After some time ignoring my promise of posting regularly, here I am, back from Porto Alegre, to where I went for the sixth edition of the FISL (International Free Software Forum).

It was simply a great opportunity to get to know some people I only knew virtually, and mainly to meet once again some great friends I'm unfortunately only able to meet once every 6 months or so, like kov and Pri. I also ended up being introduced to some wonderful people who became good friends in no more than a day or two, like maddog.

However, nothing is perfect. Meeting these people was great while it lasted, but having to leave hurted a lot, as I knew it would take a long time for me to see them again. You never know how long it's really going to take, but you know it's a loooong time. Usually something like 6 months, that is really a lot for people you love =) As for maddog, I hope to meet him at IBM in São Paulo on Friday (it's only hope, for now, as I'm struggling to get any useful information about his talk and how to get inside the building), but don't expect to meet him again any time soon after that, either. Perhaps even longer, like a year.

Actually, I hoped this not to happen (having to wait so long to see friends again), but hoping is not enough. I'm trying to manage to get us together sooner than expected, but it's only ideas, for now. Let's see what I can do =)

As for the rest of the event, it's far bigger than it was last time I had been there, in 2003, and, consequently, many things have changed. Also, it's visibly not an event "designed" for hackers, but to general public, which includes users, non-users (curious), etc. As of now, I'm trying to remember and write down topics about everything that happened while I was there, and will leave it for another post (a summary of the event itself).