Being in any reasonably large free software project one tends to be confronted with endless little annoyances, frustrations and letdowns. Often it happens that these little things keep growing in our perception the longer they last and the more they trouble us. In these times it is good to be reminded that the actual thing we invest so much time and energy in is not those little issues that often annoy us so much, but the overlying ideal of free software which is still a great thing, even in view of all the little frustrations that we have to deal with when working on it. Yesterday I had one of these little experiences that just remind you, just how good a thing free software is:

• At Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:38:49 I filed a whishlist bug against a software I recently started using.
• At Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:04:35 the bug had been passed on to the software's upstream and I got an email from the upstream author telling me that the feature I wanted was already in the current development version of the software, where I could download the tar.bz2 and how to contact him on jabber.
• At about half to ten I downloaded the code, rolled it into a package and tried it, but couldn't get the new feature to work, so I wrote another email.
• An half hour later I got an answer telling me what I'd done wrong. I fixed my mistake, tested the new feature and found that it did right what I wanted. However, there was one more option I thought would be useful so I contacted the author via jabber.
• In the following 2.5 hours he implemented the additional option that I had asked for, renamed a button I found a bit unintuitive and fixed two bugs I discovered in the process of testing the new feature, sending me new code versions to test after every change.
• I am now using the software with the new feature I asked for and with all the options I wanted from a homemade package but expect the proper Debian package to show up in the archive any day.
• The whole process took three days.

... and this is exactly why free software (and the people in it) is so great. Because if there is something you'd think would be useful, all you have to do is ask and maybe lend a little help in testing and you got it. And this is why it's worth to put up with all the little annoyances, frustrations and letdowns that working with humans brings with it. Even if they sometimes seem to be overwhelming. PS: I know that there are also enough examples where things didn't go as smooth as this one. But this just makes it more worth and important to highlight and appreciate these examples where everything just worked out perfectly and not just take them as granted. So, inbetween posting rants and fuming at all the things that tick you off, how about if you think of a nice FLOSS experience you had and share it with the rest of the world?

Following the invitation on the SocialContractTenYears wiki site. We also decided to join the distributed pancake party. So on the evening of July 5th we joined the many other pancake eaters. Pancakes where prepared and much enjoyed with a whole lot of toppings. A nice party! PS: In fact, following the composition of this blog post pancakes where had again. Now, that's the Good Life!

Every day, when sitting in the bus, I see a lot of girls who obviously invest a lot of time, effort and money into looking good. ... and then render the whole effort useless by putting on this horribly bored, ill-tempered and disdainful look. Tsss.

The journey to Edinburgh on Wednesday went pretty well. The only problem I ran into was that after landing at Edinburgh airport we had to wait in the plane for a few more minutes because the airport's doors wouldn't open. I felt pretty beaten when I finally arrived at the venue and just exchanged a few greetings and took a look around before going to the hostel and finishing my night's sleep. When I got up again it was almost time to go for dinner and then pick up Tolimar who got here on a later plane, since his appclication for travel sponsorship got accepted much earlier. (He's giving a talk and a BoF, so he had a higher priority.) On Thursday I saw a few talks and attended the debian-women BoF, which I think was very productive and - most importantly - gave us back some of the momentum we'd lost over the last years. We've got a whole lot of plans for new things to do now and I am looking forward to getting to work on them when I get back. The day ended with the DebConf Ceilidh which was pretty fun altough it was quite obvious that geeks may not actually be the best dancers around. Lack of rhythm was easily made up with enthusiasm though and the slight lack of women was also easily compensated. I think that Ceilidh band will remember us. We even contributed a few musicians of our own! Once the Ceilidh was over I pretty much fell right into bed. Although it's good to be here and meet all the people, only being at DebConf for the last few days generally tends to be rather frustrating. Firstly it's always weird to join a group that has already been together for a while and also DebConf really just isn't something that can be condensed to a few days. I've just about started to get into the flow today (Friday) and tomorrow I'll already be leaving again. Shame. Anyway, only being here for a bit is still better than not being here at all and I very much hope to have more time next year when we meet in Argentina. For now I'll just enjoy my remaining last day at DebConf and hope for a better time next year.

It's now shortly before 5am (Argh!) and I'll be leaving home now. If everything goes as planned this will be my journey:

5:20 - Bus to station
5:43 - Train to Hanover
6:21 - Train to Cologne
9:21 - Train to the Airport (CGN)
10:50 - Plane to EDI
Around noon - Arrival at Teviot.

If I don't show up, something went wrong.

Bye bye for now ... *yawn*

Right, so as announced I finished my thesis this week. Its translated title is (if anyone want to know)

"Design and Implementation of a Model for the Retrieval of Free/Libre Open Source Software using a Case-Based Reasoning System".

Writing it certainly was an educational experience but I am still happy it's done now. Especially the last weeks where rather unfunny, more so since about ten days before my deadline we had a massive heat wave here in Lower Saxony. Now that it's done I am still waiting for enthusiam to kick in. So far weariness still prevails. Maybe also because finishing my thesis does not yet end my studies. We also have to do written and oral examinations which will take place in July and after. So at the moment I spend my days mostly sleeping and trying to muster up enough wanderlust for my trip to DebConf7. (At the moment the prospect of traveling long distance with trains and cheap flights and then be surrounded by a few hundred happy people is still rather daunting.) Anyway, in order to give an impression of my last weeks and months and to sum this all up, a list of random notes, taken during the last weeks, of what I learned while writing my thesis:

• 6 months are NOT a long time!
• 10.000 chars are not enough to model a Debian package description
• 50 chars are not enough to model a Debian package name (YES, THAT MEANS YOU, libmaypole-plugin-authentication-usersessioncookie-perl!)
• osi.org does not belong to the Open Source Initiative but to Ontario Swine Improvement (Ontario Swine Improvement (OSI) is an industry-run organization dedicated to providing swine improvement and genetic products, programs, information and expertise. Our goal is to help Ontario pork producers achieve competitive advantages and excellence in the global market place.)
• I must not procrastinate.
  Procrastination is the mind-killer.
  Procrastination is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
  I will face my thesis.
  I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
  And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
  Where the thesis has gone there will be nothing.
  Only I will remain.
• Dr.-Ing. Roland Bless rules! (So does his LaTeX class for theses.)
• Working without internet is possible. It is even better than working with internet. Simply leave gaps where you need to look up stuff and fill them in in the evening.
• Losing half a litre of blood does not impair my fitness for (brain) work.
• Working with version control requires a minimum of intelligence attention. Unfortunately mostly so when ending work (dead tired) and when beginning to work (dead tired).
• Side effects: Insomnia, itchy area on left leg, belly aches, little blisters on the sides of my fingers, headaches, slight but constant petulance.
• "I know what I want to say, getting it on paper is the least work." - WROOOONG!
• German is such a crappy language to write scientific texts in. Special greetings to the generic masculine. Gah!
• When the cat's writing her thesis ...
  The fun time's over now, darling ;)
• "I have don't really like proof-reading your thesis in PDF, can't you just send me the Word file?" is not what you want to hear from your proof reader.
• Good: Debian, vim, subversion, LaTeX, bibtex, evince, xpdf, pdftk, PostgreSQL, OpenOffice.org, dia, gimp, phpESP, tea, coffee, ramen, chocolate, electric fan, eating at the uni's cafeteria twince a day, raw cornflakes straight from the box, frida (my trusty laptop), power naps, pizza, people understanding my true problems, the freedom to burry myself in my work and absolutely and utterly neglect anything else until I am finished.
• The flat can look worse. Much!
• Bad:
  • The FSIL (student council for teaching students) belt grinding(!) tables on the balcony in front of the students' working rooms.
  • People trying to be nice and asking how it's going with the thesis.
  • Fellow students greeting me with "Hey still here?"
  • Our evil DPL blogging about his highly addictive monsterz just when I got to work.
• I'll do it after I handed in the thesis.
• I'll see a doctor about it after I handed in the thesis ...
• I should commit much more often (svn that is)
• How come there are so many extra 'i's in your thesis?" Because it's Linux!
• Sense of time is overrated.
• Print shop guy is mean.
  A = Me, overtired, having formatted and doing last changes to this document the whole night through and on until 20 minutes before the printing appointment.
  B = Print shop guy
  
  B: You know that's not A4 ...
  A: WHAT?!
  B: Yea, it's too big.
  A: WHAT?! But, but, I ... That can't be!
  B: I'm telling you, it's too big. See, 0.3mm too long and 0.12mm too wide
  A: ... *death stare*
  
  
• The examination office is now located in the fourth floor in the building next to the post office at the Hindenburgplatz.
• Tolimar is the most patient and understand guy I've ever known.
  Thank you!
• 6 months are SUCH a long time!

It actually seemed as though I wouldn't be going to DebConf this year. I didn't get to work much the last two months, since I wanted to spend all my time on the near completion of my thesis so I didn't have the money to pay for a flight (or train) to EDI and back myself. Due to that same thesis I also didn't have the time to prepare a talk this year so I was also not a speaker. Since I am also neither a DD nor in NM I was pretty sure I wouldn't be eligible for travel sponsorship this year. And, as expected, I was indeed very far down the queue, so when I still hadn't heard anything about being sponsored until about a week before DebConf was starting I had pretty much given up on the whole thing and resigned to the fact that this year's DebConf would happen without me. However, on 10 June I had a mail in my Inbox. Subject: "Your travel cost sponsorship request for DebConf7". It seems the DebConf team was able to dig up some more money and do another run on the sponsorship queue. This was three days before I had to get my thesis to the print shop and I wasn't really doing anything else except for frantically going over my proof readers' annotations, doing last minute additions, changes etc. and occasionally lie down for a few hours of rather uneasy sleep. So my first reaction was something along the lines of "What?! Now?! I don't have time for this now! Go away!" and I was pretty close to answering the mail saying "Thank's but that's too short notice. I won't be coming, have fun, see you all next year." Luckily Tolimar prevented this though and actually managed to find a flight for me that not only goes on the actual days that I had originally planned to arrive and leave but that is also not far over my travel sponsorship! So, long story short, I'll be flying to EDI on Wednesday. It'll only be for the very last few days and I am probably already missing out on lots and lots of stuff, but at least I'll be able to attend for a few days. And in time for debian-women's third birthday! :) I just hope everything will go well, it seems there's a lot of trouble with flying to DebConf this year, at least judging from what I read on planet and heard on irc. See you all soon!

Done! More later. Now ... sleep . . . ZZ Z ZZ ZZ ZZZ

1 Pack of mixed BBQ meat: 5,90
1 Bottle of 2005 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo: 1,99
1 Throw away grill: 3,50

The fun that is an indoor BBQ party: Priceless! With the weather being so great and everyone having nice barbecues, we wanted to have one too. Unfortunatelly we don't have a balcony or a (nice) garden. (We do have a grassy patch in front of our house but it's not exactly a place you want to sit at and have dinner.) Also do not have a proper barbecue to take somewhere nice and somehow when we travel to friends we always bring bad weather with us. This weekend however, we decided to go for it. We got ourselfs one of those disposable grills, put it on the largest window sill, strategically placed a fan and a bucket of water and declared the indoor barbecue season officially opened.
Our experiences in short Good:

• Comfortable! Toilet, fridge, heating and electric light nearby
• Easy and low cost. You basically just light the only flammable bit on the whole thing, wait until the nasty accelerant is all burned up and the coals glow nicely
• No carrying around of stuff. Fridge, kitchen table etc near by
• That tiny thing really holds a long time. We both were absolutely stuffed, while the grill was still well hot
• BIG FUN!

Bad:

• SMOKE. The fan helps but doesn't solve the problem entirely
• Grill does not get very hot, large stuff takes a while. Bad when you are hungry, good towards the end though
• Throw away grill manual is only in Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Dutch. I wonder what "Grilli saa k ytt ainoastaan ulkona!" means ...
• Worried looks from people walking by the house at the column of smoke rising from a window at the fourth floor. Help to stand in the window and smile in a relaxed way.
• Running down four floors just because your darling dropped the aluminium foil
• SMOKE! (You don't appreciate the full odeur until you come back into the kitchen the next morning.)

PS: How do you extinguish a throw away grill once you're done? PPS: Shower! PPPS: Kids, do not try this at home!

Right, some time has passed since our Fiesta Mexicana, but still here's my record of this memorable evening. In a word: Wow! Panteon Rococo did a spectacular show! I've known and liked their music before, but seeing them live is a whole different matter and just sooo much better! Although their tour has already been lasting for quite some time, they showed absolutely no sign of fatigue. The Vier Linden was pretty full but not cram-full so there was still enough space to dance. (And while we are speaking of dancing, let me say, that some of my muscles are still sore! Those guys just don't give you a rest!) Throughout the whole concert the mood both on and in front of the stage were great and the guys were fooling around and inciting the audience, with themselves setting a good example of how to absolutely lose it (and play an instrument at the same time!) the whole time. The only downer was that a lot of what they said seemed to get lost since many in the audience didn't speak (enough) Spanish, which lead to a kind of lack of timely reactions. (Shenka yells something - Spanish speakers: "Yaay!" - Tiny delay - Rest of crowd: "Yaaaaay!"). Most weren't botherd by this though, and neither seemed the band. After all, it is pretty clear where Panteon Rococo stand and what their opinions are, so there isn't much to guess. Consequently when the band showed first signs of getting towards the end of the concert the audience wouldn't let them go. They of course played La carencia and all the other favourites but the audience just wouldn't get enough, so the encores(?) kind of turned into a "Who drops first" contest. (We did.) If you have any chance to see them while they're over here, do it!. The tour is still on and you can still see Panteon Rococo on the following dates: 20.05.2007 D - Hamburg @ Fabrik
22.05.2007 D - Rostock @ Mau Club
23.05.2007 D - Potsdam @ Lindenpark
24.05.2007 D - Dresden @ Scheune
25.05.2007 D - Paderborn @ Kulturwerkstatt
26.05.2007 D - Rottenburg @ Stadthalle
27.05.2007 D - Passau @ Pfingst Open Air
28.05.2007 D - Essen @ Pfingst Open AIr
19.07.2007 E - Huesca @ Pirineos Sur
20.07.2007 E - Barcelona @ London Bar

PS: Paco soo reminds me of weasel!

Ever since I've returned from DC6 I've been planning to return to Mexico one day. Given the current state of my vacation fund this won't be any time soon. However, as a kind of consolation I'll have a little bit of Mexico coming to me this week! Pante n Rococ (alternate non-official site without so much flash) from Mexico City will be giving a concert in my crummy little hometown! Yay! If you are into good Ska music and living near Hildesheim don't miss out on this one! Oh, almost forgot. The whole thing happens on
Wed 16 May 2007
Admission: 19:00, Begins 20:00

Vier Linden
Alfelder Str. 55b
31139 Hildesheim

Tickets: 12,00 Euro Advance Booking or 15,00 Euro Box Office

Unfortunatelly, Mr Sarkozy winnig these elections does not come as a total surprise. Still it is not something you have to passively accept. You still have a democracy. What is needed now is a strong and watchful opposition, in and outside the parliaments. Remain alert, protect and defend your R publique and the rights its residents have! We're with you! Best,
Meike

Learn to bake!



Chicks dig it! On popular demand: The (German) recipe. Special hints from the baker: don't make the milk too hot, that'll kill the yeast. Also put the yeast-milk-flour mixture in a sufficiently large dish to avoid extra cleaning work. (A regular coffee cup is too small!)

Should you live in or near one of the few German cities that have a cinema that shows Full Metal Village, do watch it! We just returned from Hanover where the Kino am Raschplatz plays it. Terrific movie! (Trailer on youtube) The documentary by Sung-Hyung Cho describes the small and rather rual German village Wacken, before and during the Heavy Metal Festival Wacken Open Air. It portrays some of its inhabitants and shows their life in a rural area and how they adopted to world's largest Heavy Metal Open Air happening on their acres each year. It's at the same time poetic and funny. More funny though ... (We were in tears from laughing by the end) PS: Also noteworthy, attac have produced a promotional film that is shown during the advertisings in German cinemas and calls to join the G8 protests at Heiligendam. Wouldn't have expected that! Nice idea though.

I recently stumbled over my launchpad site. Now, while I don't mind you automatically creating a launchpad site for me, as long as it clearly indicates that I am not actually using it, its title "Meike Reichle's contributions to Free Software" does seem a bit overly hegemonic, doesn't it? For what it's worth, my contributions to Free Software are still listed here, here and here!

I recently read through my blog's archive and guess what, today is its official second birthday! :) Its very first post was exactly two years ago and dealt with the upcoming LinuxTag. Thinking back, this blog has come a long way: from a simple list-like page without any navigational elements in my student webspace (constantly being in trouble with my 20Mb quota), to my first forays into php, to a rather horrible nested tables fest hosted on a friend's server, to today when I finally got my own server and domain and returned to simple handwritten html + css and blosxom. Its choice of content has mainly remained the same though: Debian, uni, personal life and the the occasional rant when there was nowhere else to complain ;)

Those who have recently tried to reach me, may have noticed that at least during the day I am mostly offline at the moment. The reason for this is, that I am currenty a bit more than half through the six months I got for the final thesis of my M.A. degree, and while the first "half time" was rather easy going with mostly empirical work, preperation and planning, the second half is now much more work intensive with the actual implementation and getting the whole thing on paper. So, since the beginning of this month I've sentenced myself to a kind of "voluntary solitary confinement". In practice this means that I usually get up in the morning, have breakfast, read up on email, irc etc, pack some fruit and our largest insulating teapot and leave for the university. There I move into one of the less popular student working rooms, spread all my stuff and work on my thesis until about 6 in the evening, return home, again read up on my backlog, have dinner, watch a movie and then go to bed. Although this sounds (and in fact is) rather monotonous, it is also a very productive modus operandi, since the student working rooms are literally bare of any distraction. There are a few tables, a few chairs and occasionally someone else comes in, quietly works for a while and leaves again. Leaving my wireless card at home gives me additional protection from the three gazillion distractions the dreaded internet has to offer. I don't know yet for how long I'll keep this up, but for the moment it works quite nicely and I produce a few pages (almost) every day. So please excuse that my e-mails are somewhat laggy at the moment, and if you want to talk to me on irc or the phone, try between 19:00 and 23:00 CEST.

After wearing heavy shoes and army boots all winter, the first day wearing regular chucks again feels like walking barefoot.

It's spring! :)

Tolimar: It's okay! Some else took care of it! :D



Thanks, aba!

Traveling to a country you've never been to before, walking into a random cafe and being recognised by someone. Something like that happened to me when I was in Barcelona. We didn't have much time to look at things when we were there, since we were mostly either in the meeting or at the hotel. So, when we had a few free hours left before getting on our flight back, we decided to take a little walk around the city. However, shortly after we had left it started raining cats and dogs, so we took refuge into a nearby starbucks. When I was ordering my hot chocolate, a girl walked up to me and asked me
"Do you by any chance study in Hildesheim?"
"Yes ..."
"IIM?"
"Yes ..."
"You're Meike, right?"
"Yes ..."
Turns out, she was an IIM student as well and recognised me from a seminar. I must confess, I didn't recognise her. Shame on me! I was also totally surprised though. Who would have expected ... :)