I've been enjoying the inaugural FOSSY 2023 more than you can know.
To the organisers, volunteers, attendees, sponsors and everyone involved who has embraced the changes necessary for a responsible in-person event - THANK YOU!!!
I wasn't at the opening. I haven't seen a single talk. I haven't visited the stands. I have collected no stickers. I've spoken to no one on the hallway track, nor have I been to any of the social events.
The reason for this is simple: I'm not there.
I'm at home here in France, as I have been since arriving home from my last conference in March 2020 with an unhealthy dose of original-flavour SARS-CoV-2. Damn those pangolins know how to party.
And yet, despite not being there, FOSSY has brought me great joy, because of what it represents. It is the best conference I've never been to, by far.
FOSSY shows that the FOSS community is coming out of denial, and is starting to move forward with one of the more serious issues of our time.
In the FOSS community, when we discover a security vulnerability, instead of pretending the problem doesn't exist, we work together, find a solution, and apply the patch.
In 2020 we discovered a life-threatening vulnerability that affected all in-person FOSS conferences. We even gave it a name (COVID19) and a logo. We immediately took all affected events offline (well, online) while we worked out what to do.
And then, inexplicably, one event after another started coming back up without any mitigations in place. Many don't even acknowledge the existence of COVID on their websites. These conferences are unpatched, and still vulnerable.
We wouldn't do that with a security hole. Even with SPECTRE and MELTDOWN, which required kernel patches that significantly impacted performance, we grumbled a bit, applied the patches, and carried on.
But when it comes to human life, the FOSS community has shown a flagrant disregard for others, running, attending and promoting unsafe events - events which put their participants, their families, friends and communities at risk, while excluding anyone who cares about their long-term health.
This is why FOSSY is so exciting.
I can see my friends and comrades in FOSS having a good time, and showing it is possible to come together and share this event without unnecessarily putting lives at risk, or excluding the vulnerable (see everyone) and Covid-cautious.
Following the #FOSSY tag on the Fediverse and seeing all your masked and smiling faces has been great. I can see the smiles in your eyes. I don't need to see your teeth any more than I need to see your genitals to know you're pleased to be there.
Every picture of a masked face. Every negative COVID test. Every captioned picture from the event makes a difference. Every single one helps to normalize taking these basic precautions. Thank you. You are my tribe.
I hope to see you all there next year.
To organisers of other conferences: have you patched your conference yet?
Do you need help writing a Health and Safety Policy, or need other tips and advice? Then reach out - the FOSS community is here to help with that. Include us and we'll rally round to help. And if you protect us, we'll consider attending, speaking at, promoting and perhaps even volunteering with your event. Just ask.
If you're putting up an event page and you don't have a policy yet - at least put a placeholder there stating your intent, and then get onto it. Don't put your CFP out and start pimping your event before you've done that. You don't know if you can run an event or if a venue is suitable if you haven't done this bit first.
If you think it's too hard, you are not in a position to run an event at this time. Fewer, safer and more inclusive events are the way of the future.
This is what is required now if you want to run an event. Neither I, nor other signatories to the Public Health Pledge, will be attending, promoting or otherwise supporting your events unless you take these basic steps.
Take a look at the growing list of signatories to the Public Health Pledge. Many are former keynote speakers at your events. Wouldn't you like them to return for your next conference?
2023-07-14