Re: [guadec-list] What's in it for me?

["Jeremiah C. Foster" <jeremiah jeremiahfoster com>]

On Mon, May 25, 2015 at 11:58:46AM +0200, michael isberg posteo de wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Maybe I'm in the wrong place but I'm a GNOME desktop user and eventually I
> want to develop an application in the GNOME/GTK+ environment.

Then you may want to hang around for the hackfests on the 10th to the
12th. Oh, and look out for talks during the regular conference on
things like builder: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Builder.

> Would attending GUADEC benefit me in any way, even if I'm just a plain user?

For me, one of the most important things, if not *the* most important,
about Free Software is the community. I have made a ton of friends
from all over the world thanks to the communities I'm in. 

> Apart from meeting very nice people.

That is the point in the end. Software and technology are just the
pretext for the community. That we get together under a shared banner
that we've all pretty much chosen freely is pretty rare in this
world. In many of the Free Software communities, like GNOME, people
accept you for what you've contributed to the community. That's quite
a refreshing way to measure someone's character.

Cheers,

Jeremiah