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From The Australian LinuxExpo
After more than 24 hours of airport/airplane limbo and uncountable time-zone changes, we arrived in Sydney. After 20 hours of sleep, I was almost ready to face the world outside of my hotel room.
The Australian LinuxExpo is held in Darling Harbor in Sydney, which is apparently the epicenter of all Australian tourist activity. The exchange rate is nice tho, so if I wanted to to buy boomerangs or didgeridoos or something, it'd be easy. You can't walk 20 feet without stumbling into a tourist-trap store.
The show itself is fairly typical for a Linux conference. Of course, without a Slashdot booth to hide out in, I'm spending time at either the Debian Booth (hooray! Debian is international!) or at the LinuxCare booth: this sucker is two stories. The ground floor is a little stage where Tridge and others preach their word, and upstairs is a PC graveyard with boxes ranging from iBooks, G4s and Ultra 5s to various laptops, all plugged in to the Net. This is of course where I write this.
Many of the usual suspects are here: SGI, Red Hat, Corel, LinuxCare, Pick, Debian. Absent are VA and Andover (both are represented, although in much smaller numbers than other shows and without the overhead of a booth).
The advantage of not having a booth is that I'm not obligated to spend the whole show trapped in a 20x20 square answering FAQs all day ... instead I get to see talks. Raster did his usual show on Enlightenment, and Rusty did a great job on Netfilter (including revealing that I could use perl to write my own packet filters if I was either clinically insane, or just bored).
I also sat on a panel along with several other much more interesting folks (Tridge, Raster, Terpestra, and hosted by Chris DiBona) on 'Preserving the Linux Community.' Spent a lot of time discussing who is the Linux community (answers ranging from "Anyone who boots Linux" to "Anyone who cares about their operating system and runs Linux.") Eventually the discussion turned to the future of Linux, DeCSS, the MPAA, and what the new corporate influences can do to help. Not a bad panel, although not exactly the busiest of auditoriums.
Maddog gave a good speech last night on his predictions for Linux. Lots of good stuff there, too ... he had some interesting comments about Linux's growth and third world countries. People who are waiting for "Permission" that obviously will never arrive to extend Linux to do what they want it and need it to do. Not so sure about all his talk of "Linux Camps." The average hacker don't look so hot in Swim Trunks ;)
So with the conference portion of the show wrapping up, Raster, Hormes, Rusty and other Aussies are gonna take us to an "Authentic Australian Pub" this evening. I suspect that I won't have a solid memory of the evening: if there is one thing I know for sure it's that these Australians like their lager in great quantities ... I'm not sure if my liver can keep up.
I'll be back in the States next week, after what amounts to my first real vacation since starting Slashdot 2.5 years ago. See ya then.
What is Australia, you ask? Well, if you took the collective populations of Arkansas and Kentucky, sent them on a trip to the beach, and gave them almost-cockney accents, you'd have an approximation of Australia. Australia is a heathen third-world nation, a former penal-colony that never lost the stink of sin and crime. They should be killed, I say. Each and every one o'them. Australian scum.
Do NOT miss an opportunity for a Matilda cruise around Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson), or better yet a trip on the magnificent HMAV Bounty (originally used in the movie starring Mel Gibson).
Don't mind heights, or speeding cars racing past only a couple of metres from your head? Try the Bridge Climb (better yet, do it at night!) - the resultant view of Sydney Harbour is unmatched.
Melbourne, Australia's high-tech centre? Puh-lease... Melbourne doesn't come close to the IT concentration of the Sydney corridor covering North Sydney to Chatswood then across to Ryde.
You didn't notice the plainclothes AFP (Australian Federal Police) wandering around the expo/conference? ;-)
I'll tell ya what - there was the strongest urge to attack those penguins racing around on scooters... Yeah, IBM's presence was a disgrace, as was Caldera's (I was caught asking where the hell they were - right next to their little stand at the gateway between Linux Expo and IT2000).
Debian seemed more intent on making a mess and flogging clothing rather than demonstrating Linux or selling/distributing CDs! Then again, Rackspace.com has to wear [sic] the clothing claim too with all those t-shirts they gave away...
Compaq was doing a good job on the "gimmick" front, with those motorcycle video games. ;-)
Intel's stand was big and flashy (with coloured fluro lights floating in water and those strobes sending everyone blind), but I didn't see too many people paying attention - compared to the people floating around the AMD Athlon machines (which, by comparison, were very plain!)
No sign of 'em... which is just as well!
Yes, well done for winning the America's Cup. Pity about Australia winning the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, the Netball World Cup and the Women's Hockey World Cup. Hopefully this time you can look after it without some loony smashing it up. The new look one might just be big enough to catch all the sporting tears you have cried in the past year.
Rob, its a "beer" not a lager, but thats just semantics...
If you want the real aussie beer experience, then you need to be ordering "pots" or "stubbies" of either VB (aka Victoria Bitter) or Carlton Draught
...as a side note to the rest of the world, forget all of that marketing bullshit, Australians don't drink Fosters - at least not in any great quantity - it tastes like shit!
WHAT!!! Aussies don't have a national cuisin!! Come to New Zealand.. at least our Boats don't sink...
No way Melbourne is the techie city in Oz - just look at all the linux startups in Sydney as an example... also AES the exhibition organizers are based in Melb.. but of course they recognised that Sydney was the place to host this..
I must apolgise on behalf of Sydney for the crap weather we put on for the show.
I completely forgot about this thing... I even had tickets. And now I'm kicking myself for taking a few days off work. Doh! All well, I hope there'll be one next year. So how many people/booths are about? Can anyone that's there comment?
Also caught the talks on PHP and samba, very interesting. If you want a glimpse at the PHP presentation take a geeze at http://www.php.net/oz/
;), stuff all over the place, sucking on illegaly imported caffeinated mints - Rob being one of them (didn't realise it was him).
There is even a webcam at the SuSE stand during show hours (I hope this doesn't kill their iffy net connection) http://suse.secret.com.au
The debian guys would have won the biggest slobs of the show award
I was even prepared to run around with a turbolinux tattoo on my forehead in exchange for a fluffy penguin but they were out by the time i got there (penguins no tatoos). They were more than willing to make an exception for me (off me?) and give me the forehead tattoo anyway. The icecream was nice tho, as was the free donut and coffee from another stand, I guess that explained the police attending the show.
There is a fridge here at the ANU with: "Tridge the fridge (because he's cool)" written on it.
Bah, VB is great. I really can't see why people don't like it. Although Tooheys new is quite nice too. Cascade is nice and so is Hahn. Benno
Hey - you're not supposed to tell people about Bundeena! :-) I have lived in Bundeena for the last 22 years - it is a great spot. Go for a walk along the Maianbar Spit on a good day - or walk out to the coast. Your other tourist suggestions are well worth while too. I was at the conference and the exhibition. There was a great line-up of speakers: I really enjoyed Rasmus Lerdorf's talk - I just had to spend last night hacking away at PHP, and getting some VERY interesting results... The conference overall was a good blend of local and international talent - and the local talents WERE international: Tridge, Rusty, Rasterman, ... even the CEO/Chairman of SGI turns out to be an Aussie ex-pat. It was all pretty technical stuff too (at least, in the programming and systems streams) - not much corporate promotion, just the usual "I'm now working for Foo-Linux" stuff. Lots of details on how to write kernel modules, the past and future of Linux file systems, the next generation network filtering system, etc. I thought the venue was up-market (and expensive) - but the content was pretty down-to-earth.
WHAT!!! Aussies don't have a national cuisin!! Come to New Zealand.. at least our Boats don't sink...
:)
Na... generally the french just blow them up
yeah I live in a town/city of 10,000 people and there was a kangaroo bolting down my street 2 weeks ago :) seriously. You don't have to go all that far from the big citys to see them
I second Tooheys Old. We buy cases of long necks all the time in this geek house. Great beer. Coopers sparkling too, but its too expensive to get all the time.
As he is known here at the ANU ...
Yes, the Electrical Engineering Dept at Auckland University does have an excellent setup, but I wouldn't say NZ has lower crime rates. Wellington has about the same crime rate as here (London), and Auckland I would say is quite abit higher than Wellington. The only thing NZ has going for it is better weather (except for this year the two times I was there).
Aparently Microsoft didnt turn up to the IT Expo next door because of the Linux thing going on next door. The conference halls and surrounds were gladly free of Win2k propoganda.. :)
From what raster said at his talk (great talk btw), rob will probably be missing for at least 3 days. Raster seems to have an "addiction" to beer, so both will be MIA for a while :)
Overall the talks were pretty good, especially rusty's and raster's.
enough ramblings..
Zarch.
ps. Posted with Mozilla M14.
I agree ... Coopers is the stuff, especially Dark Ale on tap ! Look who else is coming to visit Australia (Adelaide in fact - the home of Coopers) http://www.ietf.org/meetings/IETF-47.html Obviously the ietf know their beer :-)
as a Aussie living in Germany, I'd say, the only people who drink VB are those who are homesick... (but truthfully, Becks is better)
There is a womens special interest group at the Linux Users Vic LUG. Not having intruded on the procedings I can't comment on the prospects, but then being unix literate is probably enough for some men isn't it?
yeah yeah yeah, are there any bsd chicks looking to show you around asking u to "play with their keyboards"? they are usually around in these conferences dressed "mouth-wateringly"...
I can't say how happy I was to hear that BS was rained out, go home Bar Bra - and take your crappy weather with you.
I like the b-b-q koala on a stick with a cold, frosty Foster's!
How can it be a real Linux conference without anybody representing the Dust Puppy!
"Politics is for the moment, an equation lasts eternity" -A. Einstein
Off topic, but since there will be many aussies reading this topic...
I'm toying with the idea of travelling in Oz for a year or so (NOT immigrating there !!) and I wondered if I can count on getting jobs along the way.. I'm a web developer with pretty good experience (ASP, PHP, SQL etc.) but I dont have a college degree and I'm not from commonwealth/US/europe. Do you reckon I stand a chance of getting a work visa or just work without it ? (again, I'm NOT immigrating)
Maybe he should ask about Dropbears - a relative of the koala bear.....
Life is complete only for brief intervals in between toys or projects -- John Dalton
Funny thing is that I didn't hear about an Oz LE until this post, and it's not like I don't hang out in places where I wouldn't be told.
Taco, if you want, there's a spare bed here for a couple of days holiday if you can make it over to Sandgroper territory. Just email the address above !
Life is complete only for brief intervals in between toys or projects -- John Dalton
Look around Singapore and count the number of Starbucks and Coffeebeans shops. Not to mention Kenny Rogers, Pizza Huts, McDonalds ...
Sydney thankfully has no chain coffee stores yet - and hopefully will not have any for a long while!
The George IV hotel's microbrewery's beer is sold at their Sydney pub, The Australia Hotel.
It's in "The Rocks", another tourist precinct, but nicer than bland and boring Darling Harbour. The Rocks has nice old sandstone buildings; it's the site of some of the earliest settlement. It's almost underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
MUCH easier to get to than Picton, especially if you are staying in the city and have limited time.
No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.
You're not from Victoria are you?
Yep, I'm from Victoria... though thats not relevant here.
The point I was making wasn't that VB was good/bad/indifferent, but that for a real fair dinkum aussie drink-fest, your choices would have to be VB or Carlton Draught...
sure there are other beers (I agree Coopers ain't half bad, and Boags is even better), but if you want to go with the masses down under then a vb has to be your first stop...
'sapientia potestas est'
Actually the one thing you didn't find in Sydney was Starbucks. Explanation: Australia received an enormous number of Italian immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s. With them they brought good quality coffee, so one can get an excellent and inexpensive latte on virtually any street corner in Sydney. Starbucks have done very well selling good but a bit overpriced coffee in countries where the coffee was previously terrible. (The US, Britain, Japan, even New Zealand). They have been more reluctant to enter markets with sophisticated coffee cultures already. I believe they are planning on entering the Australian market later this year, but they haven't yet done so.
Agree 100% on those _bad_ beers (cat piss). Coopers is good, but for a real meal, go for a Tooheys OLD !
Well, I'd completely forgotten about the Linux Expo that was on this week...even the "I got a free ticket offered to me two months ago" bit.
Thank god Rob's reminded me...now I've got to find some way to convince myself to stay awake after finishing work at 7AM, and then drive from the Northern Beaches into into the city to visit the expo.
However, as far as I can ascertain from some of the previous postings, it doesn't sound too big || spectacular?
Anyone?
Are they selling any funky wearable propaganda?
-- Matt.
ill be at the debian stall :) popped in today and most people at the debian stall were sitting round on their bums with their laptops and bags and clothes all over the place, unlike most of the other stands. half the showroom isnt linuxexpo but i found this out to be fact only when i was leaving today. i was wondering why there were so many stands with windows as i moved away from the obviously linux area, and got lots of wierd looks when i hastily went to the dragon dictate stand excitedly asking about their linux release, except they didnt have one :( but those penthouse chicks were sexy says my gf cept i missed them. tomorrow ill make sure i dont wonder into the non-linux area asking about all the linux hardware support they have, or then again maybe i will :)
meridian at tha.net
I think BIgTed is comparing to the US. For a variety of reasons which are beyond the scope of this discussion, the US crime figures are currently much higher than practically anywhere in the so-called 'industrialized' world. Probably higher than a lot of places in the not-so-industrialized world, too, but I don't know off the top of my head.
An excellent idea. If you ever wondered why Tux looks the way he does, just see some fairy penguins....
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
All that I wanna know is, have you met the Crocidile Hunter yet?
all we need is all the techheads to migrate here and we'll have a force to take over and give this country the wiring it needs. think of all the converts we could make ! it would be absolute purity - an island of beer guzzling techies. Slastralia - no blue screens here :)
- We seek not the answers, but to understand the question.
Perhaps more of us would have come to the panal had we known you were there!!!! I certainly would have said hello if I'd known which one you were :(
How bout a dingo? have you seen one? And if so, has he eaten your baby?
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
Bah, VB is evil!
:)
Bottled Hahn or Coldies, New from a tap, and imported german beers from a can.
We're.... goin' ta Bonny Doon!
We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
Shit, there was a kangaroo in inner Melbourne
the other day. Melbourne has a population
of close to 3 million. Someone must be giving
them lifts into town.
I wonder if CmdrTaco's seen a koala. That 'roo line sounds like an evasion.
(No, this isn't a first post.. Maybe 3rd or 4th)------
If a tree falls on an anonymous coward yelling 'first post' in the forest, does anybody hear?
yeah, and he's keeping pretty weird hours too! ;)
It sounds like the Linux community in Oz is pretty healthy. Of the two Aussies I work with here (Florida), one is a hard-core Linux user.
Geeky modern art T-shirts
Fosters -- Canadian for beer!
/.'ers rounded up.
The Fosters brothers were two Americans who set up shop in Melbourne after beer was made illegal in the US. Once they could start selling beer back in the US they went back or they ended up in Canada.
So I guess we must Blame Canada.
Some how I don't think Rob will have any shortage of people to show him how and what to drink here. Too bad I can't find the picture of speakers table at CALU to link here...
CmrdTaco should find his way to the southern cost to see the Pengiuns in the wild. It could be great PR and lots of fun too and it would be easy to get a huge group of
No, go to Adelaide, we have Magic Mountain!
I thought it was:
....a Japanese wife, Chinese food and a T-1 line.
The *REAL* Australian experience is a pub crawl in Kuta Beach, Bali.....and there they all drink Bintang (yum, yum)!
That's OK, CmdrTaco, I was recently on vacation in Australia for three weeks on the edge of the rainforest, and I didn't see any roos until the last three days at a distance.
I'm an ex-Perthite recently of Paris, now of London. I live right near the Tottenham Court Road tube: there's a Subway and Starbuck's within 100m - but would you say London is being Americanized? Australia always was quite similar to America. Get the chip off your shoulder.
Well it's good to see this part of the hemisphere get some international coverage. In New Zealand Linux is certainly becoming popular - for example it's the main OS on the servers in the Electrical Engineering Dept at Auckland University (where I am a student.) Yes we still have Windows installed - gotta play Minesweeper on something :-) Hopefully this exposure will waken the world to the IT going's on downunder. Films like the Matrix have helped to the extent that the gov'ts here are realising the potential. Many in New Zealand are wanting to promote NZ as an IT rich country, to try and get mainstream IT companies down here as a lifestyle choice. Better weather, lower crime rates etc... I for one would like to see that.
Haven't seen a 'roo yet? Pick any highway out of sydney. Go for a drive. You'll see your desired roadkill soon enough : )
But seriously, catch a ferry across the harbour & got to Taronga Zoo. Not only lots of kangaroos (live ones!) but also funky things like playtypus' which are really hard to see in the wild. Enjoy.
but would you say London is being Americanized
I would indeed say that.
hopefully the beer is better than the (cough) language :)
Don't worry!!! They'll do the same thing with IT2000 down here in october/november (I hope).
shhhh, dont make them come here! :)
:)
Seriously, Perth misses out on alot... it is *the* most isolated city in the world. The closest city is actually in South Africa I believe
We actually have had KISS visit here 3 times (1980,1995,1998) so I think its about time one of those Linux conference thingies happened here. We have the best beer (do *not* drink Victorian stuff, its camel piss) and the best women...
Besides, I couldnt make it to the Sydney one... and Id like to take some of my co-workers (VMS and NT zealots) to show them that Linux *is* supported and its not 'just a hackers OS full of hype'...
Simon
The real linux_penguin has Slashdot ID 101961. Anyone else is an impostor. Including Bruce Perens.
I'll need a water proof laptop before i hit the water slides.
Insert something insightful here, or I'll insert something painful there.
CmdrTaco better still be willing to partee on Friday.
It's true- the Fosters in America is imported from Canada.
Geez this shits me:
a: No one told me about a Linux Expo in Sydney this week. I could fly up there now, but I've missed the mardi gras, the expos half finished and it's apparently raining cats and dogs.
b: Melbourne is the techie city in this country. While other places have been spending big time on Olympics construction we've been investing in the future. Though the new govt. hasn't even acknowledged the internet yet, the previous one basically "wired" the state and set us up as one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world.`
Get the Hell off my planet, you slimy mobster Bush!
Is it just me or does it seem that all Aussie linux users are from WA. I'm Perth as well...
"Do you think we could wipe out world hunger forever if scientists figured out how to make AOL's Free CD's edible?"-
Australia? Exotic? The capital cities sure aren't. However, if you travel inland quite a bit, or visit one of those touristy island type places (Kangaroo Island is rather nice, if a bit boring), you'll find exotic.
But thanks anyway.
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I was supprise to see Rob Young giving a speach on the expo floor (Rob, thats wat flunkies are for). He was extreamly personable for a mult billionare, and Mad Dog was easy to talk too , and for all the trips he does here, he might as well be an Aussie.
After all, these guys are URL's in a ./ story, it is nice to see that they are human (well Americans dont realy count :-)
Slashdot. When you positively, absolutely have to argue about it. Darryl Adams mailto:rampart.pnc.com.au
Linux Expo 2000 in London 1st/2nd June. I don't know what it's like (I couldn't make it last year), but it's there.
Paranoia isn't an infectious condition, it's a way of life
From what I've heard, London has metamorphosed into a sort of Cool Britannia theme park, a themed city owned and operated by multinational corporations, with the main market being tourists looking for that "authentic" London experience, as seen in the latest Working Title comedy.
London is rapidly becoming Disneyland, replete with 97% surveillance camera coverage and conveniently-placed international-standard fast-food franchises; any sort of genuine grass-roots culture is being replaced by themed simulacra. (For example, go to Carnaby Street and witness all the superficial elements of the "swinging sixties" out in force.)
- Blue Mountains/Katoomba area. Fantastic scenery and some really nice walks with real history.
- King George IV pub, Picton. Make the finest microbrew stuff and have been doing it for decades, before it became trendy. Try the Dogboulter. I promise that you'll need to use one of the bedrooms there after two or three of these.
- Any boat or ferry trip on the Harbour.
- Royal National Park - Some place like Bundeena on the beach or the quieter Maainbar. If you can ride a motorbike, or opentop car, do the entire trip and stop off at Stanwell tops. Do this on the weekend because you'll get a heap of hang gliders, R/C types and occasionally a _big_ glider.
There are many other places (like any of the beaches!) but these will give you a real taste of some of the variety offered by the NSW region and get you out of the city. Feel free to email me for more places to seeLife is complete only for brief intervals in between toys or projects -- John Dalton
Vacation in Austraila... and you get to do it on company time. Cool. :)
... is an American salary, an Australian lifestyle, and Asian taxes (15% in HK!)
:-). Least the yanks feel too superior, the Brisbanites (where ol' McArthur McArthur had his Pacific headquarters during WW2 which coincidentally I hear has been refurnished and is planning a reopening) had this rather wry observation about the Americans .... "overpaid, oversexed, and over here" :-).
:-).
Guess what hell would be
Actually, does anyone notice how Linux is slowly turning into a real profession like medical doctors with salaries and conventions in exotic locations to match. Maybe one day we'll have over-heart virtual surgery on the kernel
LL
I still find it kind of odd that Linux people are really getting into the convention thing like every other area of computing. Does Linux, being almost entirely developed by people working seperately and communicating instantaneously still make it seem useful to all get together in some warehouse for a couple days and get free pamphlets?
I do not doubt the social reasons for these things, it's great to meet the people you yell at on Usenet, I just wonder as to what some groups are now touting as the business usefulness of these conferences.
Hotnutz.com - Funny
Hope you're having a good time!
hmm.. I may just have to visit.. ;)
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
--Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
I went on Wednesday at around midday, and was quite pleased to see such a large-ish Linux presence. The tying of Linuxexpo to IT2000 (big Aussie computer show) was a great idea, as I saw quite a few non-linux users wandering in from IT2000 and getting enlightened - "What?! You're just giving me your operating system for free?!?!" :)
:P). Hehe... I got some strange looks at uni that afternoon, with that Turbolinux tattoo on my face.
:P). Hehe... I got some strange looks at uni that afternoon, with that Turbolinux tattoo on my face. Those guys in the penguin suits were a pain though (but I still put my name in the draw for the Turbolinux scooter! :P)
Personally, I thought the Compaq presentation was mainly fluff. Filled with buzzwords and little substance beneath the big flashy screens. That rotating Xeon light thing at the Intel stand really got on my nerves too. The Intel display was a bit boring though.. Watching the 1Ghz Athlon over in IT2000, running 3Dmark 99 was very sweet! Playing Q3 on those beefy SGI boxen was damn cool too.
The guys I talked to at SuSE and Turbolinux were generally nice and friendly - I especially liked the giving away of the 1-CD distros. I think you could probably tell the Debian guys apart, even if they didn't have debian stuff everywhere - stereotypical messy geeks?
The free stuff was cool... Donuts, coffee, ice cream, stress balls, and those rackspace.com t-shirts (wearing mine now
Personally, I thought the Compaq presentation was mainly fluff. Filled with buzzwords and little substance beneath the big flashy screens. That rotating Xeon light thing at the Intel stand really got on my nerves too. The Intel stand was a bit boring though.. Watching the 1Ghz Athlon over in IT2000, running 3Dmark 99, was very sweet! Q3 on those SGI boxen was damn cool too.
The guys I talked to at SuSE and Turbolinux were generally nice and friendly - I especially liked the giving away of the 1-CD distros. I think you could probably tell the Debian guys apart, even if they didn't have debian stuff everywhere - stereotypical messy geeks?
The free stuff was cool... Donuts, coffee, ice cream, stress balls, and those rackspace.com t-shirts (wearing mine now
Anyway, I had a great time, and I hope it continues to grow exponentially. Looking forward to next year!
Anyone know if there is a UK Linux expo or anything like it?
If so please post details.
Thanks
You're not from Victoria are you? Real people don't drink VB. It tastes like crap too. There are three really bad beers in Australia - Fosters, XXXX, VB. (in that order). For a real beer, try Coopers. (Or Full Sail if it's your thing) However Hahn is quite good, and Tooheys will do in a pinch. (A New beats VB any day)
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Rob, on the off chance you have the time and inclination, head down to Phillip Island in Victoria to see the inspiration for Tux... its worth the trip...
;)
As an added bonus, you'll get to see some of the real Australia in the people of Cowes and its surrounding countryside.
Further, if you let the rangers down there know you're coming and I'm sure they'll roll out the red carpet. They surely won't have forgotten the huge influx of support and donations received from slashdotters when we had a massive oil spill a few months back.
Tell the newspapers (partic. The Age) you're heading down there and you'd have a nice PR story for Linux to go with it.
just a thought
M@T
'sapientia potestas est'
I think Linux get togethers are good as its an OS that gets used in many diverse ways and it always insightfull to see what others are up to.
cya, Andrew...
This is my sig, exciting huh!
Last year at IT2000 (the parent show of LinuxExpo) there were 36m^2 (from 3 stands) for Linux, this year there is an entire sub-show (sp?) called LinuxExpo that has over 800m^2 (from 30 stands). That's not a bad increase in one year IMHO.
The unfortunate thing is noone seems to be selling anything? (Apart from Everything Linux) We've had lots of frustrated customers trying to BUY our sample CD's from LinuxCentral because Mandrake / Corel etc. stalls aren't actually selling product - just large fake boxes? What gives distributors?
Saw Raster talking on Enlightenment (great to see UNSW alumni doing so well), Rasmus on PHP and more - all good! Would have loved to have seen Rob give a talk on building web communities or somesuch. But probably not under the guise of the 'Linux' show - next time.
Other interesting things of note
- Quake 3 running on stinking big SGI machines (always fun to watch - but get a network boys!)
- Intel stand - big signs saying "Intel supports RedHat, Mandrake, Corel Linux, etc etc" - shouldn't that be the OTHER way around AndyG?!
- TurboLinux ice creams and tattoo's - a perpetual supply throughout the day to exhibitors, mucho gratias
- The plethora of American accents - maybe not interesting, or even different - a taste of things to come during the Olympics?
- IBM? Hello Lou Gerstner?! IBM have a small (3x3 metre) stand in the far corner, not their usual huge whopping glowing bright red 'e-everywhere' - and IBM is fully behind Linux now?
- The great guys at the australia.internet.com stand - ok, slightly biased.
Did I miss anything?If you're wanting to come along but are to cheap to pay $20 to get in, give me a call 0413 310 107 tomorrow or Friday and we'll scoot out with a free pass for ya (if you don't already have one). Only catch being you have to come visit our booth - australia.internet.com - right in front of the door - below the LinuxCare guru lounge - can't miss it.
Any other show reports from attendees? Exhibitors?
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