# DebConf11 program, the FOSS way

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**I'm going to DebConf11** and, once more, I'm thrilled at idea of living for
about 2 weeks immersed in a very very very, very Debian-ic life.

DebConf10, DebConf edition of last year, has been for me
[[one of the most intense DebConfs ever|2010/08/missing_DebConf10/]], it would
be hard to match it. But one of the nice things about DebConf, no matter the
edition, is that it's very "open source" and do-ocratic in they way it is
organized: everyone could contribute into making it even better than the
previous edition.

For one thing, there is no "event organizer" company behind DebConf. Rather,
most of the hard work that goes into making a DebConf possible is done by the
**DebConf team**, a volunteer team formed by a mixture of Debian contributors,
local team members, and DebConf enthusiasts. But while they take care of most
of the work—and hence deserve the thanks of all DebConf attendees for that—they
do not account for *all* that makes a DebConf a great DebConf. For instance,
**having a great program** is up to DebConf participants and the event
proposals they submit: talks, BoF, panel discussions, film projections,
contests, you name it.

Today, in deadline frenzy mode (read on), I've submitted for review the
following events for DebConf11:

* **bits from the DPL**, the traditional "state of the union"-like address
* **Test Driven Development** BoF, about
  [DEP-8](http://dep.debian.net/deps/dep8/) and autopkgtest (co-authored with
  Tom Marble)
* **sprint and money** BoF, to review one year of the Debian
  [sprint program](http://wiki.debian.org/Sprints) and further discuss how we
  use [donations](http://www.debian.org/donations) to the Debian project
* **Debian dErivatives eXchange** BoF, about
  [DEX](http://dex.alioth.debian.org) and other initiatives to improve
  collaboration with Debian
  [derivatives](http://wiki.debian.org/DerivativesFrontDesk)
* **DebConf in Debian** BoF: one year later the "DebConf vs Debian" BoF, what's
  the state of integration of DebConf in Debian? (spoiler: good!) how can we
  improve it further? (co-authored with Gunnar Wolf, Holger Levsen, and Moray
  Allan)
* **DPL wannabe** BoF: inspired by
  [a discussion](http://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2011/03/msg00046.html)
  during this year DPL campaign, an attempt to explain what the "DPL job" is
  about and, who knows, collect "training" material for wannabe DPLs
* **rolling** BoF: let's summarize the
  [monster thread](http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/04/threads.html)
  about Debian rolling for those we lost half-way through and present the
  advancements of
  [more recent and consensual proposals](http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2011/05/msg00275.html)
  (this event is actually not by me: I've just prodded some of the rolling
  proponents on IRC and Raphael Hertzog has kindly agreed to submit and
  organize the BoF)

That's it from me, how about you?<br /> Are you going to DebConf and willing to
attend a conference with a great program? Great, then start submitting a great
event yourself! Anything you are working on in Debian or you are excited about
qualifies. And don't worry if you've never attended DebConf either,
[video archives from past DebConfs](http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/)
can give you more than a feeling of typical DebConf events.

While the first deadline for events submission expires today, submissions will
be open all the way to the end of the conference, but you should better hurry
up as the early birds get the best scheduling slots (and missing the deadline,
you'll miss the round of the review for the main program ... but you still have
a few hours left :)).

Good luck and see you in Banja Luka.

[[!tag lang/english planet-debian debconf debconf11]]