I’m sitting in Shannon airport, overlooking the marsh lands at the edge of the river Shannon, having spent the past few days at SkyCon, in Limerick.
Jono, Stuart and I were here to talk on our various areas of interest, and grabbed the opportunity to record an episode of LugRadio. We interviewed some cool people and the show will be out next Monday, as usual.
My talk was about translating using Launchpad. Ireland is one Europe’s most important centres for localisation and it was astounding just how many people I met that are involved in either software translation or documentation.
On my first day at SkyCon, I met up with Noirin, who works as a technical author and uses Launchpad’s Translations for her work on free software projects. Her enthusiasm for Launchpad was great.
“I love Launchpad,” she told me.
Launchpad’s Translations does exactly what she needs and makes it easy.
Noirin confirmed my belief that we’re on the cusp of a new wave of people in the free software community who aren’t coders but who care about software freedom and can plug many of the skills gaps in the community.
Launchpad works for Noirin because it lets her concentrate on one thing: being a translator. She doesn’t have to care about po files or even know that GetText exists.
We need to find ways that enable non-coders – like me – to get the most from the time they have to spend on software projects. Whether it’s a service/software like Launchpad, or a community like SpreadFirefox, I can’t wait to see how our community is going to make the most of the skills that the rest of the world has to offer.
I’m heading over to Limerick, this weekend, for SkyCon.
It looks as though it’s going to be a really cool event, sharing much the same spirit as LugRadio Live. The programme of speakers is nicely varied, with hardcore FOSS geekery through to talks on the social implications of technology.
I’ll be speaking, on Launchpad, at 11am on Sunday. Jono and Stuart are coming too, so we’ll be covering the whole thing for LugRadio too. Sadly, our bald bald friend can’t make it, so it looks as though we now have a tradition of only three of us attending foreign events.
If you’re in Ireland, or anywhere near an airport that’ll get you to Shannon, scrap your plans for the weekend and get over to Limerick. I’m seriously impressed by how well organised SkyCon has been, from a speaker’s perspective, so I’m sure the actual event’s going to be fantastic.
It’d be great to hook up with anyone that wants to chat about Launchpad and Bazaar. Email/grab me on irc (mrevell in #launchpad) if you want to arrange a particular time.
The LugRadio Live 2007 venue is booked and we’re now organising everything to make it’s the best yet!
The details:
- Dates: 7 and 8 July 2007.
- Venue: Light House Media Centre, Chubb Building, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HT.
- Purpose: social gathering of the open source community, with talks, exhibition, BoFs and beer.
We’re organising speakers, exhibitors and all that right now. If you want to speak or exhibit at LugRadio Live, email show AT lugradio DOT org. Tell us:
- Your name and email address.
- Talk title or exhibition stand purpose.
- Short abstract of your talk or description of how LRL visitors will benefit from your stand.
- Type of talk – main stage or lightning – or type of stand – commercial or community (we want to maintain a balance).
We’re looking for talks and exhibitors that people will still remember in a year’s time. That doesn’t mean you have to demo eye candy whilst doing back-flips – although we’d love to have you back Mirco.
The venue this year is by far and away the best yet. Housed in the original home of Chubb lockmakers, The Light House Media Centre features two cinemas, a cafe, a bar and a massive glass-roofed atrium. There’s also a public art gallery, which you’ll be able to enjoy between talks. Importantly, it is right next to the train station.
So, clear that weekend in your diary. We’ll announce the official hotels very soon!