September 20, 2012 at 11:55Software Freedom Day 2012 in the capital: how the rally went
September 15, 2012 Moscow for the first time celebrated Freedom Day Software ( Software by Freedom Day ) in the new format - a public event in the city center.
We finally ripened on the report for the Habr, which was delayed due to the need to mount the video. Not all the video is ready yet, but something is already there (see below).
It all started on July 11th when XMs sent me the following email:
From this moment we began a long and leisurely discussion of the format of the event. They agreed on the main thing: to do another half-closed sacrament for their own is not so cool as to organize something “fundamentally new”, and not only in the sense of wallpaper for the desktop. I wanted to create an event that ordinary people would pay attention to, and not just the same community. This was followed by a long-awaited vacation ...
In general, in the second half of August, we met with Pavel Rassudov, the leader of the Pirate Party of Russia, with colleagues from Flantu-friendly companies (Yuri Tatarsky from Progressive Operating Systems and Kirill Lebedev from POWERCOMP) discussed possible cooperation in promoting free software in Russia. Along the way, the theme of Software Freedom Day surfaced, and Paul immediately suggested: “Let's organize a rally! ". At first, we were skeptical - after all, the rallies are now perceived solely as a political action ... But in the course of further discussion, we came to an approximate vision of how everything can be done.
A lengthy and very active discussion followed. I can only say that during the preparation of the event in my inbox alone there were more than 350 incoming letters on this topic. They tried to contact the regions so that the rallies were held en masse across Russia, but the reaction turned out to be very sluggish (they were afraid of doing something like this and not understanding why and why).
Well then, what happened with us?
As a result, we received approval from the authorities to hold a rally in Novopushkinsky Square (an application was filed for several places in the center, the mayor’s office approves the final platform) with the goal of “ expressing citizenship towards the source code”And the number of participants is up to 100 people. Not so much, of course, but, due to the sudden proximity of the “March of Millions”, we were more afraid for security at the event (the appearance of provocateurs, conflicts of interest, excess of numbers, etc.). And, despite our original goals, this has become more priority. Fortunately, the police reacted with understanding and did everything in order to avoid any unpleasant situations. True, we can say that she even overdid it somewhat: we were so guarded from all sides that many passersby were afraid to go inside and looked only from the side. Although this circumstance did not prevent the bolder fellow citizens - for example, we were visited by residents of this area who saw some kind of movement through the window and specially went out to look at what was happening in the immediate vicinity of the scene.
The event itself was organized as follows:
More photos can be found in the event on Google+ and Facebook .
General cut, greeting, reading the resolution, several interviews after the rally:
Links to individual speeches see above.
Series (in progress):
After the event, MLUG enthusiasts (dr.Equivalent, Cyb3r, b3b) took part of the remaining handout and distributed it to random passers-by in the city center, for which special thanks to them!
As a result (i.e. ~ 2 hours of the subject), the event was attended by about 200 people (judging by the number of discs distributed). Let me remind you that we tried to make an event addressed not only to the community, but also to ordinary people. In this regard, we will be glad of any community support to disseminate information about what happened to a wide audience. For the benefit of everyone :-) Thanks to everyone who came, helped and supported, and see you soon!
We finally ripened on the report for the Habr, which was delayed due to the need to mount the video. Not all the video is ready yet, but something is already there (see below).
Training
It all started on July 11th when XMs sent me the following email:
Greetings, I'm from MLUG (gentushnik with glasses). Two months later, a day of STR will be held, during which it is supposed to agitate and promote the ideals thereof. Does Flant have any plans, or someone else to do something similar?
From this moment we began a long and leisurely discussion of the format of the event. They agreed on the main thing: to do another half-closed sacrament for their own is not so cool as to organize something “fundamentally new”, and not only in the sense of wallpaper for the desktop. I wanted to create an event that ordinary people would pay attention to, and not just the same community. This was followed by a long-awaited vacation ...
In general, in the second half of August, we met with Pavel Rassudov, the leader of the Pirate Party of Russia, with colleagues from Flantu-friendly companies (Yuri Tatarsky from Progressive Operating Systems and Kirill Lebedev from POWERCOMP) discussed possible cooperation in promoting free software in Russia. Along the way, the theme of Software Freedom Day surfaced, and Paul immediately suggested: “Let's organize a rally! ". At first, we were skeptical - after all, the rallies are now perceived solely as a political action ... But in the course of further discussion, we came to an approximate vision of how everything can be done.
A lengthy and very active discussion followed. I can only say that during the preparation of the event in my inbox alone there were more than 350 incoming letters on this topic. They tried to contact the regions so that the rallies were held en masse across Russia, but the reaction turned out to be very sluggish (they were afraid of doing something like this and not understanding why and why).
Well then, what happened with us?
Event
As a result, we received approval from the authorities to hold a rally in Novopushkinsky Square (an application was filed for several places in the center, the mayor’s office approves the final platform) with the goal of “ expressing citizenship towards the source code”And the number of participants is up to 100 people. Not so much, of course, but, due to the sudden proximity of the “March of Millions”, we were more afraid for security at the event (the appearance of provocateurs, conflicts of interest, excess of numbers, etc.). And, despite our original goals, this has become more priority. Fortunately, the police reacted with understanding and did everything in order to avoid any unpleasant situations. True, we can say that she even overdid it somewhat: we were so guarded from all sides that many passersby were afraid to go inside and looked only from the side. Although this circumstance did not prevent the bolder fellow citizens - for example, we were visited by residents of this area who saw some kind of movement through the window and specially went out to look at what was happening in the immediate vicinity of the scene.
The event itself was organized as follows:
- At the entrance there is a table with all kinds of handouts : disks with Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Russian Fedora, ROSA Marathon), brochures (general for free software and another specifically for Ubuntu), magazines and Linux Format disks (kindly provided by the GNU / Linux center ) and all sorts of little things (for example, badges from the Russian Fedora community). Nearby stood people who explained to passersby that they should take all this for a test and what was going on here.
- The stage (and sound equipment) was rented . The stage was decorated with the official attributes of Software Freedom Day and additional balls.
- Professional actors were invited and a script for a mini-series about a computer service was written . The idea of the series was reduced to an ironic demonstration of the problems faced by proprietary software users. As a solution to these problems, of course, free software was offered. The author of the script is Alexei Serebrennikov (he used the plot ideas prepared by the organizers). Actors - Nikolai Korobov and Julia Galina .
- Scenes from actors were shown between performances . The organizers and representatives of the Russian-speaking open source community made reports. Their duration was minimal (5 minutes) so as not to make all the listeners bored (we still do not have a conference for our own). List of reports :
- Yuri Tatarsky (Progressive Operating Systems). “ Greetings. About the festival, the organizers, speakers . "
- Pavel Rassudov ("Pirate Party of Russia"). " Pirates and STR ". It is important to understand that “pirates” are not at all those pirates about whom stereotypes are built. You can verify this, for example, in the declaration of the goals of the PPR . In the report, Pavel asked to stop calling the "pirates" winemakers - a significant part of the party members use free software, and also noted that "if you are not involved in politics, then politics will take care of you."
- EQuivalent ( MLUG ). " On freedom of software. Do you own your programs? ".
- XMs ( MLUG ). " Software Licenses ."
- CYB3R ( MLUG ). " Tivoization, DRM, vendor lock-in ."
- Kirill Lebedev (POWERCOMP). “ Free and proprietary software: confrontation in the market. Habits, inertia and marketing . ”
- Pyotr Lemenkov (Russian Fedora). " The role of the community in creating open source software ."
- Stanislav Pogorzhelsky (Russian Ubuntu LoCo Team). " Support for newcomers to the community ."
- Valber ( MLUG ). " The success of open source software in science ." It sounds scary for the masses, but the author tried to show (voice) real examples of the successful use of free software in the scientific community.
- Dmitry Shurupov (Flant). “ So why free software? Philosophy, practice, business . ”
- Mikhail Shigorin (ALT Linux Team, Ukraine). Different Linux systems. We did not plan this performance. Michael appeared at the stage in the middle of the event and looked at me questioningly: "Screws?" The last time we saw him at LinuxFest was 5 years ago. It turned out that he is now in Moscow on a business trip. He suggested joining the number of speakers - we gave the go-ahead without much hesitation.
- The "pirates", like experienced protesters, dragged a bunch of flags and posters. However, the community also tried with funny posters (see below).
- All the action was accompanied by music that we and Jamendo specially selected for the event.
A few photos
General, organizers
Actors
Posters
Visitors
Yet?
More photos can be found in the event on Google+ and Facebook .
Video!
General cut, greeting, reading the resolution, several interviews after the rally:
Links to individual speeches see above.
Series (in progress):
- 1 series, “Tram boom”
- 2 series, "Conversation with a maniac"
- Episode 3, The Grabber
- Episode 4, “I Agree on Ubuntu”
- Episode 5, “Many Options”
Right after
After the event, MLUG enthusiasts (dr.Equivalent, Cyb3r, b3b) took part of the remaining handout and distributed it to random passers-by in the city center, for which special thanks to them!
General afterword
We are what we eat. However, there are people who eat everything in a row and do not even think about this or the consequences of such a lifestyle.
We get what we ourselves achieve. However, there are people who do only what they "have to" and live "on the machine."
We are free as much as we allow ourselves. However, there are people who live in those frameworks and conventions in which they ended up of their own or another's will, but do not even try to do anything about it.
So why free software? Because we are free people, and we have a choice.
Community afterword
As a result (i.e. ~ 2 hours of the subject), the event was attended by about 200 people (judging by the number of discs distributed). Let me remind you that we tried to make an event addressed not only to the community, but also to ordinary people. In this regard, we will be glad of any community support to disseminate information about what happened to a wide audience. For the benefit of everyone :-) Thanks to everyone who came, helped and supported, and see you soon!