Announcement: Theme nights

by vimja on 2024-10-15

Starting October 2024, we want to test a new format. On the last Thursday of each month, we want run a theme night. During these, are are going to address a specific subject in depth.

The format

The theme night starts with a short introduction. During this, the participants are greeted and the evening's subject is presented in a few words.

We continue with a series of lightning talks, short 5 minute presentations.

After a short break, we will transition into a moderated discussion round and exchange of knowledge. During this, the participants share their experiences with the subject. We will try to lightly moderate the discussion with the goal of preventing it from splintering into many smaller discussion in isolated groups.

Dates and topics

Note: There will be no theme night in December 2024!

Thursday, 31st of October 2024; Home lab
Many of us are running a small network with one or even several servers or NAS boxes at home. For storing backups, streaming media to our TVs or even to provide services on the internet. There are a great many options for both software and hardware to accomplish this.
Thursday, 28th of November 2024
Striving for more freedom and additional capabilities in their home network, many choose to replace the router provided by their ISP with a device of their choice. When it comes to configuring the firewall, there are plenty of options. Some choose a custom made distribution like PFSense or OpenWRT, others go with Debian and IPTables, or maybe a BSD with Packet Filter? Plus, each of these solutions offers several different approaches for how to structure the firewall rules.
Thursday, 30st of January 2025
For smart phones and tablets, Google and Apple are dominating the market. Outside of these, there is a lively eco system of open source operating systems for these devices. Free Android ROMs benefit from great compatibility and a large selection of apps. More traditional Linux distributions like PostmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch on the other hand, offer innovative interfaces and a familiar system.

Call for action

We are looking for lightning talks for the theme nights announced above. So if you want to narrate on any of the subjects, please contact me. It can be on a technology or project adjacent to the subject that you would like to introduce. Or just something you've learned or experienced and would like to share.

We are also looking for subjects for future theme nights. Here too, if you have an idea, please contact me.

You can reach me by e-mail via vimja at chaostreffbern dot ch or matrix via at ig:vimja.chat.