Off to WOS3 in Berlin, Germany

Our Linux Workshop successfully happened yesterday. Ran a bit longer than we expected, but we gave the participants solid value. I am sure they will take days to catch up with everything. Luckily they have our extremely detailed slideshows and tons of documentation (along with the Fedora Core 2 CDs), so they should be OK.

Now I have two days left before I fly out to Berlin, Germany, on Sunday night, to speak at the Wizards of OS conference.

I expect to meet a number of people there whom I have only heard and read about, including Lawrence Lessig, Michael Tieman, Eben Moglen, etc. and of course meet a lot of old friends, like Volker Grassmuck (he being to WOS what I am to Linux Bangalore – if it works, the team gets the credit, if it bombs, it is all his fault ;) , Harald Welte (who, apart from keeping the Internet safe by developing iptables, knows *exactly* how to satisfy my craving for mindless Science Fiction :) , Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (whom I first “met” online via a BBS more than a decade ago, when he was a schoolkid in Delhi, and who is now a renowned Open Source economist), and many others. Samyeer Metrani, the man tasked with the production of the Simputer, will also be presenting at the conference.

This will be my first trip “back home” since my beloved grandmother passed away in November last year. It will be a strange feeling, not having her greet me when I reach. My mother, who lives in Berlin, will of course try and make up for the vaccum, but some things can never be replaced, or forgotten.

When I get back, I hope to announce my next project, which I hope will have long-lasting effects on the Indian (and possibly international) software scene. Information will appear here when it is ready.