Rendezvous with a Debian Developer

Just about an hour ago is when I dropped of Jonas Smedegaard on his way to the Bangalore International airport after his week's stay here.

courtesy vigneshwar shankar

Although I haven't been writing about any person in specific even in my personal blog, in this post I only intend to reflect upon the paradigms of Jonas in comparison to my own. I won't repeat all the technicalities discussed through the week, but will try to project my perception of this hacker, who is more than a mere geek.

Now, why Jonas, and not compare myself to someone I've already known?
I believe our perceptions, and hence our deep principles heavily depend on the circumstances we are faced with, and it cannot be universal - will be relative.
Me and Jonas, as I did very well realize are from different societies, and hence have different mental worlds.

In Jonas' own terms, he comes from a different world and many a times we from this world (as many of us kept proving it through the week) here get duped into just looking at the surface, and not the details of them.
"Surface is narcotics", as he said, is so apt.

I have had a different perception of westernization. I would never be a hypocrite, or a dumb emulator of people from different societies. I must have exhibited some tendencies towards some "unreasonable" emulation, and this week long interaction with Jonas has help me sort out my prerogative in my realms.

Another important aspect which got me all inspired was, the way he correlates his work, its impact to the grand scenario. I think I fail to recognize (at least for now), the ramifications of my own small contributions to the big picture. Being inert about an issue is equivalent to encouraging it, is another point he reiterated many a times.

Leaders need to inspire, and make space for the team to grow and express themselves : A nice notion about leadership I heard Jonas say, and I, like him too have been trying to get closer to this ideal.


All said and done, respecting differences between people and each taking the better of the paths for oneself is what is the ultimate path to harmony and cooperation, both in dissimilar communities of similar individuals, and similar communities of dissimilar individuals.

PS: If you missed the technicalities, here are some reports of the events in Bangalore
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article2601600.ece
http://fossphosis.blogspot.com/2011/11/jonas-smedegaard-in-bangalore.html
https://alieniscogitationibus.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/debian-pureblends-and-the-freedom-box/
http://sreejithsblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/freedom-debian-pure-blends-and-jonaas.html

Jonas Smedegaard in Bangalore

Jonas Smedegaard : Debian developer is in Bengaluru and FSMK has been actively trying to get Jonas meet, interact and discuss with Free Software enthusiasts from the whole spectrum. Debian Pure Blends and FreedomBox are primarily on the agenda of Jonas' visit to India. So, most of the sessions would revolve around these.

The schedule for Jonas' visit, which I had worked out in consultation with Jonas has kept him occupied for most of the days ( and many a times making it hectic for him!).
Now that we are losing track of all that's happening, I thought it to be good if I could jot it down here. Will keep updating it further

• 1st Nov: Jonas arrives, and although I was to escort him when he arrived, the train reaches early and I reach late - we then stumble upon each other serendipitously! Nice start :) 

• 2nd Nov: No concrete schedule for the day, but casual interactions with some of our FSMK activists and enthusiasts

• 3rd Nov: First of the formal talks at PES School of Engineering. Will gather more info about the talk itself from some of the audience and update it later. 

The talk was followed by a hurried, adhoc meeting with Secretary, Education Department, Government of Karnataka which was one of those unfruitful meetings. Nonetheless, an insight into the problem at hand of implementing Free Software in education did make itself clearer

 Towards the evening a dinner with Prof.Chatterjee from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which turned out to be a vibrant discussion ranging from nuclear power to wars, to free software and astrophysics! We ended it with a eulogistic reminiscence of Neils Bohr!

• 4th Nov: Free Software talk at Bangalore University in the morning. The talk has created extra interest amongst the audience, and we will look forward to creating an active GLUG there. 

Afternoon, a talk on FreedomBox and Debian Pureblends was organized at the Indian Institute of Science. Session details will be updated. 

Post talk, Jonas gave an interview to The Hindu. 

The day being so demanding, and all the sessions being monotonous, just to digress from the flow, it was arranged for Jonas to watch a carnatic classical music concert live. Will collect his views and update here!

• 5th Nov: Another talk on Freedombox/Pureblends in BMS Institute of Technology scheduled in the morning. It will be followed by a casual GLUG members discussion on Debian, contribution etc...
• 6th Nov: Debian Pureblends Packaging session at FSMK office, and the first hands on workshop in this stint! Looking forward to it.
  We're also working out a quick visit to the Ambedkar Community Computing Center.
  
  
  
• 7th Nov: Jonas is leaving to Vietnam

This is for now! Will see if anymore appendages occur for the remaining time!