The Norwegian Unix User Group was founded in 1984, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary on August 10. A short while ago, I was approached by a member of the organizing team (whom I shall not name) and asked to speak at the event as a representative of the Norwegian BSD community. I was given no information about the event beyond what was expected of me (a 30-minute presentation on the topic of my choice) and the names of some of the other speakers. After some hesitation, as I was having a hard time coming up with a topic that I felt would fit the occasion, I initially accepted.
One thing I found odd was that NUUG’s own event calendar (archive) has no information about the event beyond a time and a place. I get that the list of speakers is not yet finalized, even though there’s less than a month to go, but there is literally nothing beyond “more information to come”. All the links just point back to the same page.
![](https://blog.des.no/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-3.png)
This morning, someone pointed out to me that there is a registration page (archive) for the event (which, again, NUUG’s own website does not link to or even mention!) with extensive information about the event. And that information… is not good.
![Screenshot of a portion of the registration page for NUUG's 40th anniversary celebration, which includes the finale of Miss Norway 2024 and an opportunity to take photos with the contestants.](https://blog.des.no/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-4-420x1024.png)
tl;dr: the event is collocated with the Miss Norway 2024 finals and attendees are promised opportunities to have their pictures taken with the winners and runners-up.
WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK, NUUG?
It goes without saying that I will not be speaking at this event. I will try to turn my presentation (which I’d only outlined, not written yet) into a blog post, but no promises. It would have been a reflection on what “Unix” actually means (beyond the simple fact of the trademark) and how that has changed over the years.
If you’re a member (and perhaps even if you’re not), I encourage you to contact NUUG and let them know your thoughts on this matter.
EDIT: I have written to NUUG to ask them to either change their plans for the event, in which case I will be happy to attend and speak, or cancel my membership. I will update this post again when (if) they respond.
EDIT 2024-08-07: I have yet to receive an official response from NUUG. I’ve been told out-of-band that my email has been received and my membership canceled, but I appear to still be on the mailing list. In the meantime, Norwegian magazine kode24 has written a piece on the topic, citing my tweet and this blog post, which kicked up a bit of a fuss on Twitter. Knut Yrvin chose to respond directly to my month-old tweet with a strawman and insults while Malin Bruland rode to his defense with the same strawman. I am not impressed.