There is a nice lie out there. A lot of people want to believe it. They think by believing this lie it will somehow increase something for them. In some ways that is true. If you want what you are doing to be about you. If you are a believer in Open Source, it isn't about you. It is about the community and bettering that community as a whole.

If we provide the videos of our sessions for free, you won't attend the conference.

The PgConf US conference grows every year and guess what, they provide their videos for free.

If you pay for the conference, we will provide the videos for free.

LinuxFest Northwest which is larger than PgConf US, PgConf EU, Postgres Vision and Char(16) combined also grows every year and provides their videos for free. It is also free to attend.

The next time someone says, "You won't show if we give you videos" or "Maybe if you paid to come", I recommend you attend an Open Source conference that follows Open Source values.

That isn't to say that it isn't a conference's right to not give free videos. Of course it is. It is also your right to only attend conferences about Open Source that embrace what Open Source is about. There is a reason I only speak at non-profit or community run conferences. I want to contribute to the greater good. That is also the reason why Command Prompt only sponsors community run or non-profit conferences.

That is also not to say that for-profit conferences about Open Source are bad. They aren't and more power to you if you can find a way to make money off a conference about Open Source. It is to say that Open Source conferences should follow Open Source values. If you are going to record and you are an Open Source conference, give the recording away.

Merry Christmas & Tally Ho!