Linux-Meetup Gatineau, September 5, 2026
🏢 In person: Restaurant with a private room to be determined
💻 Virtual on BigBlueButton: https://bbb3.services-conseils-linux.org/Rencontres-Linux
Notice to all Linux enthusiasts in the Gatineau area!
Do you want to meet other users and experts in Linux systems and free software? Martial is organizing a friendly gathering over a good meal to combine the useful with the enjoyable (from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM).
We will meet in a restaurant with an atmosphere conducive to exchange. We will have access to a private room with a projector to facilitate the sharing of tips and tricks and maximize discussion among participants.
📋 On the agenda
- 11:00 - Networking period and dinner at the restaurant
- 12:00 - Welcome, opening remarks, and roundtable
- 12:30 to 15:00 - Presentations:
[1] OSCAR: how to learn more about your sleep with your CPAP [Jean-Francois Messier]
Presentation of OSCAR (the Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter)
An open-source software on Linux designed to analyze and explore the data produced by CPAP devices and other devices used in the treatment of sleep apnea.
Biography :
Graduated from UQAH (now UQO) with a bachelor's degree in computer science (1988). Worked in the federal public service for 35 years, always in IT, now retired. My last 15 years were spent working with Linux, including the last 5 as a team leader for Linux support for 4 departments at SPC. I am now teaching Linux at Algonquin College (Ottawa) since October 2023 (part-time).
Target audience:
CPAP machine users, designed to facilitate breathing during sleep. I would say 40+ years, but that's open to debate.
[2] Open-Source Observability: the case is pesto [Rock Martel-Langlois]
From garden sensors to production servers: what if we observed everything thanks to open-source software?
Rock will kick off by demystifying metrics through everyday examples and a classic IT infrastructure. Then, he will lay the groundwork for what observability was before a wave of freedom from open-source software came to revolutionize everything with OpenTelemetry. He will briefly present this standard and the pillars of the technology stack (Prometheus and the Grafana ecosystem), before making an unexpected leap into gardening. By comparing the health of plants to that of servers, he will bridge these two worlds. The result: a playful and captivating approach, guaranteed to be 100% accessible, even for the uninitiated!
Biography:
Passionate about Linux, free software, and self-hosting since the age of 14 (I am now 41), I worked for 15 years at Bell/SME (BIMS), then went to teach English in Thailand for 2 years. I returned to Canada and worked for the University of Ottawa for 3 years, where I developed a passion for automation (notably Ansible) and monitoring. In 2020, during the pandemic, INSPQ came to recruit me to take charge of the vaccination registry operations, where I further expanded my expertise and took on the role of an SRE within the DevOps team in the SIPMI team (Information System for the Protection against Infectious Diseases).
Target audience:
Enthusiasts of self-hosting, monitoring, and gardening - but I will try to make this interesting for everyone (I did it at INSPQ in other contexts)
[3] NixOS for the common person [Vincent Perrier]
Vincent will explain the value that a user familiar with Linux can gain from NixOS.
NixOS is a unique Linux distribution built around the Nix package manager. Unlike traditional distributions (such as Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora) where the system is modified imperatively over time (by installing or removing packages one by one), NixOS relies on a declarative approach. You describe the desired state of your system in a single configuration file, and the system takes care of applying it.
Biography:
Linux user for a very long time. I have experience in industrial IoT, high-performance embedded systems, and various application optimization.
Target audience:
Public familiar with Linux and system administration.
Open to everyone, from beginner to expert 🧑💻
Our meeting welcomes a diversity of profiles: students, professionals, managers, programmers, professors, or retirees. Whether your passion is system administration, development, or everyday use, your experience is valuable. Together, we can deepen our understanding of free software and contribute to a dynamic community.
Participation is free and a door prize will be offered by draw at the end of the meeting!
Join us for this exceptional opportunity to socialize, learn, and make connections! We can't wait to welcome you there.
Martial Bigras