A few impressions of DebConf 16 in Cape Town

DebConf16 Group Photo by Jurie Senekal.

DebConf16

Firstly, thanks to everyone who came out and added their own uniqueness and expertise to the pool. The feedback received so far has been very positive and I feel that the few problems we did experience was dealt with very efficiently. Having a DebConf in your hometown is a great experience, consider a bid for hosting a DebConf in your city!

DebConf16 Open Festival (5 August)

The Open Festival (usually Debian Open Day) turned out pretty good. It was a collection of talks, a job fair, and some demos of what can be done with Debian. I particularly liked Hetzner’s stand. I got to show off some 20 year old+ Super Mario skills and they had some fun brain teasers as well. It’s really great to see a job stand that’s so interactive and I think many companies can learn from them.

At #Debconf? Join the #HetznerSA #Supermariobros challenge and stand a chance to win a case of #Leagueofbeers pic.twitter.com/DpkOj6wmZb

— HetznerSA Careers (@HetznerCareers) July 2, 2016

The demo that probably drew the most attention was from my friend Georg who demoed some LulzBot Mini 3D Printers. They really seem to love Debian which is great!

LulzBot Mini #3Dprinters were on the scene at @DebConf Open Festival in South Africa. We’re powered by @debian! pic.twitter.com/AOBS64ZtiJ

— LulzBot (@lulzbot3D) July 13, 2016

DebConf (6 August to 12 August)

If I try to write up all my thoughts and feeling about DC16, I’ll never get this post finished. Instead, here as some tweets from DebConf that other have written:

@o0karen0o delivering today’s #DebConf16 keynote pic.twitter.com/hG1wD5MBhH

— Michael Banck (@mbanck) July 3, 2016

Great to see Sicelo Mhlongo speaking about issues using @debian in Swaziland #debconf16 pic.twitter.com/U6z7HA8zd5

— Neil McGovern (@nmcgovern) July 7, 2016

What happened at #DebConf16 yesterday? Sandstorm Principles talking about the freedom to choose #software #sandbox pic.twitter.com/ltYaw3dAmP

— Obsidian Systems (@obsidianza) July 5, 2016

All @DebConf end with similar feelings: we’re an incredible crowd working together for a incredibly important cause. https://t.co/DYuUWT5eKt

— Didier Raboud (@OdyX_) July 9, 2016

My congratulations to the #DebConf video team. As usual, they are doing an amazing work at #DebConf16
— Marcelo Santana (@mgsantana) July 8, 2016

Day Trip

We had 3 day trips:

• Trip out to sea point and penguin spotting (Dominic Hargreaves has some beautiful photos up on Flickr)
• Hike up Table Mountaing to Kirstenbosch gardens
• Safari tour (I went on this one and you can see some of my photos on Gallery)

Brought to you by

DebConf16 Orga Team.

See you in Montréal!

DebConf17 dates:

• DebCamp:  31 July to 4 August 2017
• DebConf: 6 August to 12 August 2017
• More details on the DebConf Wiki.

The DC17 sponsorship brochure contains a good deal of information, please share it with anyone who might be interested in sponsoring DebConf!

Media

• Official (and some unofficial) photos are on the DebConf gallery site (you can add yours, too)
• All official DebConf videos can be found on the video meeting archives