Re: [lp-ca-on] FSOSS 2015 Accepting Presentation Proposals

[Blaise Alleyne]

On 13/07/15 09:56 PM, Sergio Durigan Junior wrote:
> On Monday, July 13 2015, Blaise Alleyne wrote:
> 
>> On 13/07/15 12:22 AM, Sergio Durigan Junior wrote:
>>> On Sunday, July 12 2015, Blaise Alleyne wrote:
>>>> [...]
>>>> - Presentations that any of us might want to make individually (Sergio 
>>>> presented
>>>> on gdb last year, and I spoke about software freedom and net services)
>>>
>>> [...] If I manage to go to FSOSS this year, I'll want to talk about
>>> something else.  Some of you know about my idea of creating a Free
>>> solution for tax reports on Canada; maybe I could at least expose the
>>> problem and start a brainstorm to solve this?
>>>
>>
>> I think that could be an interesting talk, though maybe with a bit of a 
>> broader
>> scope? Many people hate filing taxes, or work with a professional who handles
>> that anyways. [...]
> 
> Itches, itches...  :-).  I am personally very concerned about next
> year's tax report season; I will probably have to resort to a
> proprietary solution once more (this year I used H&R's "expertise", but
> I don't feel any better knowing that they have used proprietary software
> themselves).  OTOH, an "accounting solution" is not something I'm
> desperately needing (although I recognize its importance, of course), so
> I certainly wouldn't be the best person to talk about it.
> 
> As for your other (valid) point that many people hate filing taxes
> themselves and choose to ask for professional guidance, I could feel
> that this year.  Nevertheless, the professionals are still using
> proprietary software, so we should address them when giving the talk
> (yeah, I know, I don't think many accountants will attend FSOSS, but
> still...).
> 

Well, while I think a kind of "practical guide to using free software in
everyday life" would bring out more people, an itch-scratching depth-first case
study kind of talk into this particular problem about using free software to
income tax filing in Canada could still be really compelling. (I would want to
hear it!)

It also might surface a bunch of other issues:

- areas of professional practice or niche needs that need focused effort to
bring free software solutions
-- you'd really need a tax specialist to advise software developers, and to keep
current with all the changes annually, for this to become a reliable solution on
an ongoing basis, right?

- government regulations or assumptions that favour proprietary software? I'm
not sure if this is the case for NETFILE or income taxes? What would it take to
get a free software application listed on the certified applications for NETFILE
by the CRA?
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/esrvc-srvce/tx/ndvdls/netfile-impotnet/crtfdsftwr/menu-eng.html


Anyways, even though I was brainstorming for some broader appeal topics, I still
think there could be some real importance to a talk on this particular subject.
(Plus, even if tax professionals aren't attending the tax at FSOSS, if it's
filmed and available online [though, on YouTube -- another subject], then it's
not only limited to those in attendance.)