I’m getting back into public speaking this year, beginning with a talk I’m calling “The Git Historian.” It’s a topic that’s been on my mind for awhile. Here’s the abstract:

Your git repository’s log wants to tell you a story, with valuable clues about how your software became the thing of beauty (or horrible mess) that it is today. You just need to know how and where to look. In this talk, we’ll dig into a project’s history to learn how it evolved, using only the git command line utility to search through commits–no extra software required! To close, we’ll discuss how to leave good clues for future historians.

I’m excited to share that the talk has been accepted for this spring’s Kansas Linux Fest in Wichita, Kansas, May 13-14. I’ve given a number of talks at education-focused events over the years, but this is my first at a more technical conference. I’m looking forward to it.

To get some practice, I’ll be giving this talk a couple of times between now and then at local meetups. The first run will be at Lawrence Coders in Lawrence, Kansas, on March 21. The second will be at KC Ruby in May (to be formally scheduled).

I hope to see you at one of these events. If it goes well, then I also hope to shop it around to other conferences. In the meantime, if you know of a good fit, please let me know.