The Desktop Summit 2011 is a joint conference organised by the GNOME and KDE communities in Berlin, Germany, 6 – 12 August 2011 at the Humboldt University. Held annually in European cities, GUADEC and Akademy are the largest gatherings of those involved with the free desktop or mobile user interfaces. Developers, artists, translators, community organisers, users, representatives from government, education, and businesses, and anyone else who shares an interest are welcome. GNOME and KDE are Free Software communities that drive the user interfaces of many GNU/Linux-powered devices. This year, for the second time, both communities have decided to organise a single, joint conference. We anticipate over a thousand participants, covering both projects as well as related technologies.
I firmly believe that this Event will embrace the ideas of sharing and collaboration and look forward to Meeting the KDE / GNOME Communities to learn and exchange ideas that can help all of us progress forward with Open Source Operating Systems and Software.
So if you are attending I would welcome meeting and networking with you. Best way to contact me would be on Twitter (@MeeGoExperts) or using the Contact Us Page. Also if you have Ideas / Apps to share that would also be welcome 😉
The History
The first Desktop Summit took place in 2009 in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, Spain. For the first time, the KDE and GNOME communities held their yearly meetings in the same location. The goal of this event was to share ideas and further collaboration between the two communities. This year, the conference hopes to go even further in that regard, offering many joint talks and workshops, in an event larger than ever before. Aiming for well over a thousand visitors Desktop Summit 2011 promises to be a great place to meet the best and brightest of the Free Desktop, learn about the latest cutting-edge technologies and help shape the future of Free Software!
Learn more about the previous Desktop Summit.
About Akademy
The KDE community held its first conference in Arnsberg, Germany in 1997 to discuss the first KDE release. Initially, each conference was numbered after the release which was discussed. Beginning in 2004 the conferences were named Akademy, with the first one once more in Germany. Now, another 6 years later, KDE returns again to Germany, but not alone!
Learn more about previous Akademy events.
About GUADEC
The story of GUADEC begins in Paris in 1998 where a number of GNOME developers who had worked together via the internet thought it might be nice to finally meet in real life. They have met at GUADEC every year since then. Like Akademy, GUADEC offers a wide array of excellent speakers from different sectors such as government and education, as well as community leaders. In particular, the technical talks given by the community are exceptional.
Learn more about previous GUADEC events.
See you there if you are Attending 🙂
