FAQ

Here are a few Frequently Asked Questions (with Answers) about GNOME3 Hackfest || GNOME.Asia:

General

Q: What is GNOME.Asia Summit?

A: GNOME.Asia Summit is an annual conference for GNOME users and developers in Asia. It brings together the GNOME community in Asia to provide a forum for users, developers, foundation leaders, governments and businesses to discuss both the present technologies and future developments. GNOME.Asia Summit has been held in Beijing, China in 2008 and Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam in 2009 and Taipai, Taiwan in 2010. For more details, please visit http://gnome.asia

Q: Am I qualified to attend the GNOME 3.0 Bangalore Hackfest ?

A: If your objective is to contribute (in terms of writing code or documentation or marketing, testing, developing artwork, etc.) then GNOME3 Hackfest is for you. The Hackfest is invitation only, but people from the community can put forth proposals about what they could work on or how they could contribute at the hackfest.   Invitations can be extended to anyone within the GNOME or Free Software community with a good, relevant idea to propose and the motivation to get involved.  By relevant proposal I mean something focused on the GNOME 3 launch, improving the GNOME community in Asia, etc.

Q. Who should attend GNOME.Asia summit ?

A. Students, professionals, programmers, developers, designers and anybody interested in GNOME.

Q: I am not a coder, nor a hacker, but I like GNOME. Should I still join?

A: GNOME.Asia is not just about the talks, it is about people meeting people, all of whom have a common interest – GNOME. Even if you do not attend a single talk, or participate in a single hack session, you will still find yourself busy all day, meeting people, discussing with them, visiting the expo where projects demonstrate their work, and much more.

Q: Who organizes and runs GNOME.Asia Summit?

A: GNOME.Asia is organized and run entirely by the GNOME.Asia committee and The GNOME Foundation. The event is completely non-commercial in nature, and does not represent the interests of any commercial entity. Sponsorship received is applied directly to the travel subsidy for speakers, accommodation and facilities provided at the venue, while delegate fee is used entirely for delegate food and refreshments.

Event

Q: Where do I register for GNOME 3.0 Bangalore Hackfest ?

A: http://live.gnome.org/Hackfests/GNOME.Asia2011

Q: Where do I register for GNOME.Asia summit 2011?

A: We are in process. Please stay tune.

Q: How much do I have to pay to participate in GNOME 3.0 Bangalore Hackfest ?

A. Nothing

Q: How much do I have to pay to participate in GNOME.Asia Summit 2011?

A: The delegate fee is Rs.500 (~ US $11). Bonafide students with school/college photo identity card get in for Rs.250 (~ US $5.5). Corporate attendees coming from companies, and who require a receipt, pay Rs.2000 (US $44). Spot registration is Rs.800 (US $17). The delegate fee covers lunch, coffee/tea and snacks for all event days for the delegate.

Q: Will you take credit cards or cheques for registration fee at the venue?

A: No. Please bring Indian currency notes or US dollars.

Q: How do I get to the venue?

A : Venue map http://www.dscengineering.org/contactus.php

Q. I want to give a talk in conference, Can I ?

A. Sure if your talk is about GNOME and / or Free and Open Source Software. Please read call for paper for more details and submit your talks for consideration.

Q. I am a student. But I have forgotten to bring my college ID. Can I still get the student concession?

A. No. Please remember to bring your college ID card.

Q: Will I get any material?

A: The delegates of GNOME.Asia will receive a delegate kit. Any other material will be provided only if the sponsors choose to do so. But after the conference, the slides of the talks will be put up for download.

Q: Will I be provided accommodation if I register as a delegate?

A : No. But you can look at recommended hotels (TBC)

Miscellaneous

Q. Do I need a laptop?

No. But we recommend that you get one if possible. It will help you to try out the various technologies showcased at the event. We recommend you have GNOME already running on it.

Q. Will there be Internet at the venue?

A. Yes. We will make sure that there is broadband connectivity available via WiFi. The configuration details will be provided at the venue.

Q: Will I get a certificate for attending GNOME.Asia ?

A: No. But for anybody who attended any GNOME training will have a certificate. (TBC)

Q: What is the refund policy?

A: There isn’t any, sorry.

Q: I have more questions, where do I ask?

A: Please send email to gnome-asia-list(at)gnome.org, which is the best place to ask about things related to the event.

Travel

Q: What are the transport options from Bengaluru International Airport ?

A: You can choose to take a bus or taxi as below:

1. BMTC {Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation} volvo bus service – From Airport take route number BIAS 11, get down at Padmanabhanagara and from there it's 1.5 km. You can take walk or hire an auto which should charge approximately Indian Rs. 20.

Volvo bus routes http://www.bmtcinfo.com/site/BSBusServicesRouteDetails.jsp?bsserviceid=1

1. Private cab service: Meru Cabs, Tel: 91-80-4422-4422 http://www.merucabs.com/

Please note that Meru Cabs are highly recommended but not the other brands that usually charge you more.

Q: What are the documents required to apply for Indian visa ?

A: Please read http://2011.gnome.asia/en/p/VISA2011/

Q: Whom should I contact for Visa invitation letter?

A: Please read http://2011.gnome.asia/en/p/VISA2011/

Can I get subsidy to join the conference?

The committee would consider to subsidize GNOME contributors and speakers to join the conference, please read http://live.gnome.org/GnomeAsia/CallForPaper and Please read http://live.gnome.org/Travel#How_to_apply_for_sponsorship if it is relevant to you.

For participants, we usually don't provide any subsidy however if you are not based in Bangalore, we are preparing to launch a live video streaming on the conference day so more people can enjoy the conference.

The main objective of the conference is to celebrate the GNOME 3.0 release, we also highly encourage you to organize a launch party in your area. For more details, please visit http://live.gnome.org/ThreePointZero/LaunchParty