service!!!
The key challenge of doing charitable & community work in repressive capitalist regimes is understanding how to take funding but never fear losing it.
My strategy: basically always overcompensate in the other direction. Since #SFC receives donations from $GOOG, I make sure I'm quicker to criticize their bad behavior before — say — $AAPL who'd never give a dime to @conservancy.
This strategy isn't ideal but does avoid corruption.
Cc: @jzakotnik @t0k
https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/
It's been a long fundraising season given #SFC's stretch match, but we are close to the end; we're just about to be ≤ $10k to take advantage of all our generous match donations this season.
We appreciate all who have donated & hope that you can give a little bit more now.
Or, if you forgot to give last year or at #FSODEM2026, now is your change to double your donation.
Thanks to all who donated at #FOSDEM. We raised a *lot* at #FOSDEM26.
