You are an enthusiast of Free Software? Come to Cuba!
The User Group of Free Technologies (GUTL)[1] from Cuba and Best Of Open Technologies (BOOT e.V.) [2] from Germany, are glad to invite you to join the International Free Software Conference in Cuba in April 2016.
Why in Cuba? Unfortunately the majority of large Free Software Conferences take place in rich countries.
People from poor countries like Cuba normally are prevented to participate not only by financial reasons but also by denying the entry visa to countries like USA, Canada or most European countries.
So we decided to turn it upside down and have an International Free Software Conference in Havana, Cuba. We invite free software enthusiasts from all over the world to participate, show what they are working on and educate each other.
The idea is not only to exchange experiences how to apply the newest and “smartest” Free and Open-Source Software, but also to consider old hardware and very low bandwidth. Furthermore we want to talk about how Free Software can help developing countries in general.
For example: Experiences on using Free Software in social projects. Experiences of small companies using Free Software to compete on the world market. How the use of Free Software in educational institutions is economically favorable.
It will be perfect if all continents are represented and we want to have a high representation of women. We do not want to exclude anyone for economical reasons, so we will try to raise money to support travel expenses for those who need it.
The conference will take three days: On the first day there will be a fixed program and keynotes. The second day will be held in an unconference* style. On the third day there will also be workshops and sprints.
The event will be bilingual (English and Spanish).
How your group can help with the organisation of the event: Spreading and promoting the conference. Prepare a presentation which describes the role of Free Software in your country. Prepare a presentation about new technology. With the participation of volunteers.
For the CubaConf-Orga-Team, Albrecht Mühlenschulte
[1] http://gutl.jovenclub.cu/ [2] http://bootev.org/
* In an unconference or barcamp each participant can propose their presentation. Then in a small election which of the proposed presentations are set is decided.
PS: since we get the question a lot: No goverments, are involved in organising this conference - all organisers are working on this conference in their sparetime and no one is getting paid for it.
It's too early to say that I'll be able to come, but I'm very interested in this event and would really love to come. I'd be able to give a talk on free software in Denmark, on working in a free software-only developing house and on a project I'm involved with in Brazil ...
But first, in order to plan it, I'm going to need some dates :-)
Den 14-11-2015 kl. 12:08 skrev Albrecht Mühlenschulte:
You are an enthusiast of Free Software? Come to Cuba!
The User Group of Free Technologies (GUTL)[1] from Cuba and Best Of Open Technologies (BOOT e.V.) [2] from Germany, are glad to invite you to join the International Free Software Conference in Cuba in April 2016.
Why in Cuba? Unfortunately the majority of large Free Software Conferences take place in rich countries.
People from poor countries like Cuba normally are prevented to participate not only by financial reasons but also by denying the entry visa to countries like USA, Canada or most European countries.
So we decided to turn it upside down and have an International Free Software Conference in Havana, Cuba. We invite free software enthusiasts from all over the world to participate, show what they are working on and educate each other.
The idea is not only to exchange experiences how to apply the newest and “smartest” Free and Open-Source Software, but also to consider old hardware and very low bandwidth. Furthermore we want to talk about how Free Software can help developing countries in general.
For example: Experiences on using Free Software in social projects. Experiences of small companies using Free Software to compete on the world market. How the use of Free Software in educational institutions is economically favorable.
It will be perfect if all continents are represented and we want to have a high representation of women. We do not want to exclude anyone for economical reasons, so we will try to raise money to support travel expenses for those who need it.
The conference will take three days: On the first day there will be a fixed program and keynotes. The second day will be held in an unconference* style. On the third day there will also be workshops and sprints.
The event will be bilingual (English and Spanish).
How your group can help with the organisation of the event: Spreading and promoting the conference. Prepare a presentation which describes the role of Free Software in your country. Prepare a presentation about new technology. With the participation of volunteers.
For the CubaConf-Orga-Team, Albrecht Mühlenschulte
[1] http://gutl.jovenclub.cu/ [2] http://bootev.org/
- In an unconference or barcamp each participant can propose their
presentation. Then in a small election which of the proposed presentations are set is decided.
PS: since we get the question a lot: No goverments, are involved in organising this conference - all organisers are working on this conference in their sparetime and no one is getting paid for it. _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion@fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
Carsten Agger wrote:
But first, in order to plan it, I'm going to need some dates :-)
http://www.cubaconf.org/ says 25-27 April 2016. Bit of a blooper omitting that from the announcement posted here.
I enjoyed visiting Cuba years ago but I caution anyone going there to expect randomness and try to have several alternative plans for getting anything important done because life seems much much more unpredictable there than Europe. Usually not bad - just unpredictable.
Hope that helps,
On 16 Nov 2015, at 13:15, MJ Ray wrote:
Carsten Agger wrote:
But first, in order to plan it, I'm going to need some dates :-)
http://www.cubaconf.org/ says 25-27 April 2016. Bit of a blooper omitting that from the announcement posted here.
Sorry, that one's on me, 25-27th of April is the date.
I enjoyed visiting Cuba years ago but I caution anyone going there to expect randomness and try to have several alternative plans for getting anything important done because life seems much much more unpredictable there than Europe. Usually not bad - just unpredictable.
;) I guess that's still true, but the cuban part of the team will do everything possible to make things run smoothly.
Albrecht
PS: we'll put up traveling recommendations on the page soon(ish).
On 16/11/15 15:00, Albrecht Mühlenschulte wrote:
On 16 Nov 2015, at 13:15, MJ Ray wrote:
Carsten Agger wrote:
But first, in order to plan it, I'm going to need some dates :-)
http://www.cubaconf.org/ says 25-27 April 2016. Bit of a blooper omitting that from the announcement posted here.
Sorry, that one's on me, 25-27th of April is the date.
I enjoyed visiting Cuba years ago but I caution anyone going there to expect randomness and try to have several alternative plans for getting anything important done because life seems much much more unpredictable there than Europe. Usually not bad - just unpredictable.
;) I guess that's still true, but the cuban part of the team will do everything possible to make things run smoothly.
Unpredictability is a factor but it can be planned for (e.g. having pre-recorded videos of any demos, in case network connectivity fails)
It is not just Cuba - the US federal government shut down for 3 weeks in 2013 messing up travel plans for many people, we were there at the time and it wasn't nice.
Would you be interested in having a presentation about free communications (alternatives to Skype, Viber, Hangouts) at the event?
Do you have commitment from other free software communities in other Latin American countries who will participate or it is more likely to be local Cuban and potentially central-American attendees?
I attended DebConf12[1] in Nicaragua and there were people from many of the neighboring countries who were really thrilled to be able to travel there. I hear that Fedora recently had an event in Argentina[2] and they may have also made many contacts in the region as part of that.
Regards,
Daniel
1. http://debconf12.debconf.org/ 2. https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon:Cordoba_2015