Lars Wirzenius: July, 2007
Contents
- July 11: Oxford Beer Trolls and virtual beer
- July 05: 3re Free Thursday a week from now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ES CEE!
- July 01: Social Contract 10 years distributed pancake party
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Linux: Oxford Beer Trolls and virtual beer
Back in the early 1990s, the term "virtual beer" was fairly common in the Linux circles. I still see it used sometimes. The first time it was used, for Linux, as far as I know, was when two guys in England decided they wanted to buy Linus some beers as a "thank you" for writing Linux. Since Linus wasn't traveling much (yet), and they didn't want to come all the way to Finland, they asked me if I would act as a proxy. They'd send me a check, I'd cash it in, and buy Linus beer. I have lost the original e-mail, it seems, but while uncluttering my home I ran into the letter they sent with the check.
I scanned in the letter. I have now no memory of who Andrew and Jon are, but if they see this, I hope they'll find the memory of the transaction as nice as I did.
(Linus did enjoy the beers.)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Random thought: 3re Free Thursday a week from now
A week from now is the second Thursday of July. That means it's time for another Free Thursday event: meet others intereted in free software and open source for a beer or two.
The time: Thursday, July 12, at 18:00.
The place: Kamppi Teerenpeli (not the one in Kaisaniemi).
For background, see: a previous announcement.
Debian: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ES CEE!
Ten years ago today Debian ratified its Social Contract. It is one of three foundational documents that have shaped the project and enabled its phenomenal growth. The SC is a formulation of what Debian is all about: in five short paragraphs it gives the project purpose, scope, and direction. Because of this, it keeps the project coherent: people join and leave, but the project continues in the same direction. Without the shared vision codified by the SC, the project would falter, waver, and splinter.
The other two documents, the Constitution and the Policy Manual are of more practical influence in the day-to-day operation of the project. One lets us manage hundreds of people working together, the other lets us integrate tens of thousands of programs into a working system. The SC is more fundamentally import, though.
Happy birthday, SC.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Debian: Social Contract 10 years distributed pancake party
Finns are going to be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Debian Social Contract on Thursday, July 5, with a distributed pancake party. The co-ordination wiki page is SocialContractTenYears and everyone else is welcome to join in on the fun as well.