Debian Conference 2014

Speaker: Matt Taggart
After lunch on Saturday and before the opening welcome talk, come and socialize with the friends you haven't seen in a year (or are just now meeting in person for the first time!). This is a social event, families and partners are encouraged to attend and there will be other kids and non-Debian partners (read: normal people) there too! Meet in plenary (big ballroom)

Speaker: Gunnar Wolf
Welcome to DC14! Meet the organizing team, know the facilities, etc.

Speaker: Stefano Zacchiroli
Arguably, Free Software has never been more successful than these days. Free Software is common place in many contexts, from embedded devices to supercomputers, ... including the space (with the ISS) and beyond! Free Software is also more and more common in education, it is subject of ad-hoc legislation around the world , and thanks to our friends at NSA it is also being looked with increasing interest by privacy-conscious citizens. Taking issue with such an optimistic view of the (Free) world, a pessimistic speaker is gonna argue that we are, on the contrary, about to enter the so called "Dark Ages of Free Software", where the user freedoms we have accrued over the past 30 years are at risk of being taken away by reckless technological trends. Unsatisfied with his own pessimism, the speaker will try to induce some of it into the audience, but only shortly before bringing the good news that distributions—and Debian in particular—have a fundamental role to play in Free Software's path toward a new enlightenment.

Speaker: Gabriella Coleman
Drawing on a decade of research on free software communities and Anonymous, I will discuss the hacker and geek contribution to activism and social change, especially in light of the dramatic series of leaks, hacks and whistle blowing of the last five years.