BlueHackers: a decade

C2 | Wed 23 Jan | 4:45 p.m.–5:30 p.m.


Presented by

  • Arjen Lentz
    @ArjenLentz
    http://lentz.com.au/

    Arjen has a C programming background from way back, since broadening to tech writing and training at MySQL, and running Open Query Pty Ltd. In programming space he has particular experience with low level communications and protocols. He has launched various initiatives including BlueHackers.org, and was a founding director of Open Source Industry Australia, Inc. In recent years Arjen has taken time to go back to his life-long passion for education, and improving students' school experience. Sometimes he dabbles in programming again.

Abstract

It started with Arjen doing the last lightning talk at OSDC 2008… a quick show of hands on who else had dealt with (or was dealing with) depression and related matters. Everybody had a look around, and thus knew that they weren’t alone. Afterwards, there was more positive feedback which continued over email in the days that followed. Someone suggested starting a group, and bluehackers.org was born. What started as a spur of the moment thing actually turned out to be a neat idea, and we've done some good since. Elsewhere on the planet, others have started similar initiatives - fabulous! Sadly, we have also lost a number of fellow community members over the years, which tells us that this is an important topic that we can't let drop off the radar. I know that we've also saved some lives, and from that we know that we can make a real difference. In this talk, we'll review where we've been and where we might go in the future. We'll also look at the relationship between mental health and our industry, and how the broader public is increasingly also closer to our space. Since we've been there longer, we have gained some insights that could benefit more people. Linux Australia: http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2019/c2/Wednesday/Bluehackers_a_decade.webm YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzw5CLGKo9k