[HN Gopher] FOSDEM 2022 will be online
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       FOSDEM 2022 will be online
        
       Author : staz
       Score  : 135 points
       Date   : 2021-10-22 08:47 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (fosdem.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (fosdem.org)
        
       | cies wrote:
       | Being so privacy focused in this day and age...
       | 
       | FOSDEM was (and is!) accessible without a reservation, without
       | handing them your personal details. They were an example before I
       | was ready to understand the importance.
       | 
       | I hope they will be able to "get back to normal" next year.
        
       | bingohbangoh wrote:
       | So much for "going back to normal" I suppose...
        
       | chrisseaton wrote:
       | The huge overcrowding and damp winter weather at FOSDEM always
       | seemed to make it a disease vector. All of my team returned home
       | ill after each FOSDEM. Makes sense not to try to run it in
       | person.
        
         | ajja wrote:
         | true, though (1 data point) I have always been surprised that I
         | have never got sick during or after FOSDEM.
        
         | jsumrall wrote:
         | True, have gone to FOSDEM the last two times it was held and
         | got a nasty cold the first time and a flu on the second time.
        
           | zoobab wrote:
           | One year, I was sick and presented something anyway, it was
           | so cold outside I renamed the event FROSTDEM.
        
         | jeandejean wrote:
         | I've been there every year since 2012, never caught a single
         | bug... You just got unlucky I guess
        
           | chrisseaton wrote:
           | This is the argument people make with COVID.
        
         | md8z wrote:
         | This effect is well known at scifi/comic/cosplay conventions
         | where it's colloquially called "con flu" or "con plague". I
         | think people would have benefited from masking up at any type
         | of those events. But I guess that may not make for the ideal
         | costume photo.
        
           | dugmartin wrote:
           | Or the more alliterative "con crud".
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | em3rgent0rdr wrote:
       | I think the best part of these conferences is not actually the
       | talks, but rather the chance in-person encounters with other
       | developers you wouldn't get to meet otherwise.
        
       | kashyapc wrote:
       | I see some comments to the effect of "so much for going back to
       | normal". But only those who have actually been to FOSDEM will
       | grok why they chose to go online for 2022. It's jam-packed in the
       | best of times, and many contract the (in)famous "FOSDEM cold".
       | 
       | It sucks, but I understand and fully support the FOSDEM staff's
       | decision to go virtual for 2022. I'm saying this as someone who
       | has been going to FOSDEM since 2012; and as a co-organizer of one
       | of the Dev Rooms.
        
       | dom96 wrote:
       | Great! All conferences should transition to having an online
       | edition (in addition to an in-person event if there is demand).
       | Not everybody can travel half way around the world to a
       | conference. It's also often much more inclusive- personally I am
       | much more comfortable pre-recording a talk or livestreaming a
       | talk online than presenting in person.
        
         | jeandejean wrote:
         | It used to be possible to have both, fosdem was streamed online
         | live. I think it's best to have the choice, looking forward to
         | fosdem 2023!
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | One of the good outcomes is that, even after events go back to
         | being in person, there's going to be a more significnt online
         | component than in the past. FOSDEM has been very good about
         | this for a while. But more commercially-oriented events in
         | particular worried that having everything on video would take
         | away the incentive for people to pay and attend in-person--or
         | that the videos by themselves just weren't worth the cost of
         | making them.
         | 
         | Companies have seen though that they can get a lot more reach
         | through video even if attendees are far less involved overall.
         | I do think we'll see the presentations mostly being done in-
         | person though. It's still more hybrid in that regard right now
         | but in-person attendees are mostly not going to watch videos.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | as long as sound is well recorded, so often you had online
         | talks that were entirely unwatchable
        
       | TacticalCoder wrote:
       | I don't know when they decided it exactly but FOSDEM usually
       | takes place in Brussels, at the ULB / VUB ( _Universite Libre de
       | Bruxelles / Vrije Universiteit Brussel_) and these last days the
       | numbers of new COVID cases are really through the roof in Belgium
       | and Brussels more specifically (Brussels being the belgian city
       | with the lowest vaccination rate in the country) and several
       | politicians are asking once again, as you can guess it, for more
       | and more restrictions.
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | I think they just made the call this week. I last checked not
         | long ago and there was no info on the site yet.
        
       | LoriP wrote:
       | Ah, that's a pity but at the same time totally respect the
       | decision the Committee has made. It would have been a horrible
       | choice to have to make.
        
         | pjmlp wrote:
         | At least you don't have to run between rooms, running across
         | ULB campus, while leaving 5 minutes earlier to still assure a
         | place. :)
        
           | popey wrote:
           | 5 mins is optimistic. Last time I went, rooms were full all
           | day. People would sit in the room all day, for a talk they
           | wanted hours later. People who actually wanted to be in the
           | room would stand or sit outside, and watch the stream on
           | their laptops and phones. It's massively oversubscribed, with
           | poorly sized rooms.
        
             | ghaff wrote:
             | There are just too many people for the facility. Last time
             | I went I just camped out in a devroom that was of the most
             | interest overall. Made for a much better experience than
             | trying to go from talk to talk.
             | 
             | While disappointing at one level, the decision is very
             | understandable. It's a crowded event and, given the
             | distributed layout and lack of registration, there's no
             | real way to put any controls in place even if they wanted
             | to without making massive changes that would require much
             | more staffing.
        
             | talideon wrote:
             | One upshot of all this is that next year it might be just
             | as easy just to head somewhere with decent connectivity
             | within ULB, slap on a headset, and watch it that way. It's
             | certainly less trouble than trying to get in. If that
             | catches on, hopefully it'll discourage some amount of seat
             | camping.
        
               | joeyh wrote:
               | I've done this at conferences for years+, hotel room
               | track is great to catch a talk when you need to recharge
               | your extraversion battery.
               | 
               | +FLOSS conferences having been generally well ahead of
               | mainstream on streaming.
        
             | phkahler wrote:
             | >> People would sit in the room all day, for a talk they
             | wanted hours later.
             | 
             | So people claimed seats early because the rooms were full
             | because people were claiming seats early....
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | Not really. There are just a lot of people very unevenly
               | distributed--although the fact that people are willing to
               | camp out for the talks they want to see (which many
               | others probably want to see as well) probably amplifies
               | the unevenness.
        
             | pjmlp wrote:
             | Yes, similar to my experience, if you want to run out,
             | being close to the door is the only way to actually manage
             | it.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-22 23:02 UTC)