(Sorry about the late notice. This CFP for GNUnify is open until Wednesday Feb 1st, so please hurry and register as a speaker.)
GNUnify, organized by Pune Linux Users Group (PLUG) and SICSR is one of the biggest free and open source conferences in India. It will be held on 10th and 11th Feb in Pune and will feature speakers and attendees from all over the world (yes, it regularly gets international visitors).
This year, the theme is “Emerging and Next Generation Technologies in the World of FOSS,” and they are looking for speakers in these tracks/categories:
Mobile Computing
Cloud Computing
System Programming
Emerging Languages
Sys Admin
Security
Web Technologies
To register as a speaker, go to the Speaker Registration Page and follow the directions there. All you need to do is provide a short abstract of what you would like to speak about. This, you should be able to do, in spite of the fact that PuneTech has provided you with just 1 day notice 🙂
Benefits of being a speaker at GNUnify:
Accomodation and reimbursement of travel expenses for speakers from out of Pune
Get established as an expert in your area of work
Interact with some of the most passionate students and professionals in open source
Give back to the community that has given you so much.
We are very pleased to invite you to FUDCON’11 (Fedora Users and Developers Conference) to be hosted in CoEP from 4th (Fri) to 6th (Sun) of Nov 2011. FUDCON is one of the world’s biggest Free and Open Source (FOSS) conferences. Fedora itself is one of the most popular GNU/Linux distributions. The event is being organized by the Fedora Community, sponsored by and in association with Dept. of Computer Engg and IT, CoEP and Red Hat, Inc. The event is open, and free for all to attend ! Please visit the FUDCon website for details.
FUDCON is the meeting place for Fedora developers, but in line with all FOSS conferences, the talks are always targeted to educate people on various FOSS technologies. So it is a unique opportunity for all the students to get exposed to a variety of state of the art technologies in FOSS domain. The bigger opportunity lies in getting a chance to meet and chat with some of the prolific programmers from all around the world. Here is the list of talks
Speakers and delegates will be visiting from many parts of the world for FUDCON. Please note that the sessions will be held in Barcamp style which is quite unconventional and different from the way regular conferences are conducted. The style is the one FOSS community works with. To get a better idea of the talks, please visit the FUDCon website and get yourself registered (Free of course!)
A Fedora Activity Day (FAD) is scheduled for Saturday, September
24, 2011, 1000 IST onwards at Red Hat office in Pune. The
objective of this FAD is to get any beginner, particularly students,
introduced to Open Source and Linux in general,
and involved in Fedora in particular, in preparation of FUDCon, Pune.
Agenda
Since this is an unconference, the final agenda will not be known until the day of the event, but you can see the agenda for the list of talks already registered. These include:
Introduction to Python
Introduction to Django
Communication Guidelines (on how to use IRC, wiki, mailing lists, etc)
Introduction to virtualization in Fedora
Introduction to Git – How to manage your love letters using Git
and a bunch of other talks.
Other details
Entry is to this free, but, there is limited seating capacity (maximum 70
people). If you are interested in giving a talk, please include your
name and talk details to the agenda. It is highly recommended that you
bring your laptops (with Fedora) to the event.
In addition to the sessions listed in the wiki, if you would like any
specific topic to be addressed, please contact Shakthi Kannan or
Rahul Sundaram.
The second FAD will be held in COEP on Saturday October 8, 2011.
Fees and Registration
The event will be on Saturday, 24 September, from 10am onwards at Red Hat Software, Tower X, Level-1, Cybercity, Magarpatta City, Hadapsar.
This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register by adding your name to the wiki here. You will be required to bring atleast one photo ID (driving license/voter ID/PAN card) to enter the premises.
Mini DebConf is a developer conference for those interested in Debian Linux (which is also the Linux Distribution on which Ubuntu is based). The purpose of the conference is:
Introduce the Debian Project to new users and potential contributors.
Introduce some of the technologies that Debian uses which could benefit new contributors.
Hands on sessions to learn debian tools and processes.
Start working on projects with the help of experienced developers.
Sharing Skills and discussing how the overall FOSS movement be taken forward.
Mini DebConf conferences are being held across cities in India. This weekend it is coming to Pune. MiniDebConf Pune is scheduled to start on 13th August 2011 at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Bibwewadi, Pune.
On 13th there will be a series of talks and discussions introducing Debian. Second day will have hands on workshop sessions to teach creating debian packages. Third day will be a practical session of things they have learned on previous days. There will be cricket sessions in the evening. There is also a gpg key signing party on third day.
Sessions start at 10 am and last till 5pm every day. Complete schedule is available from event website
Chamba Mukt Cinema Project and Diaspora Decentralized Social Networking Project will have their booths at the conference venue. Debian, Chamba and Diaspora T Shirts will be available for purchase at the venue.
Organizers
VALU (VIT Active Linux Users)
COFSUG (COEP Free Software Users Group)
Please check http://wiki.debian.org/DebianIndia/MiniDebConf2011/FAQ if you you have any questions, or send a mail to minidebconf.india@gmail.com.
About Debian
The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of volunteers from all over the world work together to create and maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal operating system.
Fees and Registration
This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here
GNUnify is one of the top international free/open source software conferences in India. Click on the logo to see all PuneTech articles about GNUnify
Every year since 2003, Pune has been hosting GNUnify, a major open source conference, organized by the Pune Linux Users Group and SICSR (Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research). It attracts a number of students and professionals, not just from all over India, but also other parts of the world.
It’s a two day program with a number of different tracks: 1-hour presentations on tech topics, 2-3 hour workshops, and “birds of a feather” discussion groups.
They are looking for speakers, and you should submit a talk proposal if you have used open source software work in one of these areas:
Education
Scientic Computing
Software Development
Web Technoligies
System Programming
Embedded / Mobile Applications
System Administration
Why take the effort?
Because, it helps you, and it the community; because more proposals means a higher quality conference. You could choose to do a presentation that is basic, targeted towards beginners and students, to initiate them into the world of open source, or if you have expertise in a specific field or FOSS software package, you can target your presentation to other professionals in the field who would like to learn from your experiences.
Submit a proposal. It takes very little effort right now. All you need to do is submit a one-paragraph abstract of what you’re going to talk about. The conference is on 11th and 12th Feb, in Pune, giving you enough time to prepare.
Why bother?
This PuneTech’s standard exhortation as to why PuneTech readers should submit proposals for such CFPs:
GNUnify is a good conference.
If you’re accepted as a speaker, you get travel costs (upto Rs 5000, based on actuals) and accomodation. (All those reading PuneTech from outside Pune, grab this chance to visit the most happening tech community in India.)
Become famous: being a speaker at a national conference is good for visibility, and all engineers should strive for visibility. It’s very important. Almost as important as being a good programmer. (Maybe more?)
Help out a good Pune initiative. More submissions will improve the quality of the conference, and having a high quality conference in Pune improves the overall stature of Pune as an emerging IT powerhouse.
About an year ago, we had reported that Pune based KQInfoTech is working on porting Sun’s ZFS file system to linux. They have now announced that a “Technology Preview” of the port is now complete, and the ported ZFS for Linux is now available in beta. They are looking for interested folks to try out the beta and help them with finding bugs and other issues.
KQInfoTech is a Pune company that's trying to combine mentorship programmes for technology students, along with technology services to the industry and open source projects. Click on the logo to see other PuneTech articles on KQInfoTech's various initiatives.
Pune-based KQInfoTech is an organization started by Anurag Agarwal and Anand Mitra, both of whom chucked high-paying jobs in the industry because they felt that there was a desperate need to work on the quality of students that is being churned out by our colleges. For the 2 years or so, they have been trying various experiements in education, at the engineering college level. All their experiments are based on one basic premise: students’ ability to pay should not be a deterrent – in other words, the offerings should be free for the students; KQInfoTech focuses on finding alternative ways to pay for the costs of running the course. As a part of this initiative, they provide services to industry, and take on open source projects, and the students in their mentorship program actually do the work under their guidance.
What is ZFS?
ZFS – the Zettabyte File System – is an enormous advance in capability on existing file systems. It provides greater space for files, hugely improved administration and greatly improved data security. Wikipedia has this to say:
ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include support for high storage capacities, integration of the concepts of filesystem and volume management, snapshots and copy-on-write clones, continuous integrity checking and automatic repair, RAID-Z and native NFSv4 ACLs.
Why ZFS on Linux by KQInfotech?
ZFS is arguably one of the best file-systems available today, and Linux is one of the most widely used operating systems for servers by new startups. So, having ZFS available on Linux would be great. And, With many years of experience in Veritas building VxFS, another one of best file-systems in the world, the founders of KQInfoTech do have the technical background to be able to do a good job of this.
This port of ZFS is an extension to the port of DMU layer by Brian Behlendorf. We have added the missing ZPL layer to Brian’s port. With this addition it becomes possible to mount the zfs filesystem on linux and leverage ZFS’s features on linux.
What next?
If you’re interested in participating in the beta and helping out, or you’re one of the people whose business would really be helped by having ZFS available on Linux, apply for the beta, or get in touch with KQInfoTech: zfs-query@kqinfotech.com.
(This weekend, Pune will play host to Mini DebConf, a two-day conference targeting students and developers interested in developing for the Debian GNU/Linux Operating system. Debian is one of the most popular distributions of the Linux operating system and free software packages, and is also the base upon with the UbuntuLinux distributions are based. Debian is known for relatively strict adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies as well as for using collaborative software development and testing processes.
This article about Mini DebConf is written by Amit Karpe for his blog, and is reproduced here with permission (with a few minor modifications))
Image via Wikipedia. Click on the logo to see more PuneTech articles about Linux.
MiniDebConf India 2010 will be held in College of Engineering Pune on August 7th and 8th, 2010!
Mini DebConf India 2010 is organized by DebianIndia in association with Uncode(Lokayat Free Software Initiative), CoFSUG(COEP Free Software user Group), FSUGP(Free Software User Group of PICT) and PLUG(Pune Linux User Group).
This is great opportunity where we can meet contributors who actually contribute to the Debian Project. You will also get knowledge about Debian and Ubuntu (which is derived from Debain). You will find a great community where students are really leading activities. You will find next generation leaders, innovators, coders, hackers discussing ideas & exciting them.
In one of the first sessions, Praveen will introduce the audience to the concept of Debian as a Universal Operating System. Later, Kartik & team will conduct a workshop where you will get hands on Debian Developer toolbox. And I think the most important workshop will be Debian Packaging by Kartik & team where you can learn how to create .deb packages, which commands to use, which processes to follow. So you can create your own packages, or you can make changes in existing packages. This workshop is highly recommended for those who want to start contributing to Debian or Ubuntu Projects.
On Sunday we have a talk on Debian Edu by Vikram Vincent in which he is going to share his experience of helping children learn with Debian Edu. There will be open discussion on Collaboration between Debian, Ubuntu and BOSS. For those who don’t know what is BOSS – BOSS is Bharat Operating System Solutions a Linux distribution developed in India by NRCFOSS (National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software). Also there will be an open discussion on Debian Community Activities and future plans. I hope that students will come forward to ask questions as well as to seek help in organizing college level meetings & activities.
After that there will be a more hands on session building on top of the workshops on Saturday. There will be a Bug Squashing Party and Packaging Sessions.
Overall the sessions/workshop look awesome. No one can afford to miss this event. Specially those who are interested in a career in Free & Open Source Technologies, systems or networking administration.
Amit Karpe is a Pune-based software engineer and blogger who is active in Free and Open Source Software, Pune Linux Users Group, Ubuntu, Android, ARM, Beagle Board, Hawk Board, Google, Web-2.0, CMS, Drupal, Seva Sahayog, IT Milan, Marathi, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He blogs at http://amitkarpe.com, and you can follow him on twitter as @amitkarpe.
GNUnify is one of the top international free/open source software conferences in India. Click on the logo to see all PuneTech articles about GNUnifyAnybody who has any interest in technology should try to attend. It is free, and open for anybody to attend. All you need to do is register here, and you are read to attend two days full of technology talks, and to meet people who are most passionate about technology. Can you think of a better way to spend a Friday / Saturday?
There are a bunch of workshops you can attend that will teach you something, like designing with Inkscape, or web applications using python+pylons. There are talks on everything from couchdb, embedded linux using beagle board, closure, future of the web as a platform by the Mozilla team, CakePHP, Android, and much more.
The GNUnify blog is also quite active, and has been publishing short interviews with some of the speakers. See for example:
GNUnify symbolizes the philosophy behind Free/Open Source Software (FOSS). It makes an effort to unify and strengthen the FOSS movement. Initiated in the year 2003, GNUnify has soared to become an international convergence of open minds. It brings together some of the world’s leading speakers to share their knowledge and experience, with students and developers.
It has 1-hour presentations on tech topics, 2-3 hour workshops, installfests, and “birds of a feather” discussion groups.
The CFP (i.e., call for papers, i.e., the call for presentation proposals) is currently open, and if you’ve done any work in any open source technology, you should consider submitting a presentation proposal. It helps the community – because more presentation proposals means that the organizers get a larger pool to select from, and can thus put on a higher quality conference. You could choose to do a presentation that is basic, targeted towards beginners and students, to initiate them into the world of open source, or if you have expertise in a specific field or FOSS software package, you can target your presentation to other professionals in the field who would like to learn from your experiences.
Submit a proposal. It takes very little effort right now. All you need to do is submit a one-paragraph abstract of what you’re going to talk about. The conference is on 19th and 20th Feb, in Pune, giving you enough time to prepare.
Why bother?
This PuneTech’s standard exhortation as to why PuneTech readers should submit proposals for such CFPs. We first used it for the CFP of the IndicThreads conference on Software Quality, and are repeating it here with minor changes:
GNUnify is a good conference.
If you’re accepted as a speaker, you get travel costs (upto Rs 5000, based on actuals) and accomodation. (All those reading PuneTech from outside Pune, grab this chance to visit the most happening tech community in India.)
Become famous: being a speaker at a national conference is good for visibility, and all engineers should strive for visibility. It’s very important. Almost as important as being a good programmer. (Maybe more?)
Help out a good Pune initiative. More submissions will improve the quality of the conference, and having a high quality conference in Pune improves the overall stature of Pune as an emerging IT powerhouse.
For the last 2 years, KQInfoTech has been trying various experiments in trying to take the students that are output from our engineering colleges and then actually provide them with the education that the college should have been doing, and the Mentor India Internship in System Programming is one such initiative. They take on a batch of about 15 to 20 students and teach them system programming fundamentals with a very hands-on practical approach. While the students are learning, they are expected to work on actual Industry projects that KQInfoTech gets from other companies based on the reputation and vast experience of KQInfoTech’s founders (and now a track record of KQInfoTech that is slowly being built). At the end of this 1-year program, students leave with a lot of real life experience, and most of them are either absorbed by KQInfoTech or find jobs in industry at the end of the program.
Click on this icon to see all PuneTech articles related to tech education in Pune
The best part of this is that the students actually get paid a stipend during this period. It is unfortunate that there exist companies in Pune today which actually charge students for the internship that the students do with them. This practice is, in my opinion, despicable. But the desperation of students is such that in many cases, they end up paying. In such a scenario, even an unpaid internship starts looking attractive to students. In this context, the fact that KQInfoTech is doing a 20-person classroom style training-cum-work internship with stipends is very commendable.
This is what we wrote about KQInfoTech in one of our previous articles about them:
Pune-based KQInfoTech is an organization started by Anurag Agarwal and Anand Mitra, both of whom chucked high-paying jobs in the industry because they felt that there was a desperate need to work on the quality of students that is being churned out by our colleges. For the 2 years or so, they have been trying various experiements in education, at the engineering college level. All their experiments are based on one basic premise: students’ ability to pay should not be a deterrent – in other words, the offerings should be free for the students; KQInfoTech focuses on finding alternative ways to pay for the costs of running the course.
In January, they are starting their 4th batch, and looking for students to join this batch. The entrance exam is on 9th and 10th January. If you’re a student interested in making a career in systems programming, you definitely need to appear. For more details see the KQInfoTech website.
