[PLUG] Why I won't be speaking at FOSSsumMIT 2104

[Sriram Narayanan]

Long timer and lurker, here.


On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 11:57 PM, ThinRhino <thinrhino at gmail.com> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> I was scheduled to give a talk at FOSSsumMIT 2104, but I was asked to use
> a Open
> Source License compliant operating system to give the talk. I have blogged
> about
> it in detail here -> http://adityalaghate.in/no-to-symbolism.html
>
> The reason, I invoke this thread / discussion is that this happened to me
> at two
> conferences and the common denominator was PLUG. I used be an active
> member of
> the list in it's heydays.
>
> I have used linux as my primary operating system ever since Redhat 6
> (prior to
> it being split into Fedora & RHEL). Used openSuse, debian & ubuntu over the
> years. About 3 years back I moved to using a macbook pro, running OS X.
> This is
> my primary OS. I regularly work on projects, which utilise Linux based
> servers,
> so even today, I spent a good amount of time working with Linux.
>
> I am not a nerd or nor a geek, but somebody, who loves to play &
> experiment with
> technology.  Having spent a good amount of my time (close to 10-12 years)
> with
> Linux on various hardwares I am fully aware of the challenges the GNU/Linux
> ecosystem can throw at you. I used to love solving those challenges
> earlier. Now
> it just frustrates me.
>
> Today, I prefer to work with a system that 'just works' & I can
> concentrate on
> utilising Open Source Licensed tool chains and applications to do my work.
>
> I have not been able to understand the insistence by members of PLUG to
> use open
> source licensed OS for my presentation. My talk was titled, 'Data Analysis
> using
> Python & Pandas'.
>
> If PLUG can make clear of it's stand it will be great.
>
>
Many years ago, a colleague and I both had separate talks at GNUnify '07.
My colleague was presenting on project management techniques that he uses
to bring down the product development time - something that is important to
many organizations. I had something on testing practices. We were both
asked to present our talks using an open source distro, and in an open
source format.

I explained to the organizers that his talk was of importance from a
project management perspective, while mine included cross browser testing
(including Windows based browsers such as IE). Since I had a good rapport
with the organizers, I was able to engage them in a conversation.

IMO, various organizers need to understand that not everyone uses Linux or
other open source distros the way they do. For e.g., I know several FreeBSD
and Illumos based developers who have standardized on Macs running OSX, and
who run their server/router/switch operating systems on desktop
virtualization tools. They need to use communication and collaborations
tools that work best for their customers, and indeed, which customers
sometimes mandate. Device Drivers are not available or not good/stable
enough for many laptops provided by Corporate IT teams. Not everyone needs
to use an open source distro for their day to day needs. Non-Linux
platforms such as Illumos, FreeBSD and OSX have superior debugging tooling
which certain developers absolutely need, but these may not run on
conventional laptops.

It would be worthwhile to consider this an opportunity to influence the
organizers and help then see additional perspectives :)

-- Ram