Hi all,
LinuxAsia is now morphing into a bigger avatar -- Open Source India Week -- a three city event that will start on a Monday from Bangalore and end on a Friday at Delhi, with a stop at Mumbai on a Wednesday.
How is it different from LinuxAsia as it was? ---------------------------------------------
1. OSIW will be held in three cities: Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi
2. The tech track will, almost entirely be, 'by the techies, for the techies' (and that's precisely the reason for this email: to request you to shape it!)
What is the goal of the event (what sets it apart from other FOSS events in India)? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. OSIW is not focused on specific projects, but on the technologies and concepts behind these.
For example, workshops on technopreneurship through FOSS models, embedded systems, developing applns for mobiles, the future of Web programming (hmm, maybe even more power in the user's hands!), etc. What's more, it is not just about software but spans the entire gamut of IT solutions that qualify as free/open source. For example, technologies like the T-Engine also find a place.
2. Also, OSIW aims to foster entrepreneurship through FOSS models.
If any of you run companies based on FOSS, please come forth and encourage others. Perhaps it would also be a good idea to bring in venture capitalists and get to know their views on FOSS companies, how to pitch to them, etc. It would also be nice to highlight what is hot and what is not in terms of tech domains so that those with start-up dreams know where to invest their energy. Also, I always wonder how some projects like Ubuntu rose to fame much faster than others, maybe others would like to know that too.
3. Companies can also come forth to conduct customised workshops for techies and users.
4. The FOSS India awards have also been launched and will be given away at the event. Entries are invited (http://www.openitis.com/openitis/index1.php)
I am launching a discussion on behalf of the non-profit FOSII (http://fosii.org) to seek the suggestions of the community on workshop themes, preferred topics of discussion/talks, suggestions for the event as a whole, possible help to link up with keynote speakers, etc -- these will be compiled and discussed with the OSIW/LA team.
The wiki is up at http://www.linuxasia.net/twiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome -- look forward to your suggestions. If you have any nits about the past LA episodes to dig up, I am not the person to discuss it with. But if you have any suggestions for the upcoming event, I am all ears. So, even if it is criticism, disguise it as suggestions please!
I request you to please share your thoughts on the Wiki, and please spread this message across the community, so we get more suggestions (already posted on Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Goa GNU/Linux user group mailing lists). Perhaps you can also discuss this at your respective LUG meets and share your collective suggestions with us.
Cheers! Janani http://gjanani.googlepages.com