One recurring theme that I noticed during the Maemo Summit was people
apologising for not being developers. A running joke during some of
the talks on the first day was people describing themselves as disabled because
they were not, themselves, developers.
That's just wrong. Users should not be ashamed for being users!
I'm a developer, but I often want to be just a user. I
want software to just work. I wish there was no need for bug trackers. I wish
users did not need to know about source packages or patches. I want to hack
because I want to, not because I need to.
Until that becomes reality (if ever), I prefer the ability to make use of my
developer experience to make things better. Hence my enthusiasm for open
source, bug trackers, source packages and patches.
Nokia kindly sponsored my trip to Maemo Summit in Berlin.
Unexpectedly was asked to give my LinuxTag presentation during
the lightning talks. It did not go very well. Note to self: advance
preparation helps, at least if you know you're going to present something.
Met PyPy folks (Maciej and Holger). Had a mutual "what on Earth are you
doing here?" reaction. Learned a new quirk in the Python language (try: ...
finally: does not set sys.exc_info()).
Impressed by one guy (sorry, but I'm really bad with names)
giving a presentation from the N810, with OpenOffice.org Impress in a Debian
chroot, over a SIS USB2VGA dongle. Apparently he created the whole setup in
half an hour before the actual talk.
No free wireless at the hotel. Paid wifi options include 25 EUR for 24
hours or 30 EUR for 30 days. Can I have just the 29 days for the 5 EUR?
No.
The WiFi at c-base was
fast and almost flawless. Missed half of the talks while checking my email and
blogs. I'm addicted to the Internet. :(
Still able to get up before 6 AM. The US trip has done wonders with my
daily schedule.
