Warp, Weft, and Code: Textiles as the Hidden Foundation of Computation

Talk by Amy Fermanian https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x/presentations/warp-weft-and-code-textiles-hidden-foundation-computation What do looms, Linux, and open-source communities have in common? More than you might think. This talk uncovers the surprising computational depth of textiles where patterns function like algorithms, fabrics behave like data structures, and some of the earliest programmable machines were built. Attendees will leave with a new understanding of how deeply computation is rooted in craft and why the cultural values of repairability, transparency, and user modification link weavers and open-source developers across centuries. If you’ve ever wanted to see computation from a completely different angle, this talk will change how you think about both craft and code.