Developers Workshop 2005

The workshop logo was created by WiZard

The OS/2 and eComStation Developers Workshop 2005 will be held on the weekend of 09. and 10. July 2005 in Dresden, Germany.
If you are a webmaster and want to help us tell the OS/2 and eComStation community about this workshop, feel free to use the workshop logo on right hand side. For example, you can place it on your web page and link to the workshop homepage. If you require a larger version of the image, simply send an email to the organizers. An email address can be found in the Contact section. A banner version of the logo is also [available], and a small version is [here]!

News Items

21 Jun 2005     the Firewire session has a more detailed description now
20 Jun 2005     added a presentation from Stefan Neis about wxWidgets
08 Jun 2005     Description of some presentations are now online
04 Jun 2005     And one more presentation, about GUIs and FORTRAN
01 Jun 2005     Added a presentation by Adrian Gschwend about netlabs.org
26 May 2005     Added workshop location description and how to get there
12 May 2005     Added another presentation on USB WebCams
11 Apr 2005     Developers Workshop Merchandising available through the [netlabs.org shop]!
06 Apr 2005     Online shop opened - you can purchase tickets now!
01 Apr 2005     And another presentation
31 Mar 2005     Two presentations added
22 Mar 2005     Workshop logo as banner added
16 Mar 2005     More information in the registration section
09 Mar 2005     Information about announcement mailing list added
06 Mar 2005     Added another presentation
02 Mar 2005     Workshop logo added
01 Mar 2005     Added the first three presentations
28 Feb 2005     Added some hotels to the accomodation section
26 Feb 2005     First travel information available
25 Feb 2005     Added some information about registration, program and location
22 Feb 2005     Initial website online, the old one used to prepare the workshop is here

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Registration

People that want to attend the workshop have to register online. We use the Mensys online shop for registration. This shop is secure and offers a number of different ways to pay the registration fee. (including transferring money to a (German) bank account if you do not have a credit card!) The shop was used for the registration for the last Warpstock Europe and has worked very well.
While it will be possible to register at the checkin desk, we strongly suggest not doing this. Why? Because we have to know how many people are attending the workshop! (at least, roughly!) We have the possibility to rent more or larger rooms depending on the number of participants, but this only works in advance!
We know that some people make a last minute decision to participate and that is OK with us. However, if you already know that you want to attend, please use the online shop to register!

The final prices for the event are:
40 EUR for a two day registration
25 EUR for a one day registration
The prices include a limited number of drinks and snacks. Lunch and other meals have to be paid separately. The registration fee is also used to pay the travel costs for at least one developer from the Ukraine. In addition, we offer Workshop Sponsor units that will also be used for that purpose.

If you want to register now, you can do that [here].

If it turns out that things are cheaper or that, for whatever reason, we cannot arrange for the visit of the developer from the Ukraine, we will have some money left over! All money that is left over, will be used to pay for lunch at the event! It is simply too difficult to transfer money back to every participant, but we can pay for parts of the lunch. That makes lunch cheaper for every participant!! After all, people have to eat. :-) We do think, that this is fair. We do not intend to make any money with this event!

If you have some comments about the registration process or the registration fee, please send us an email! An email address can be found in the Contact section.

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Workshop Program

We will be offering short "introduction to a topic" style sessions as well as larger "detailed information" sessions. We are currently in the process of creating the workshop program.
If you want to participate actively, and have an interesting topic to present, please contact:
DevelopersWorkshop [at] netlabs.org

The following presentations are already sheduled:

Sebastian Wittmeier	Porting X Applications to PM with Everblue
	The Everblue project aims at running ported Unix GUI applications on OS/2 PM, similar to what Odin does for Windows applications. To be exact, it is a wrapper Xlib -> PM. In this presentation I tell you, how to compile Everblue, how to use Everblue for your own ports, and how to bugfix or add functionality. I will conclude with an overview, how much is implemented, and what is still missing.
Alexandr Cherkaev	Creating an OS/2 IEEE 1394 - Firewire driver
	In this presentation I present Firewire for os/2-ecs project. The following topics will be covered: 1: quick introduction to firewire. History, bus architecture overview, advantages. 2: Firewire stack for os/2: functions, calling conventions, how it works together. 3: Build environment. 4: Writing driver for firewire stack.
Jan van Wijk	Developing cross-platform text-based applications in C using the OpenWatcom compiler on OS/2
Peter Weilbacher	Mozilla Compilation and Development Procedures
	In this presentation I will try to give an overview of the current status and issues of Mozilla development on OS/2. I will demonstrate how to set up the build system and start a build, how to use Mozilla's Bugzilla. After an overview of the source directory structure, I will demontrate how to go about fixing bugs in different layers of the code, both for the Mozilla Suite and the Firefox browser. I will conclude with a summary of the future Mozilla development and what needs to be done to make it happen on OS/2.
Bart van Leeuwen	Development roadmap for eComStation
Jacques van Leeuwen, Jan van der Heide	Translating eComStation
	This session will be about two things: 1st. Problems where translators might run into and how to solve them when starting with translating eComStation or any other program or document. It is a kind of lessons learnt from our eCS translation into Dutch. 2nd. Things that developers should know about the original translating process on which the translation of hard- and software items was organized within IBM. IBM has, as a professional organization, it's rules and guidelines. We can learn from them on how to organize the translation process in a volunteer organization. Our objective is: "Without a good translation no product has a chance to succeed in non English speaking countries" Jan van der Heide is still working for IBM NL as a DBA and in Reporting Jacques van Leeuwen is former employee of the Dutch Translation department of IBM NL.
Exigen Corporation Latvia	OS/2 USB Stack Development Guidelines
	This session will cover the OS/2 USB stack architecture. After a short introduction and some facts on the history, the development environment will be discussed and a driver template will be presented. Detailed information about the interfaces of the USB stack will be given. At the end, new features of the usbmsd driver and known bugs will be discussed.
Vladyslav Stelmakhovskyy	Supporting USB WebCams in OS/2
	The WebCam presentation will contain the following information: 1. WebCams introdution. USB stack changes. 2. Present: what we have now. Supported cameras. WebCam API. Current status. WebCam applications. 3. Future: API enhancements. Future applications. Planned supporting cameras. Problems with new WebCams.
Adrian Gschwend	netlabs.org - What's up?
	netlabs.org provides software for the OS/2 and eCS platform since 1997, meanwhile a lot changed in the IT and OSS industry. So it is time to summarize the current state of OS/2 and eCS and do an outlook about what could be done and what can't be done in the future.
Robin Haberkorn	FORTRAN/TK: Easy GUI development for OS/2 and Windows
	FORTRAN/TK is a kind of wrapper to the Tk-Toolkit for the Open Watcom FORTRAN 77 compiler. It's based on the Rexx/Tk library. In my speech, I want to give a short overview about how to use FORTRAN/TK and the actual API, as well as about potential appliances. I will demonstrate everything with practical examples. Furthermore, I will talk about the current status of the project, remaining problems and its future.
Stefan Neis	wxWidgets - a cross platform toolkit and its OS/2 versions
	In this session I plan to talk about three different questions: - What is wxWidgets? Here, I'll give a short overview over the most important features and concepts of wxWidgets, possibly also a look on a short "hello, world"-like sample program to give everyone a feeling on how to use it from the application developper point of view. - How can I use it on OS/2? That part is dedicated to the different ports that are more or less usable on OS/2 and how to compile them. Also, I'll warn about some typical problems in the build process and how to solve them. - How well do the different ports work, what remains to be done? After discussing the application developper point of view and an area that's relevant to both library developpers and library users, this is going to focus on the library developper point of view and the current deficiencies of the native port.

Schedule

It should be noted that we will not have sessions in parallel! (So you will not miss a session because it runs at the same time as another interesting session!).
Here is a first schedule for Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday Morning	OS/2 USB Stack Development Guidelines
	Supporting USB WebCams in OS/2
	wxWidgets - a cross platform toolkit and its OS/2 versions
Saturday Afternoon	netlabs.org - What's up?
	Discussion about netlabs.org and OS/2 Software Development
	Developing cross-platform text-based applications in C using the OpenWatcom compiler on OS/2
	FORTRAN/TK: Easy GUI development for OS/2 and Windows
Saturday Evening	Get-together in a restaurant in the center of Dresden
Sunday Morning	Porting X Applications to PM with Everblue
	Development roadmap for eComStation
	Translating eComStation
Sunday Afternoon	Creating an OS/2 IEEE 1394 - Firewire driver
	Mozilla Compilation and Development Procedures

Saturday Evening
Participants of the Developers Workshop have the chance to get together on Saturday evening for an informal chat. We will have a couple of tables in a restaurant in the center of Dresden. If you have not been contacted yet, and would like to join, please let us know by sending an eMail to DevelopersWorkshop [at] netlabs.org

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Workshop Location

The workshop will be held in the beautiful city of Dresden, Germany. Here are a few pictures of Dresden:

The historic center of Dresden.

The Semper Opera.

The AMD plant in Dresden. All Athlons and Opterons are produced here.

Dresden is located in the east of Germany.

The workshop itself will be held in the Willers-Bau, a building of the Dresden University of Technology. The university campus is located close to the center, just 5 minutes by bus or tram.

The address of the Workshop location is:
TU-Dresden
Willers-Bau A-221
Zellescher Weg 12
01069 Dresden

For a larger version click here

For a larger version click here

As you can see on the images, if you are coming by car you should be able to park right next to the Willers-Bau. The parking lot is protected by a gate that should be open on Saturday and Sunday. (If not, let the person on the intercom know that you take part in a workshop in the Willers-Bau and want to park your car.)
Next to the Willers-Bau is the SLUB, the "Saechsiche Landes und Universitaetsbibliothek", the university library. If you see signs to SLUB, you can follow them as well. (but do not use the SLUB parking lot, as you have to pay there!!)
In addition, any decent route planer should be able to locate the address above.

If you want to use public transportation from your hotel to the workshop location, you can use the new DORIS information system.
First, add the "Starthaltestelle". This is the station close to your hotel. The easiest way to do this is use the "Karte Start" button on the right side of the entry field. Locate your hotel, and the closest bus or tram station.
Second, enter "Fritz Foerster Platz" as the "Zielhaltestelle".
Now click the "Verbindung suchen" button and you will be presented with a list of possible connections from your hotel to the workshop location. You should be able to see the Willers-Bau from the "Fritz Foerster Platz". (if not, walk along the "Zellscher Weg" eastwards.

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Getting to Dresden

If you plan a trip to Dresden and need any advice or help, do not hesitate to contact the organizers. An email address can be found in the Contact section.
By Train
Dresden can be reached by train very easy. The following table shows the travel time by train from some european cities to Dresden:

Berlin	2 hours
Bern	8 hours 40 minutes
Brussels	roughly 8 hours
Budapest	9 to 10 hours
Frankfurt a.M.	4 hours 30 minutes
Hamburg	4 hours 20 minutes
Leipzig	1 hour 20 minutes
Munich	roughly 7 hours
Prague	2 hours 20 minutes
Vienna	7 to 8 hours
Warsaw	8 to 10 hours

For more information please visit http://www.bahn.de.

By Car
Dresden can be reached by car! :-)

By Plane
Dresden has an airport with a large number of national and some international connections. If there is no direct flight from your city, a connection via Frankfurt a.M., Munich, Leipzig or Berlin is usually available.
Flying to Leipzig or Berlin Schoenefeld is particularily attractive, as there are direct train connections from those airports to Dresden.
Cheap flight to Dresden are currently available from:

Airline	From	URL
DBA	Munich	http://www.flydba.com
Germanwings	Stuttgart	http://www.germanwings.com/
Germanwings	Cologne-Bonn	http://www.germanwings.com/

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Accomodation

You can use the following websites to find hotels in Dresden. They are in no particular order and we do list them for your information only! (You are looking for hotels in the south of Dresden.)
http://www.hrs.de
http://hotel.de/
http://opodo.de/
http://www.expedia.de

The following hotels are close to the workshop location.
4-star Hotel
Mercure Newa Dresden - http://www.mercure.com/mercure/fichehotel/gb/mer/1577/fiche_hotel.shtml
The Mercure Newa Dresden is also located in the city center, and the conference location can be reached by tram in about 4 minutes. (just 3 stops)

2-to-3-star Hotels
Ibis Dresden Königstein - link
Ibis Dresden Lilienstein - link
Ibis Dresden Bastei - link
Ibis operates three hotels in Dresden. All are located next to each other and very close to the Mercure Newa Dresden and the city center. The conference location can be reached in about 4 minutes. (same route as from the Mercure Newa Dresden)

Youth Hostel Style:
City-Herberge Dresden - http://city-herberge.de/
The City-Herberge is right in the center of Dresden. The conference location can be reached by tram in about 5 minutes.(5 stops)

Camping Site:
There is a nice camping site in Dresden-Mockritz, just 8 to 10 minutes by bus or car from the workshop location.
Campingplatz Dresden-Mokritz - http://www.camping-dresden.de/

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Gallery

The [netlabs.org shop] has a couple of items for sale that are related to the Developers Workshop 2005:

This is only a small selection. For a complete list of items see the [netlabs.org shop].

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Contact

If you have comments or want further information about the workshop, you can always reach us by sending an eMail to:
DevelopersWorkshop [at] netlabs.org
Robert Henschel is mainly responsible for organizing the workshop.

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Announcement Mailing List

We have created an announcement mailing list for the workshop. Only the organizers of the workshop can send emails to the list and the email addresses will only be used to distribute information about the workshop.
If you want to receive up to date information about the workshop, please write an email to:
DevelopersWorkshop [at] netlabs.org
Subject: Announcement Mailing List