Systems Meetup Dresden

Also known as Mikrokernstammtisch or ukvly meetup from before 2019.

About & Topics

A regular meetup for all people in Dresden and the surrounding area working in systems context. This includes but is not limited to:

  • ARM, RISC-V, x86
  • Academia and Associated Research
  • Device Drivers
  • Firmware
  • Operating Systems
  • Virtualization

Typically, we have 20-30 attendees.

Core Values

  • Friendly and open-minded environment
  • "Du"-Anrede highly encouraged
  • We always switch to English, if non-native speakers prefer so
  • Keep it simple. No big processes. Meet, talk, and have fun!
  • Our Code of Conduct (the state from 2024-05-24 is the reference)
  • Everyone interested in the field is welcome. This includes students and people with little knowledge and experience so far.
  • Event for people, not for companies

Past Meetups

Our third and largest meetup to date brought together 32 attendees at the APB building, hosted by Prof. Horst Schirmeier. The evening featured four engaging lightning talks:

  1. Latest Updates on Open Source Contributions – Alexander Böttcher, Genode Labs
  2. 2024 in Microkernels – Martin Decky, Kernkonzept
  3. Attestation in Confidential Computing – Muhammad Usama Sardar, TU Dresden, Chair of Systems Engineering
  4. The Troubles of Inserting VMI Breakpoints into User Space – Lukas Beierlieb, Cyberus Technology

After that, we had drinks and pizza with lively technical discussions until 22:15 o'clock.

Systems Meetup at TU Dresden Lukas Beierlieb presenting his work on SmartVMI

We had our second meetup at the Barkhausen Institute near Postplatz. Although it was summer vacation time, we gathered 15 people from various companies and educational/research institutions. After an interesting lightning talk by Michael Roitzsch (BI), a lively discussion about the M3 research project followed.

Snacks and Drinks Demonstrator of the M3 Architecture

This was the first meetup after the long Corona break. Previously, the meetup was called Mikrokernstammtisch. Now, it is called systems meetup. We had 28 attendees from multiple local companies and the TU dresden. It was a great kick-off! The event had pizza and drinks sponsored by Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen GmbH.

Organization

  • We have one main organizer and an event host that changes from event to event. Currently, Philipp Schuster takes care of the general coordination, whereas the changing event host provides a room and prepares a setup to give presentations etc.
  • We try using the meetups to coordinate future hosts, dates, and locations.
  • Lightning talks are appreciated. This depends however on the location. We inform you in the announcements.
  • Paid drinks and food are not guaranteed but likely! We will update the next meetup info accordingly. Typically, we have pizza 🍕 and drinks 🍻. In case you have a location and want to host, but have no funding, we have companies in our community who might be happy to sponsor your event. Feel free to reach out! Hint: Pizza and drinks for 30 people cost ~300 Euro.
  • Philipp Schuster currently maintains a list of email addresses and helps with sending out announcements.

Known Participants

Usually we have attendees of people working at:

  • Amazon
  • Barkhausen Institut
  • Cyberus Technology
  • Genode Labs
  • Kernkonzept
  • TU Dresden (especially the Operating Systems Chair of Prof. Horst Schirmeier)
  • and many more ...

Announcement and Discussion Channels

For discussions, I'm kindly asking you to use the provided Matrix channel rather than email, if possible. I'm nevertheless happy to respond to emails as well.

When and Where

Every 3-4 months, usually on a Thursday 18:00 to 22:00 o'clock. The location changes. Feel free to reach out and host a meetup!

Trivia

Dresden has a rich ecosystem of companies and research in the field of operating systems and systems engineering in general. Especially, between ~2000 and ~2017, there was a "golden era" of microkernels, both in academia and various local companies. That's where the term ukvly (microkernel valley) originates from.