Call for Sessions and FSF Award nominations have been extended until December 15. No news yet on whether Richard Stallman will be a speaker.
On Wednesday, the Free Software Foundation’s program manager, Zoë Kooyman, announced in a post on the organization’s website, that LibrePlanet 2022 will be held March 19 and 20 of next year, with the theme being “Living Liberation.” She also announced that the event’s Call for Sessions has been extended until December 15, 2021.
“This gives us time to get a little more organized, and more importantly, gives you the chance to make sure you’re a part of LibrePlanet 2022: Living Liberation!” she said.
Until last year when the event went online as a response to COVID-19, LibrePlanet has always been held at venues in the Boston area where the FSF is headquarted. While the event can be broadly classified as an open source conference, its ideology is more closely associated with the “free software” philosophy of Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation he founded, which is similar to open source but which diverges on key issues.
Will Stallman Speak?
Historically, LibrePlanet has featured a speech every year from both Stallman and John Sullivan, FSF’s executive director who is in the process of stepping down. We assume that both will speak at this year’s event, although we have been unable to verify that at press time.
Stallman, who resigned under fire from the FSF in 2019 after receiving negative publicity for defending Marvin Minsky, a tech pioneer and sometimes pal of Jeffrey Epstein, created something of a brouhaha at last year’s online event when he announced that he would be returning to the FSF as a member of the board.
That announcement was evidently unplanned and caught the leadership of both conference organizers and the leadership of the FSF off guard, and again brought a great deal of negative publicity to the organization from Stallman’s many detractors. It’s very likely that if Stallman does speak at the 2022, his presentation will be prerecorded and reviewed ahead of time.
Call for Sessions and FSF Awards
Other than “to get a little more organized,” the reason for extending the Call for Sessions beyond it’s original December 1 deadline is not known. Kooyman said the anyone who’s interested at being a presenter at the event can get more information from an earlier article announcing the CFS on the FSF website. Those wishing to apply to be a presenter can submit their proposals online.
“We are excited to read about your presentations, and we look forward to learning with you on March 19 and 20, for LibrePlanet 2022!” she said.
FSF Award nominations have also been extended until December 15.
“It’s time for us to show those community members and projects that we appreciate their vital work, by nominating them for an award in one of three categories: the Award for the Advancement of Free Software, the Award for Projects of Social Benefit, or the Award for Outstanding New Free Software Contributor. Don’t assume that someone else will nominate your chosen nominees — the committee does take into account the amount of times a project or person is nominated.”
