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    Friday, 30 August 2024

    Party like it's 2024

    It (was) that time of year again - last weekend we hosted a bunch of nice people at our place in Cambridge for the annual Debian UK OMGWTFBBQ!

    can you BBQ gin??

    Lots of friends, lots of good food and drink. Of course lots of geeky discussions about Debian, networking, random computer languages and... screws? And of course some card games to keep us laughing into each night!

    beer anyone?

    Many thanks to a number of awesome friendly people for again sponsoring the important refreshments for the weekend. It's hungry/thirsty work celebrating like this!

    18:24 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Sunday, 27 August 2023

    We're back!

    It's August Bank Holiday Weekend, we're in Cambridge. It must be the Debian UK OMGWTFBBQ!.

    We're about halfway through, and we've already polished off lots and lots of good food and beer. Lars is making pancakes as I write this, :-) We had an awesome game of Mao last night. People are having fun!

    Many thanks to a number of awesome friendly people for again sponsoring the important refreshments for the weekend. It's hungry/thirsty work celebrating like this!

    14:03 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Wednesday, 28 August 2019

    If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen...

    Wow, we had a hot weekend in Cambridge. About 40 people turned up to our place in Cambridge for this year's OMGWTFBBQ. Last year we were huddling under the gazebos for shelter from torrential rain; this year we again had all the gazebos up, but this time to hide from the sun instead. We saw temperatures well into the 30s, which is silly for Cambridge at the end of August.

    I think it's fair to say that everybody enjoyed themselves despite the ludicrous heat levels. We had folks from all over the UK, and Lars and Soile travelled all the way from Helsinki in Finland to help him celebrate his birthday!

    cake!

    We had a selection of beers again from the nice folks at Milton Brewery:
    is 3 firkins enough?

    Lars made pancakes, Paul made bread, and people brought lots of nice food and drink with them too.

    Many thanks to a number of awesome friendly companies for again sponsoring the important refreshments for the weekend. It's hungry/thirsty work celebrating like this!

    21:17 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Friday, 31 August 2018

    And lo, we sacrificed to the gods of BBQ once more

    As is becoming something of a tradition by now, Jo and I hosted another OMGWTFBBQ at our place last weekend. People came from far and wide to enjoy themselves. Considering the summer heatwave we've had this year, we were a little unlucky with the weather. But with the power of gazebo technology we kept (mostly!) dry... :-)

    I was too busy cooking and drinking etc. to take any photos myself, so here are some I sto^Wborrowed from my friends!

    We continued to celebrate Debian getting old:
    the cake is not a lie!
    Photo from Jonathan McDowell

    We had much beer from the nice folks at Milton Brewery:
    is 3 firkins enough?
    Photo from Rob Kendrick

    Much meat was prepared and cooked:
    very professional!
    Photo from Stefano Rivera

    And we had a lot of bread too!
    BREAD!
    Photo from Rob Kendrick

    Finally, many thanks to a number of awesome companies for again sponsoring the important refreshments for the weekend. It's hungry/thirsty work celebrating like this!

    03:24 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Friday, 25 August 2017

    Let's BBQ again, like we did last summer!

    It's that time again! Another year, another OMGWTFBBQ! We're expecting 50 or so Debian folks at our place in Cambridge this weekend, ready to natter, geek, socialise and generally have a good time. Let's hope the weather stays nice, but if not we have gazebo technology... :-)

    Many thanks to a number of awesome companies and people near and far who are sponsoring the important refreshments for the weekend:

    I've even been working on the garden this week to improve it ready for the event. If you'd like to come and haven't already told us, please add yourself to the wiki page!

    03:00 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Friday, 09 September 2016

    Time flies

    Slightly belated...

    Another year, another OMGWTFBBQ. By my count, we had 49 people (and a dog) in my house and garden at the peak on Saturday evening. It was excellent to see people from all over coming together again, old friends and new. This year we had some weather issues, but due to the delights of gazebo technology most people stayed mostly dry. :-)

    Also: thanks to a number of companies near and far who sponsored the important refreshments for the weekend:

    As far as I could tell, everybody enjoyed themselves; I know I definitely did!

    16:57 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Sunday, 25 March 2007

    Talk at GLLUG

    I've just got home after spending yesterday in London. I went along to a meeting of GLLUG, the Greater London Linux User Group, to give a talk about Debian. The slides are online (and remarkably similar to my last talk!) for those who may be interested. Then we adjourned to the pub; after all, GLLUG sounds rather like an incitement to drink (*grin*). I got caught up in some really good discussions at the meeting, and even found a couple more people who want to sponsor Debconf. Yay!

    I forgot to take my camera along, so I'm afraid I have no photos to share. Doh...

    19:25 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Wednesday, 22 November 2006

    LinuxWorld Expo in London, 25-26 October 2006

    We had a good, successful show again this year. The show itself seems to be continuing the trend of fewer visitors each year, but we're still seeing a good number of visitors at the Debian stand. Not many wanted to buy DVDs this year, another continuing trend. As Noodles found ("Use Debian! It's great!"), a large number of those visitors were already Debian users. The common questions were predictable:

    • When's Etch due?
    • What do you think of Ubuntu?

    Phil, Neil and I also took the opportunity to wander round the hall to try and pick up some more sponsors for Debconf next year, and this was very useful.

    The stand

    Thanks to all the people that helped, either by turning up on the stand or by organising the .org area. After all these years, it's still fun to turn up and help people find out more about Debian. :-)

    21:31 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Tuesday, 29 August 2006

    What day is it again?

    Another year, another party bigger than last year's. By my count, we had 56 people (and a dog) in my house and garden at the peak on Saturday evening. It was excellent to see people from all over: .fi, .nl, .no, .be, .it, .ch. And .uk, of course. Even the gods of weather were kind to us and held off on the rain that was forecast for Saturday. As far as I could tell, everybody enjoyed themselves; I know I definitely did!

    Same time, same place next year I guess... :-)

    12:23 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Monday, 29 August 2005

    There was a BBQ, and it was good...

    Despite looking like it may rain on Saturday, the weather was fine for the weekend. We had 44 people and a dog turn up on Saturday, and most of them stayed / returned for Sunday too. Lots of slightly-burnt meat, lots of beer, lots of geeking. Good fun all round!

    Simon and I have just about finished cleaning up; time to sleep soon...

    23:18 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Sunday, 20 March 2005

    Debian UK Society startup

    As Robster posted, we've set up a society in the UK called Debian UK, to allow us to create a proper bank account. I've just announced the details to the Debian-UK mailing list. The initial constitution and minutes of the founding meeting are up on the web too, (temporarily) here.

    18:53 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Monday, 30 August 2004

    Debian UK BBQ days 2 and 3

    It's been a long weekend. And fun. Thanks to everybody that turned up; everybody seems to have had a good time, and several people managed to get some work done in between the food and tetrinet games.

    See you all again at the Expo in October.

    23:42 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 1 comment

    Sunday, 29 August 2004

    Debian UK BBQ day 1

    04:30, and I'm going to bed. ~25 people for the day, and 8 crashing here tonight. Good party, and more tomorrow...!

    04:31 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments

    Wednesday, 07 July 2004

    UK party at my place

    Continuing in the long-standing tradition, I'm going to hold a barbecue at my place in Cambridge on the last weekend in August. As that's a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, it'll give us time for two days of eating, drinking and hacking...

    16:33 :: # :: /debian/uk :: 0 comments