Spiral Array

FluConf 2026 Proposal

2026-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Blog article about using containerization for improved web privacy and security. Containers isolate processes in the browser, making it more difficult for one web site to spy on your activities with another web site.

The article is mostly about using Firefox' Multi-Account Containers Add-On. It will also introduce Firefox profiles and operating system containerization.

Any article on web browser privacy and security should also mention JavaScript, so this article will as well :). There will be recommendation to consider uBlock Origin and NoScript Add-Ons for controlling what JavaScript is allowed to run in your browser.

This is a proposal for FluConf 2026. Follow @fluconf on the Fediverse.

Webbrowser: Multi-Account Containers and Other Containerization

2026-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Webbrowsers are great. They allow us to get information from lots of sources. They also provide access to apps like games, office suites, and social media ( Hello Fediverse! ). All in one application.

It’s really fantastic. But, like an apartment building, we need to make sure each site we pull up can’t see into the apartment for another site. We also want to keep the Ring doorbells ( cookies, JavaScript, AdTech ) from spying on us as we go from site to site. We also don’t want them to steal our credit card details.

This article was written as a proposal for FluConf 2026. Follow @fluconf on the Fediverse.

Privacy

Browsers are actually pretty good about security. They are complex software and haven’t had many severe security incidents. But, it takes just one to clean out your bank account or post embarassing hedge hog memes on your social media.

Firefox ostensibly wants to protect our privacy. The browser isolates web visits to keep one site from seeing you interact with another site. Sites that include the same spyware network can still allow aggregate 3rd party information sharing across multiple sites.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/

Unlike many other browsers where sensitive user data is routinely collected and stored, Firefox is built on the principle that not even Mozilla should know which websites you visit or what you do there.

Containerization with Firefox Multi-Account Containers

Containerization is one way for you to provide better site isolation and improve your privacy. Think of containerization as different boxes. The boxes isolate the processes making it harder for information to bleed over from one site to another.

Firefox’s Multi-Account Containers (FMAC) AddOn is a first layer for additional isolation. Think about a box that has many compartments in it. Like a craft box that has compartments of various sizes. You might store colored pencils in one compartment, glue sticks in another, paints in others, and also have spaces for specific tools. That works great. It keeps your various objects isolated. If the compartment walls are opaque even a tool with a camera wouldn’t be able to see what’s stored next to it. That’s the type of isolation FMAC is providing.

Effective use of FMAC is sufficient for most cases. That is the main focus of this article. There are further isolation options at the end.

Isolation

To quote Weird Al, "Keep them separated." He was talking about laundry, but it’s a good tag line for web privacy as well.

What do FMAC keep separate?

browser storage
- cookies
- local storage
activity tracking
web site components
- JavaScript
- CSS
- HTML

Examples for Isolation

Isolation examples from a user’s perspective.

If you need to use two different accounts for a web site without FMAC you need to log out of one to log into the other. For instance, say you have a bank account and your dog also has one at the same bank. You can log into your account and pay your dog its monthly treat allowance. Then you log out of your account and log into your dog’s account to verify the allowance arrived.

With FMAC you could setup access to your account in one container and access to your dog’s account in another container. Since they don’t share cookies or other web site assets your account sessions will remain independent.

You could also have different VPNs. If your dog’s bank account is in Switzerland and yours is in Japan you could use a VPN with a European exit point for your dog and a VPN with an endpoint in Japan for your account.

FMAC Icon

The FMAC toolbar icon is four quadrants with a plux in the upper right quadrant and boxes in the remmaining three.

FMAC UI

We can get started.

Then we’re notified we can get started.

Oh, but wait, you can sync.

And an ad for Mozilla VPN.

Now we can see the containers, but we have to acknowledge the Mozilla VPN again.

And we can finally use the containers!!!

Celebrate! It was a journey, but you clicked through enough things to finally get here.

Actually, today Mozilla probably also makes you see something about translations. They’re getting ready to add AI the user base doesn’t want, so there will likely be buttons to click about that as well.

This is all silly and annoying, but once you get through it you can use easily use containers.

Settings

Under Add-On settings you can you can create new containers. You can also manage icon, color and symbol for containers and re-order them in the drop down list.

Manage containers

You can also get to container management from the toolbar.

Other Container Add-Ons

There are other Container Add-Ons that add further functionality. The Temporary Containers Add-On makes it easy to use ephemeral containers for each site you want to isolate.

Navigating Bramble Mazes

There are also Add-Ons that specialize in specific services.

FMAC Permissions

The Add-On entry under Extensions shows you which permissions the Add-On needs.

The version in this example needed:

Access your data for all websites
Access browsing history
Monitor extension usage and manage themes
Access browser tabs

See the version you install for what permissions it needs. Also note there might be optional permissions needed to unlock added functionality such as controlling browser proxy settings.

FMAC Preferences

There’s also a preferences tab where you can configure a few settings options.

Notes

FMAC are disabled in Private Browsing windows
FMAC are disabled when Never Remember History is selected in your privacy settings

Multiple Profiles

FMAC are still running in the same browser, so if there’s a security issue malicious JavaScript might be able to gather information from your different containers.

For most browsing FMAC is sufficient.

But, if there’s something you want to keep secret or isolated such as your bank account or your Pepper & Carrot fan club membership, then you can setup different Firefox profiles.

When you run Firefox under another profile it’s a different process. That’s like having containers in a completely different box.

Containers for your Containers

Yet another level is to run operating system containers or virtual machines. That’s like having multiple offices in a building and now your boxes of containers are in different offices.

Qubes does a lot of work to make it easy to run process containers. Not just for webbrowsing, but for all software you use.

Beware the JavaScript

Finally ( for this article, but there is much beyond what I’m covering here ), sonsider an Add-On to help you control JavaScript. JavaScript allows websites to run code on your computer. It’s like letting every web site install their own robot vacuum in your house. You don’t know what they’re cleaning out. You also don’t know if they’ve vetted the other sites they use to make sure those robot vacuums are safe.

I recommend checking out Raymond Hill’s uBlock Origin and Giorgio Maone’s NoScript Security Suite.

FluConf

Thanks to the organizers of FluConf ( follow @fluconf on the Fediverse ) for again putting on a remote access conference for us.

Thanks also to the contributors who created content for the conference.

Firmware and non-x86

2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Today I’ll start by going to go down a layer to firmware, then wander through some non-x86_64 options.

Those who want a Free Software operating system would generally prefer Free Software all the way down the stack. A computer’s firmware ( often BIOS ) is what actually starts detecting and spinning up the hardware components when booting.

In most computers the firmware is binary and proprietary, but we do have some Free Software options.

Minifree

Libreboot founder Leah resells laptops with upgraded Free Software firmware and debian preinstalled. Minifree sales help fund Leah’s work on Libreboot.

The Libreboot project provides free, open source (libre) boot firmware based on https://coreboot.org/[coreboot], replacing proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware on specific Intel/AMD x86 and ARM based motherboards, including laptop and desktop computers. It initialises the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, peripherals) and starts a bootloader for your operating system. Linux and BSD are well-supported.

This is a great project, a shame all the vendors aren’t using either Coreboot or Libreboot ( and contributing to the projects! ).

FLOSS all the way down! :)

Fediverse: @libreleah@mas.to

Think Penguin

Think Penguin specializes in selling hardware that uses Free Software and as little dependency on proprietary blobs as they can achieve.

They also sell printers and scanners that work with Free Software drivers. If you want a peripheral or parts like a 4 port PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Card that work without binary blobs check out Think Penguin.

MNT Research

MNT Research makes Open Hardware for Open Source Software in Berlin.

The MNT Reform does not have an x86 CPU. For Linux that’s not really a problem. We have the source code and the laptop was designed to work with Linux.

MNT Reform was designed from the ground up to be as open and transparent as possible, supporting a free and open source software from the start. The Reform laptop has no built-in surveillance technologies, cameras, or microphones, so you can be confident that it will never spy on you. Since the MNT Reform is not based on legacy x86 technology, its architecture is much easier to understand than that of conventional laptops. This simplicity also makes for a more pleasant developer experience. MNT Reform's hardware, firmware, software and documentation is open source and invites collaboration and hacking.

MNT Research also makes their own keyboard and USB camera.

They even make an Amiga graphics card that also adds USB to Amigas.

MNT logo is on the super key.

Pine64

Pine64 makes lots of geek toys. For instance, the PINECIL USB powered soldering iron is great. Seriously, if you solder and haven’t checked it out do so now. Don’t wait, especially since it takes a while to get Pine64 stuff in from Hong Kong.

Pine64 makes a 64-bit ARM laptop, the PINEBOOK Pro, but they ask us to reserve them for ARM enthusiasts ( for now ).

This is limited quantity production due to a severe global electronic components shortage.  Please do not order the Pinebook Pro if you’re seeking a substitute for your X86 laptop, or are just curious and you’re ordering it with an intent to file a return/refund return request. These pre-orders are meant for enthusiasts familiar with the Arm architecture and interested in the PineBook Pro for this specific reason. Thank you.

The Pine64 logo is on the super key.

Fediverse: @PINE64@fosstodon.org

Mastodon post for blog post.

System76 and Framework

2024-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

Continuing my Hardware for Linux blog thread about laptops sold for use with Linux. Today I’m covering System76 and Framework.

System76

System76 is an obvious option when considering the US market. My experience is that they have a solid fanbase in the FLOSS community.

Pangolin is System76’s current AMD ( early 2024 ) offering. It has plenty of CPU, 32 GB of RAM and NVMe for storage.

The Pangolin features a physical killswitch for the camera. The switch cuts power to the camera when you want it turned off. This is great privacy feature.

From the Pangolin product page

Camera Privacy

With a physical killswitch that cuts power to the camera, you control how you present yourself to others—and when. Take comfort in an OS that refuses to collect and store user data.

System76 doesn’t have many configuration options, but the Pangolin is sufficient to provide what I want. The site doesn’t describe the keyboard, but an image depicts a ANSI keyboard with US English. It has a Super key. It also has a 10 key on the side.

System76 ships with either Pop!_OS ( their fork of Ubuntu ) or Ubuntu LTS.

System76 also makes their own desktop keyboard that has Free Software firmware. The Launch Configurable Keyboard is available in several models and is made onsite in Colorado. System76 makes desktop cases too. Linux Unplugged has a podcast episode with System76ers, What’s Cookin' at System76.

I’ve never gotten a System76 laptop. A couple times I tried, but they were out of inventory for what I needed at the time. System76 has a good presence in the FLOSS community and I’ve gotten good reviews when talking to people at conferences about their System76 laptops.

Fediverse: @system76@fosstodon.org

Framework

Framework makes customizeable, repairable and upgradable laptops. Want a new model of CPU or screen? Buy the part from the marketplace and follow the guide to install it. Need to replace the hinges, buy new hinges and follow that guide. They include a screwdriver with the laptop to help with future modifications. I still have my ZaReason screwdriver, it’s an inexpensive token towards right to repair.

Framework doesn’t ship with Linux, but says it will support a couple Linux distros. Order a DIY model with no operating system. The DIY model does require some assembly at home, but the majority of the laptop is preassembled at the factory. The DIY models are a couple hundred dollars less expensive than the pre-built models for the same laptop.

The Framework site shows support for Ubuntu LTS and Fedora. There is community support for some other distros.

Framework currently ( early 2024 ) has 2 models on the site: Framework 13 and Framework 16. Only Framework 13 is in stock, it is several months until the Framework 16 will be available again. I’m fine if smaller companies don’t always have everything in stock. Framework sells in batches, so inventory runs out. Can’t buy what’s not avaialble :), but otherwise I’m not worried about it.

Framework laptops have hardware switches to disable camera and microphone for privacy. Again, this is a fantastic privacy feature, especially since the microphone can be disabled as well. The embedded controller firmware is also Open Source.

Framework espouses Right to Repair with accessible part numbers, repair documentations and even CAD templates and reference designs. From the https://frame.work/products/laptop-diy-13-gen-amd[Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) product page:

Every part of the Framework Laptop has a scannable QR code, giving you unprecedented access to documentation, repair guides, replacement and upgrade parts, and insight into design and manufacturing data.

Also from the https://frame.work/products/laptop-diy-13-gen-amd[Framework Laptop 13 DIY Edition (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) product page:

We’ve released documentation, CAD templates, and reference designs, all under open source licenses to make it easy for both hardware companies and individual makers to create new designs.

Framework does a horrible job describing their keyboards on the site. The pictures of the keyboards are not great and there’s no text information about the layout. The picture of the clear ISO keyboard switches to a backlit ANSI keyboard when you mouseover. The Super key is a proprietary logo unless you pay extra for a keyboard with no markings.

The Framework 16 has spacer options where you can get a 10 key numpad or different colored spacers. It also allows programmable displays for either with Open Source firmware. Looks pretty cool :).

Framework doesn’t have built in ports, which is great. In fact, it’s fantastic!

You buy port modules to get what you want. They have USB C, USB A, HDMI, Ethernet, DisplayPort, MicroSD, Audio, and Storage Modules. You need at least one USB C port for power. They will let you buy a laptop with zero USB C modules for charging. I’ll post about how I know another time.

For even more sustainability Framework worked with Cooler Master to create a case for your old main board when you upgrade the laptop. It’s available from Framework.

Here’s an article on some reasons behind Framework configuration options and some hints on how Framework sources their hardware.

Framework does have a reputation for inadequate customer support :(.

There’s a known issue with the first run of Frameworks where bad firmware drains the battery, even when the laptop is fully powered down. Despite acknowledging the problem, they have yet to fully resolve it. Multiple firmware updates that were supposed to fix the issue didn’t. Their current position is that the Framework Laptop is not appropriate for users who won’t be plugging it in at least once a day, though they only say this to affected customers who have contacted support; it’s not mentioned to potential new customers anywhere.

Fediverse: @frameworkcomputer@fosstodon.org

More to come.

Mastodon post for blog post.

Hardware for Linux

2024-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

I’ve been looking at laptops available with Linux pre-installed. Seeking a workaday laptop that’ll travel well and provide sufficient power for my normal workload. Don’t care about gaming as I have a travel Steamdeck. Since it’ll be running Linux the hardware doesn’t really need to be all that powerful. But, I do want to keep using it for years. Being overpowered for today or upgradeable can allow it to hit that longevity.

I definitely want USB C for power and lots of USB C ports for peripherals. A recentish CPU will provide plenty of compute power for my needs. 32 GB of RAM will provide plenty of head room even if some projects get memory hungry. I’m also a tab-hoarder, but convince myself I need memory for the projects :).

Solid state storage would be great. Most everything I’ve been considering has NVMe, which will be super-fast even with a fully-encrypted filesystem. For x86_64 systems I want AMD Ryzen and AMD Radeon combo.

While I’ll be installing Linux on my own, I want a company that supports Linux on their products. A laptop with Linux pre-installed provably works with Linux and should have good support. It’s also important to support the community.

Some companies are gone ( I still miss ZaReason ), but today there are several companies in the marketplace. Let’s walk through some of the options available for the US at the beginning of 2024. Prices seem lower than when I looked 6 months ago. Maybe I was just looking at fancier hardware then :).

This is an expansion on a recent thread on the Fediverse.

I also got some good feedback in a recent presentation about hardware for Linux. Thanks especially to @murph@gardenstate.social who has been rumored to have opinions and definitely has plenty of helpful experience.

Tuxedo Computers

Tuxedo Computers has both AMD and Intel laptops available with Linux pre-installed. Tuxedo Computers recently made a splash with a high powered all AMD gaming laptop. That’s a bit hefty for what I’m wanting to haul around.

The Pulse 14 AMD unit looks right for what I want. Tuxedo Computers laptops tend to be quite configurable. In the case of the Pulse 14 many of the items have only 1 option. Those defaults work for me, so it’s fine for my purposes.

They do have lots of keyboard choices. They use Tux on the Super key, which is fantastic. Lots of language choices, also ANSI and ISO options. They even have DVORAK for Engish and German. If you really want to customize your keyboard layout they let you specify the keycaps for an ISO layout for an extra 80 Euro.

The Pulse 14 ships with Tuxedo OS ( their fork of Ubuntu ) or LTS releases of 3 Ubuntu variants: Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Ubuntu Budgie. Each can be pre-installed as an encrypted drive.

It might seem funny to start with a European company for delivery in the US, but I had great experience with Tuxedo Computers delivering. I purchased a laptop from them for a specific purpose a couple years ago ( during the lockdown ). The site said to allow 2 weeks for build. With that and cross-continent delivery I was expecting at least 6 weeks for it to arrive. They had it to me within a week! Not saying that’s normal for them, but for my one purchase they were way faster than expected. Indeed, it sat in the box for a couple weeks until I had time for the project :).

My Tuxedo Computers laptop came with several extras in the box. Importantly that included a USB thumb drive with fully automated installer (FAI) for help with re-installs. More later.

After configuring the laptop for purchase I sighed and thought about the $100 ( at the time ) delivery charge to the US. Even with that, it was the laptop I wanted. When I checked out the price went down by $20 rather than going up by $100. As I reviewed the purchase page I saw that they’d dropped the price by $120 to remove the VAT. That’s even less expensive than free delivery, they paid me $20 to ship it to me :).

Tuxedo Computers sponsors many conferences in Europe, such as:

Fediverse: @tuxedocomputers@linuxrocks.online

Fediverse Welcome Pod proposal

2023-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

Proposal: Maintain a group of welcome instances for people new to the Fediverse.

It should be a well moderated safe space from the very beginning.

We can point Fediverse new account links to the Welcome Pod. The signup process would choose a random Welcome Pod instance.

The instances could have a welcome committee helping people get started on the Fediverse.

Welcome Pod Features:

consistent new Fediversian experience
instances that specialize in helping new Fedizens
socially welcoming for marginalized groups
positively recommend alt text for images and videos
limited instance size
welcome servers would federate amongst each other for easier discovery
- e.g. friends joining at the same time, but getting different home servers should be able to find each other
multi-lingual moderation staff
multiple services, e.g. PixelFed, Bookwyrm and Mastodon
offers excellent migration documentation and migration assistance
not required, people can still choose other instances
enforced moderation against bigotries ( racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-accessibility )

Welcome Pod Advantages for the Fediverse:

shared moderation rules specific for new Fediversian experience
- for instance, squelch spoiler instances that post about pop media without CRs
- people can follow if they want, but the timeline doesn’t fill with unobscured plot points
welcome committee efforts can concentrate on new accounts
horizontally scale the welcome point via many instances
- if an instance gets too many accounts take it out of rotation
- if accounts migrate and it goes below a threshhold it can go back in rotation
can default to regional or language based pods
coordination point for supporting disparate service interaction, e.g. between PixelFed and Mobilzon
coordination point for migration experience
solicit donations to pay moderators and administrators and to pay for infrastructure
work for a common onboarding experience for the different Fediverse services
- e.g. add CR code for each account to profile

New Fedizens could opt to choose a different server, from the Welcome Pod or elsewhere in the Fediverse. They would also be able to easily move off the pod once they’ve gotten acquainted with the Fediverse.

The Welcome Pod isn’t necessarily the forever home. Indeed, we would encourage eventually leaving the pod for the great, wide diversity in the Fediverse.

Some people will certainly want to stay where they start and problably never move. That should be OK. The Welcome Pod can gently nudge them to try another instance, but it isn’t a requirement.

The Welcome Pod could work with other groups to help new Fedizens find long-term homes in the Fediverse, e.g. instances in NZ, trans-friendly, FLOSS, heavy metal, gardening, hometown, etc.

Entry servers don’t have to be called Welcome Pod. Could be "Fediverse entry point", "Fediverse welcome center", JoinFediverse, or even <InsertYourIdeaHere>. @atomicpoet@firefish.social proposed "Lobby Servers" as a similar idea.

For current on-boarding of new Fedizens there are already resources available.

Fedi.Garden has a curated list of well-moderated servers. Fedi.Directory maintains a list of servers, while instances.social uses a short questionaire to help suggest relevant instances.

Mastodon, PixelFed, WriteFreely, and other projects also maintain server lists.

Note: Welcome servers could have silly ( or non-silly ) themes to seem more attractive to new Fedizens.

The Fediverse isn’t obligated to grow, but we can be more welcoming to those who find us.

Proposed Fediverse Logo fetched from WikiMedia.

SCaLE 20x recap

2023-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

SCaLE 20x was a very compact conference for me this year. Due to obligations I couldn’t arrive until late Friday night. My entire Sunday was dedicated to Open Source Career Day (OSCD). That left me Saturday during the day before my Introduction to Nextcloud talk (video).

I did get time to quickly swing by the expo hall. There I got to say hi to Jill, Ryan and Michael working the Destination Linux podcast’s booth. Jill was also in the LinuxChix LA booth next to DL. I got to chat briefly and separately with Pono and Bradley at the Software Conservancy booth. Jos and Charlotte were both at the Nextcloud booth when I swung by before my talk. I took a picture at the booth and added it to my presentation.

KDE and LOPSA were next to each other again this year, so I got to swing by both. I talked to LOPSA about participating in OSCD next year and also for the SeaGL Career Expo in November. There were several vendors I wanted to visit, but at most got to wave hi to some friends as I zoomed by.

Most of Saturday during the day was in the Next Generation track. We started with a kid talking about how to create and post videos, so other people can follow what you’re doing. For some reason he mostly posts about video games. Next we went over to the Next Gen play room, which had a NASA station, a 3D printer, some drones and another half dozen stations.

Saturday night was the Careers BoF where we had Speed Pitches. It was an opportunity to practice the interview response to "Tell us about yourself." or "Why do you want to work here?".

After the BoF I spent the rest of the evening at the game night. This was the first year I got to really hang out there. We enjoyed one of the escape rooms and lots of the games that were setup.

Sunday I spent the entire day giving career counseling sessions for OSCD. I didn’t get a chance to watch any of our talks. I’m looking forward to catching up on them.

OSCD topics were:

I want to thank Nish for volunteering time to take headshots for us this year! That was a new feature for SCaLE and we got some great photos. The headshots looked like they were really popular.

Thanks also to RaiseMe and SCaLE for working with the OSCD committee to put on a great career event. Thanks to OpenSource.com for publishing my article on OSCD to help us promote the event.

For Open Source Career Day we did not have enough counsellors. That’s my fault, I needed to do better recruiting. We had a couple spontaneous volunteers help out. Thanks to all our volunteer counselors, they’re integral and I know from personal experience that they provide great insight. Thanks also to everyone who signed up for counselling sessions, you’re why we were there.

Unfortunately I got rather sick while travelling. It wasn’t COVID, but knocked me out for a bit. Still recovering, but back to being somewhat functional and catching up on lots of post-event obligations.

That includes getting back to preparing for SeaGL in November. I’m co-chairing the SeaGL finance committee for this year’s hybrid conference. We are working to have first class experience for both in person (Seattle) and online participants. I’m looking forward to hosting a hybrid Career Expo this year after learning from my experience with SCaLE’s OSCD.

Please let me know if you’d like to sponsor SeaGL this year :).

Our program team got SeaGL’s CfP open in time for SCaLE.

SCaLE@Mastodon SeaGL@Mastodon SeaGL@PixelFed

Open Source Career Day at SCaLE 20x

2023-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

Open Source Career Day (OSCD) returns for SCaLE 20x on Sunday, March 12th, 2023. SCaLE, in turn, is returning to Pasadena, CA, as before the pandemic.

For many years we had a career and jobs BoF at SCaLE. In 2020 RaiseMe sponsored our first Open Source Career Day. That was just as the pandemic was starting.

This year SCaLE, the career BoF team and RaiseMe are working together again to bring a full day of career activities in addition to an evening BoF session. Thanks to SCaLE for hosting an Open Source Careers track, encouraging us and giving us the resources to run it.

OSCD has a day of talks on Sunday.

At the same time, OSCD also offers career consulting sessions. Participants can choose resume review, recareering assistance or career guidance for each of their 30 minute consulting sessions. Signups are open now through SCaLE 20x. When signing up, please check all the times you can be available.

For presentations, we start the day with a session on recareering and resume writing. Bryna's bringing us a follow on to a success story bridging SCaLE 18x to this year. Next Miguel leads a panel on diversity successes in FLOSS projects and how we can learn from them for future successes in FLOSS and the workplace.

After lunch Fatima is in from Canada to give us excellent strategies for early career success. We’ll wrap up the presentations with a panel on hiring manager insights discussing what hiring managers are looking for in job applicants and advice on how to advance your career.

OSCD wraps up before SCaLE 20x’s closing keynote from Ken Thompson.

The current plan ( we’re still working out details ) is to host Speed Pitches for the Career BoF. For speed pitches we’ll pair people up and give each 60 seconds to practice their "Tell us about you." prompt for interviews. Then we’ll change partners and go again.

Most of us don’t often give a quick summary of who we are tailored for an interview. Some of us might even need to tailor different pitches, depending on the job we’re after. The Speed Pitches gives everyone a chance to practice their pitches multiple times during the BoF.

The BoF should be at 19:00 Saturday night ( we’re still waiting on confirmation from the BoF committee ).

There’s still time to signup if you’d like to host your own BoF.

My next scheduled career events will be Career Nights before Stammtisch and SeaGL's Career Expo in November.

Thanks to Lori and Bryna for co-chairing a great OSCD event at SCaLE 18x. I hope we meet your standards this year.

Thanks to my co-chair, Garick, and the rest of the SCaLE 20x OSCD organizers. Thanks for jumping in to help build a great event! It’s a lot of work, but I think we’re providing a great resource for the community.

SCaLE @ Mastodon / SeaGL @ Mastodon / FLOSS Stammtisch @ Mastodon

Nextcloud for SCaLE 20x

2023-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

SCaLE 20x accepted my Nextcloud talk for the March conference in Pasadena, California - Introduction to Nextcloud: Your data, your cloud.

Happy to be back in Pasadena this year. It will be interesting to see which of my favorite SCaLE restaurants survived the pandemic.

Enjoy the conference via streaming or come join us from March 9th through the 12th at the Pasadena Convention Center.

If you use streaming please find ways to give us shoutouts and other positive feedback so people can see the benefit of a hybrid event. Online events the last few years have been hard for conference organizers. We don’t get to see everyone and get feedback from the on site crowd. Please help us promote and do some live-tooting when you’re watching talks.

I will be masking while at SCaLE 20x.

@murph tells me his #Fediverse was accepted as well, A brief introduction to Mastodon and the Fediverse. Looking forward to that. He’ll be talking about much more of the Fediverse than just Mastodon.

This year I’m co-chairing the Open Source Career Day ( OSCD ). We’re still working on the schedule for the Sunday event. Thus far we’re planning talks, clinics and career counseling. We also have a surprise if we can get those specific volunteers confirmed.

We’re still looking for hiring managers and other volunteers to help with counseling sessions ( resume reviews, career counseling ) and other aspects of OSCD. Let me know on the Fediverse ( Mastodon ) or in IRC ( LuftHans in #SCaLE, #SeaGL and #PLUGaz ) if you’d like to help.

I also usually help run the evening BoFs. We haven’t started planning them yet, but the BoFs should be back for Friday and Saturday evenings. The jobs board should also be back, look for it in the lobby on the way to the expo floor.

The SCaLE 20x covid policy is mostly "meh" :(. As I said, I will be masking again. Perhaps I’ll use it as an excuse to buy more Pepper and Carrot masks to supplement my geek mask collection. I also have some travel ionic air purifiers for the hotel room. Stay safe, take care of yourself and those around you.

@SCaLE on Mastodon

SCaLE start and SeaGL continuing

2022-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

Just got asked to help with the SCaLE career track for the conference in March. I’m gathering up volunteers and reviewing talk proposals this weekend.

SCaLE will be in person in Pasadena. The in person part leaves out one of my friends who often helps with SCaLE. My friend won’t participate in or help in person events. I respect and understand their decision. If they’re fine with hybrid later in the year we’ll be talking about SeaGL when that comes around again on the guitar.

The current plan for SCaLE is to have talks for the career track and also have a career counseling event. With others, I have been running a jobs BoFs at SCaLE for years. We started with employment related networking, a meet and greet for candidates and hiring managers. Then we morphed into resume reviews in addition to the networking. We would fill a large BoF room on a Friday night and have resume reviews for a couple hours.

It’s amazing how much experience some of those new to the industry have. Most of them could really use some help on the resume. Resume writing is difficult, so that’s not a surprise.

We also get the opportunity to help those who are re-careering. They have experience in one industry and are now focusing on tech. They have job history and we can help them find those bits that show experience for the new career.

For SCaLE 2020, as the pandemic was starting, RaiseMe came in to add the career track and had career counseling sessions as well. Lori, famous at SCaLE for game night and more, was my contact to the RaiseMe events.

During the pandemic I got the opportunity to join RaiseMe to help provide career counseling for a few Infosec conferences. We added it for SeaGL last year and I expanded what I had been doing for the Free Software Stammtisch career nights. Working with RaiseMe volunteers again ( and other vols ), we want to have career counseling again in March. I hope we can make that a hybrid event.

A lot of work to get all that going. Lots of volunteer wrangling as well, so let me know if you’d like to help.

For SeaGL I chair the finance committee. We’re still closing out the year. I have some more sponsor thank yous to send out this week. We also need to work through some more volunteer reimbursements.

Then, for January and February, I need lead creation of the 2023 sponsorship prospectus and our base budget. We’re going back to in person for 2023, but keeping online options as well. We really want a hybrid event. The in person portion is going to raise our costs, so sponsorships will be key for us this year.

I’ve already heard from one potential sponsor that the company is cutting back on sponsorships due to the state of the economy. It’s going to be a challenging year, but I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again. I’m also looking forward to some amazing chai when I get to visit Seattle.

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