MiniDebConf Cambridge - 26th November 2023 - Afternoon sessions

That's all folks ...

Sadly, nothing too much to report.

I delivered a very quick three slides lightning talk on Accessibility, WCAG [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines] version 2.2 and a request for Debian to do better

WCAG 2.2:  WCAG 2.2 Abstract

Debian-accessibility mailing list link: debian-accessibility

I watched the other lightning talks but then left at 1500 - missing three good talks - to drive home at least partly in daylight.

A great four days - the chance to put some names to faces and to recharge in Debian spaces.

Thanks to all involved and especially ...

Thanks to Cambridge Debian folk for helping arrange evening meals, lifts and so on and especially to those who also happen be ARM employees who were badging us in and out through the four days

Thanks to those who staffed Front Desk on both days and, especially, also to the ARM security guards who let us into site at 0745 on all four days and to Mark who did the weekend shift inside the building for Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks to ARM for  excellent facilities, food, coffee, hosting us and coffee, to Codethink for sponsoring - and a lecture from Sudip and some interesting hardware - and Pexip for Pexip sponsorship (and employee attendance). 

Here's to the next opportunity, whenever that may be.

Back at ARM for MiniDebConf day 2 - Morning sessions 26th November 2023

 Quick recap of slides and safety information for the day from Steve McIntyre

Now into the Release Team questions following a release team overview.

A roomful of people all asking questions which are focused and provoke more questions - how unlike a Debian session :)

May just have talked myself into giving a lightning talk this afternoon :)

Now about to have a talk about from Sudip about OpenQA, kernel testing and automation

Afternoon talks - MiniDebConf ARM Cambridge - Day 1

A great talk on SteamOS progress to effective boot loaders for atomic OS updates.

How to produce something that will allow instant updates and instant fallbacks when updating a whole OS image - lots of explanation - and it's good when three or four people who are directly interested in problems and solutions round, for example, Secure Boot are in the room.

Jessica Clarke on CHERI, Morello and security protections in hardware, software and programming hardware which has verifiable pointers and routines. A couple of flourishes which had the room breaking out in applause.

Roberto Sanchez and Santiago Rincon on suggestions for LTS and ways forward. The presentation very clearly set out what LTS is, is not, and maybe should be.

Last presentation of the day was from Ian Jackson on a potential change to git based working and tagging. 

Then lots of chasing around to get people out of the building. Thanks very much to the Arm personnel, especially the security staff who have been helpful throughout the day with getting us all in and out

Thanks to all involved with Arm, Codethink and Pexip for hosting and sponsorship without which this would not have been possible.

 

Lightning talks - MiniDebConf ARM Cambridge - Day 1

 A quick one slide presentation from Helmut on how to use Debian without sudo - Sudo Apt Purge Sudo

A presentation on upcoming Ph.D research on Digital Obsolescence - from Eda

Antarctic and Arctic research from Carlos Pina i Estany 

* Amazing * what you can get into three well chosen slides.

Ten minutes until the afternoon's talks

Laptop with ARM, mobile phone BoF - MiniDebConf Cambridge day 1

 So following Emanuele's talk on a Lenovo X13s, we're now at the Debian on Mobile BoF (Birds of a feather) discussion session from Arnaud Ferraris

Discussion and questions on how best to support many variants of mobile phones: the short answer seems to be "it's still *hard* - too many devices around to add individual tweaks for every phone and manufacturer.

One thing that may not have been audible in the video soundtrack - lots of laughter in the room prompted as someone's device said, audibly "You are not allowed to do that without unlocking your device"

Upstream and downstream packages for hardware enablement are also hard: basic support is sometimes easy but that might even include non-support for charging, for example.

Much discussion around the numbers of kernels and kernel image proliferation there could be. Debian tends to prefer *one* way of doing things with kernels.

Abstracting hardware is the hardest thing but leads to huge kernels - there's no easy trade-off. Simple/feasible in multiple end user devices/supportable  - pick one ☺

ARM lecture theatre - MiniDebConf Cambridge day 1

And we're here - a couple of lectures in. Welcome from one Steve, deep internals of ARM from another Steve. A room filling with people - and now a lecture I really need to listen to on a machine I'd like to own.

 As ever, the hallway track is interesting - and you find people who know you from IRC or mailing lists. 

Four screens and a lecture theatre layout. Here we go.

Video team doing a great job, as ever - and our brand new talkmeister is doing a sterling job. 

Mini-DebCamp ARM Cambridge day 2

 Another really good day at ARM. Still lots of coffee and good food - supplemented by a cooked breakfast if you were early enough :)

Lots of small groups of people working earnestly in the main lecture theatre and a couple of meeting rooms and the soft seating area: various folk arriving  ready for tomorrow. Video team setting up in the afternoon and running up servers and cabling - all ready for a full schedule tomorrow and Sunday.

Many thanks to our sponsors - and especially the helpful staff at ARM who were helping us in and out, sorting out meeting rooms and generally coping with a Debian invasion. More people tomorrow for the weekend.