Transcript:

The submissions for FluConf 2025 have just closed. I put my talk submission in yesterday. I have no idea if it will be accepted yet, but I've proposed a topic that I've been thinking about for a long time.

It's called "Zen and the Art of Multicast - An Inquiry into Technology and Values".

Years ago I read Robert M Pirsig's book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", and his chautauquas on the nature of quality, and the dichotomy of classical and romantic thought. It's a book that's stayed with me through the years, although I gave away my copy a long time ago. I bought it again and re-read it last year to look once again at Pirsig's ideas on quality and how they fit with my own views of human rights, technology and what we're trying to achieve in the Librecast Project.

If you've not read it, I recommend it. If you have read it, but not for a while, consider reading it again. With more life experience behind me I found a lot more in there than I did the first time. For a book on philosophy it's very approachable and engaging with Pirsig's ideas woven into the storytelling.

In the presentation I want to start a conversation about quality in technology, and the place that our values have in shaping the technological design decisions that we make.

A discipline like programming is both Art and Science, and the success of any project depends on defining our values in advance. If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there, but if you care where you end up it helps to make a map.

A huge thanks to FluConf for putting together an accessible, Covid-safe conference for everyone. The lack of accessible conferences in Europe with robust public health policies continues to exclude people. If you look carefully at the programmes for certain conferences it's very telling that so many of the regular speakers you'd expect to see are no longer there.

I hope to be talking to you about Zen and the Art of Multicast at FluConf 2025. See you then.

https://fluconf.online/