Andrew's blog (Entries tagged as family)

LCA2015 - Debian Miniconf & nz2015 Debian mini-DebConf

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 00:08:13 +0000

nz2015 mini-DebConf

Already attending linux.conf.au? Come a couple of days earlier and attend the mini-DebConf too! There will be a day of talks with a strong focus on the Debian project and a bug squashing day.

Debian Miniconf

After 5 years, the Debian Miniconf is back! Run as part of linux.conf.au 2015, this event will attract speakers talking on topics that suit the broader audience attending LCA. The Debian Miniconf has been one of the largest miniconfs in the history of linux.conf.au.

For more information about both these events which I'm organising, head over to: nz2015.mini.debconf.org!

LCA2015 - Debian Miniconf submitted

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 21:43:25 +0000

Phew, I've submitted a proposal to run a Debian Miniconf at linux.conf.au 2015 here's hoping that it is accepted!

The Debian Miniconf was held in 2008 in Melbourne, so I feel it is well overdue to run it again.

Laptops and networks

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 09:32:36 +0000

Back in the old days, we had workstations. And only workstations. They lived on a network, and having them work in that network was simple. Printers just worked (thank you printcap), network shares just worked (thank you NFS) and life was good.

Then along came laptops. We wanted to be more mobile, using our laptops on different networks or even without a network! No one wanted hardcoded printers anymore, or network shares defined in /etc/fstab. Using an Automounter was an option, but if you were on a different network then having the Automounter around would stall tools like nautilus and file indexers etc.

So we need something which can start up relevant services when you connect to a network, and then stop them when you leave that network.

To support this, a few years ago I wrote a NetworkManager dispatcher.d script to do just that. When you connect to a specific network (using the NetworkManager UUID or a specific gateway MAC) or a VPN connection then autofs is started, users GTK bookmarks have any bookmarks for their Network shares added and CUPS is restarted.

When the connection goes away, then autofs is stopped, any GTK bookmarks for the Network shares are removed and any mounts for the Network shares are lazily unmounted.

I'm not sure if this will of use to anyone else, but if it is I'd love to hear from you. You can browse the code or clone the repo.

Included are sample autofs config files, the dispatcher, and the tools for managing the GTK bookmark files.

linux.conf.au 2014 - Call for papers

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 01:42:09 +0000

Holy crap, it's the last week of the linux.conf.au 2014 call for papers! We've got a bunch of great submissions, but we want more!

From the CFP Announcement:

The linux.conf.au 2014 papers committee is looking for a broad range of proposals, and will consider submissions on anything from programming and software, to desktop, mobile, gaming, userspace, community, government, space and education. There is only one rule:

Your proposal must be related to open source

This year, the papers committee is going to be focused on linux on the frontier and deep technical content-- that might range from cybernetics and mobile operating environments to large astronomy projects and big data projects.

However, the conference is to a large extent what the speakers make it -- if we receive many excellent submissions on a topic, then it’s sure to be represented at the conference. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

The Cloud - What is it, how can we use it and why is it running on my toaster?
Kernel and core systems: file systems, embedded devices
Networking: peer to peer networking, or tuning a TCP/IP stack
Desktop: office and productivity applications, peripherals, support
Mobile: kernel, applications, programming, challenges, user interfaces
Servers: clusters and supercomputers, databases and cloud computing
Embedded systems: constraints in storage/memory, real-time aspects, open hardware
Virtualisation: benefits, challenges, management, kernel and application support
Systems administration: maintaining large numbers of machines, disaster recovery
Security: application security, network security, cryptography, malware, viruses
Programming: programming languages, software engineering practices, testing, continuous integration/deployment, different development methodologies, version control
Modern web technologies: Open source web browsers, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, web apps, accessibility
Audio and video: video editing, VoIP, WebRTC, video player development, live streaming
Open Community: licensing changes, patent threats, open data, open apis.
Free software use: home automation, IT, education, manufacturing, research, government applications, home security

LCA is known for presentations and tutorials that are strongly technical in nature, but proposals for presentations on other aspects of free software and open culture, such as educational and cultural applications of open source, are welcome.

linux.conf.au 2013 - Call for Proposals

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:58:14 +0000

We are pleased to announce that the Call for Proposals for linux.conf.au 2013 is now open!

The conference will showcase the best of open source and community-driven software and hardware. It will be held in Canberra at the Australian National University from Monday 28 January to Saturday 2 February, 2013, and provides a great opportunity for open source developers, users, hackers, and makers to share their ideas and further improve their projects.

Important Dates

Call for proposals opens: 1 June 2012
Call for proposals closes: 6 July 2012
Email notifications from papers committee: 28 August 2012
Early Bird registrations open: 1 October 2012
Conference dates: Monday 28 January to Saturday 2 February 2013

Information on Proposals

The linux.conf.au 2013 papers committee is looking for a broad range of proposals, and will consider submissions on anything from programming and software, to desktop, userspace, community, government, and education. There is only one rule:

Your proposal must be related to open source.

This year, the papers committee is going to be focused on deep technical content, and things we think are going to really matter in the future -- that might range from freedom and privacy to open source cloud systems or to energy efficient server farms of the future.

However, the conference is to a large extent what the speakers make it -- if we receive many excellent submissions on a topic, then it’s sure to be represented at the conference.

For more information see the full call for proposals on the linux.conf.au 2013 website.

Wolrd IPv6 Day - Catalyst

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:39:21 +0000

Excellent, due to a little hack we now have the Catalyst website up on IPv6. Thanks David!

This is using the same method that we used to get another large NZ site IPv6 enabled for World IPv6 Day.

Funnily enough we've discovered there is a NZ company that is providing a commercial solution using the same method we're using. Even though it is dirty, and is really, really the wrong way to do it.

Note: It is worth noting that Catalyst's email server has been IPv6 enabled for several years now, as have our DNS servers.

World IPv6 Day

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:30:58 +0000

In the vein of World IPv6 Day, I've finally re-enabled IPv6 for the etc.gen.nz mailserver and for our main website (and my git repo).

These services used to have IPv6 enabled, but when I moved them from my home server to one hosted in a data centre we lost IPv6 support. However in the last few months, our hosting company has deployed IPv6 support to their hosting facility, and I finally found time to finish setting it up on the server.

So, we're back on IPv6, just in time for World IPv6 Day!

LCA2011 - We're going!

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:20:44 +0000

Booked flights: check
Booked accommodation: check
Andrew Registered for LCA: check
Andrew Hacked Silly Description: check
Susanne Registered for LCA: in progress
Andrew Hacked Silly Description for Susanne: pending

Awesome. I've just registered for lca2011, it looks to be an awesome conference! They have a great line up of speakers, some amazing venues (I know, I've seen some of them already), and a fantastic group of people in one place.

The reason that I've already seen some of the venues is that Susanne and I attended the ghosts weekend that the lca2011 Ninjas held earlier in the year. During the ghosts weekend the current organising team bring a number of previous organisers, some people from Linux Australia and their team into one place, lock them in a room and absorb as much information as they possibly can. They bombard us with questions, they tease out tidbits of knowledge and in exchange for that they let us into a few of their secrets and show us around. Admittedly they show us around and then interrogate us on what we think of them.

That was my first time in Brisbane, and an overnight stay is no where near long enough. I'm looking forward to spending a week in Brisbane, and hopefully getting a chance to take in a bit more of the city. As much of a chance as you get when attending a conference that is though...

Geek Parents

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Sat, 29 May 2010 10:40:25 +0000

There have been many things about becoming parents that have surprised us. There are also been things from organising LCA2010 that have surprised us. One of the more surprising things that is that Susanne has become more of a geek.

Not terribly surprising really, that after co-directing one of the ultimate geek conferences that you'd pick up a few things. Not only is Susanne now an expert Inkscape user, she is now at home hacking HTML, writing using LaTeX, posting on Twitter & identi.ca, using request tracking systems and last but not least IRC. IRC was vital to organising LCA, but Susanne and I have continued to use IRC now that LCA is over to chat while I'm at work, and as it turns out around the house. For example:

<MadHatter> 16:10:54> Please pick up your son
<MadHatter> 16:11:05> now please
<MadHatter> 16:11:10> NOW please
<MadHatter> 16:11:12> NOW
<MadHatter> 16:11:18> NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW
<MadHatter> 16:11:28> I'm on strike
<MadHatter> 16:11:41> Andrew
<MadHatter> 16:11:56> Andrew Graeme Ruthven!
<MadHatter> 16:12:10> Pick. Up. Your. Son
<MadHatter> 16:12:13> Please
<MadHatter> 16:12:19> Please!

The funniest part was that, even though I was using my laptop, my IRC client wasn't running. My IRC proxy was happily logging those requests, so when Susanne was cracking up with laughter (thinking I was ignoring her) I was able to catch up on what was happening...

LCA2010 - Many Meetings

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:46:37 +0000

A typical LCA2010 meeting

One of the things that people may not realise, is the number of meetings that go into putting together a linux.conf.au. Currently we have fortnightly meetings (but only one to go!) so that everyone can be kept up to date on where things are, what (if any) issues there are in the various areas and to generally have a chat.

The photo here's a typical LCA2010 organising meeting. The scones aren't typical - they were made by Andrew & Heather's son Max, who you can see through the door (they were certainly appreciated, thanks Max!). We've been using the training room at Catalyst as a handy location in town that easy for people to get to, and tucked out of the way.

Also not visible in the photo are Susanne and our son Adam, and Heather who's taking the photo.

LCA2010: On LinkedIn

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:08:24 +0000

Attending LCA2010? Use LinkedIn?

How about showing you're attending on the LCA2010 event on LinkedIn!

New Little Person

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:48:00 +0000

The newest addition to the Ruthven family shot into this world with great gusto and enthusasim on Thursday morning. Dad was in great shock at being woken up at 2:20 am, when contractions began, then a mere 2 hours later at 4:32 holding his son - Adam Ruthven. Mum was in even greater shock at arriving at the hospital to be told that she was ready to push!

Mum & Dad are both incredibly proud of Adam, weighing in at 3.6kg (7lb 15oz).

Dad & Brooke brought Mum & Adam home on Friday morning, where we've had to readjust to once again having sleep deprivation.

Brooke is thoroughly enjoying having a baby brother. She is being a perfect big sister, helping us care for Adam, even helping with nappy changes! (We're hopeful this will continue...)

LCA2010 - Schedule Released and Recent Happenings

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:28:12 +0000

Wow, has it really been two months since the last blog post? No wonder, we've been flat out!

Announced our second keynoter - Nat Torkington
Call for papers closed
Announced the successful miniconfs
The Paper Review Committee started the paper review process of our over 300 paper submissions.
Published our accommodation options
The Paper Review Committee had a face-to-face meeting in Sydney
Announced our third and fourth keynotes - Gabriella Coleman and Glyn Moody.
The accepted talks were scheduled
We released a new logo, with a competition and 20 hours later gave away a hobbyist ticket to Mark Piper
Call for Miniconf Papers opened
Three Funding programmes were finalised and then announced
And then on Monday, we released the talk schedule

Busy times, and it is only going to get busier, when I first wrote this article on Monday, Susanne was 39 weeks pregnant, not long to go now on that front... It turns out I was right, she gave birth to Adam Robert Ruthven this morning. More news to follow soon.

LCA2010 - Call for Papers - deadline extended!

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:26:14 +0000

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Friday 24 July 2009 – The LCA2010 Organising Committee have been overwhelmed by the numbers and quality of the papers submitted to linux.conf.au so far!

The success of the papers so far has put us in a generous mood. So we've decided to give all you slackers out there an extension on the Call for Papers by one week!

Call for Papers Now Closing: Friday 31 July 2009 at 17:00 NZST

Remember, to increase your chances of acceptance, check out the Papers Info page on our website before submitting your paper.

LCA2010 - Call for Papers - closing soon!

andrew@etc.gen.nz (Andrew Ruthven) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:21:42 +0000

Wow, the linux.conf.au 2010 team have had a an awesome response to our Call for Miniconfs with over 32 amazing submissions. But the work isn't over yet!

Our Call for Papers is still open, but closes on Friday. That's right, Friday. If you'd like the opportunity to speak at one of the best FOSS conferences in the world, this is your chance, we want to hear from you!

For more information about submitting a paper, have a look at the Papers Info page on our website.