On Wed, Nov 2, 2016 at 10:29 PM, S Moonesamy <sm+mu_at_elandsys.com> wrote:
> Hi Logan,
>
> I read your comments about "Qu'est-ce qu'un Hackathon". At
> https://youtu.be/vCWZgE57pAs?t=48 you may notice that credit was given to
> OpenBSD for the word "hackathon". I congratulated Vincent as this is the
Hello SM,
The video correctly credits OpenBSD for the word hackathon. Hackers.mu
has been heavily influenced by OpenBSD when we organized the first
Linux hackathon in Mauritius, codename Operation S.A.D. I believe that
Operation S.A.D was structured very closely to how OpenBSD hackathons
are organized. The video is misleading in that aspect: no mention of
Operation S.A.D hackathon, or code competitions, that happened before
the krakathon.
> first time in Mauritius where there is a programming event with a cash prize
> of Rs 50,000 and it is difficult to dispute the way the winner is chosen. A
> person interested in evaluating his/her programming skills would compete in
> such an event.
We are happy to see the positive influence of hackers.mu hackathon on
the krakathon even if there are some fundamental differences. The
black t-shirts, free food & free wifi match closely what we did during
Operation S.A.D :)
What is different in our case is that there are no participation fees.
Hackers.mu has provided free food, transport cost reimbursement, and
free wifi with no participation cost to our members, thanks to our
sponsors.
>
> Nowadays, there are different types of hackathons. Some of those events
> provide an opportunity for job offers. It can also be a way to determine
> whether a company is as good as what is published on its "Facebook Page".
> :-)
We are happy to see other groups organizing developer events in
Mauritius, even if there are variations in structure and goal,
compared to hackathons the OpenBSD/hackers.mu way.
Concerning job offers, I think that Nitin Mutkawoa is a good example.
He started as a technician, then honed his skills as a member of
hackers.mu, and later became the package maintainer for monit in
OpenSuse. By doing so, he became the first OpenSuse developer from
Mauritius. He is currently working as a devops, and is having fun in
the US.
What is sad in the case of hackers.mu is the brain drain that caused
many of our members to move overseas due to lack of competitive
packages from the local IT industry. (2 members working overseas + 1
member studying overseas)
>
> Regards,
> S. Moonesamy
>
Received on Wed Nov 02 2016 - 19:47:03 PST