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Ask a LinuxWorld Exhibitor
Most Slashdot readers aren't coming to the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in New York this week. If you're not coming, but you have a question you'd like to ask one of the exhibitors, please post it here. I promise to ask 10 of the highest-moderated exhibitor questions on your behalf, and I'll do my best to ask more than 10, time permitting. If you have a question for anyone who is holding a conference session or tutorial Thursday or Friday, please feel free to post it, too. I will try to ask speakers at least a few questions, but that's chancier than getting hold of exhibitors (who are in booths where they're easy to find), so no promises. One question per post, please. Hopefully, I'll have time to type up the answers over the weekend and post them Monday or Tuesday.
...run Windows 2000? :-)
To IBM:
Currently there are lots of IBM commercials regarding Linux. At home all I use is Linux and am far more productive, yet at work(IBM) am forced to use winblows. When are you going to start embracing using technologies that your costomers and workers can use. Instead of having web broadcase in Windows median, switch to another format. This goes to all of the documents and programs being used. Why have a coorprate license for Office XP when we can use OpenOffice.org?
Currently this aspect is forcing your customers to use windows. With this attitude you will never gain any ground in the Desktop world. There is plenty to gain and somebody in bigblue needs to wake up.
Your question is a good one, and I hope it gets a good answer.
:) I can definately tell you though that there aren't many geeks left at this one. Three years ago the number of geeks was much higher, while as time has progressed, the number of suited business types, managers, and people who are on junkets trying to purchase or evaluate some technology for their business is much greater.
But....I have been to the Expo for the last 3 years. I'm not going this year due to time and budgeting.
These trade shows are about commerce and industry, not about "geeks", passion for technology, or even the newest, latest, hottest stuff. That's not to say though that there's nothing out there for geeks - there's still quite a few interesting things, particularly the "community" type stuff (slashdot booth, dot org pavilion, and all of the smaller booths representing distros, LUGs, and so on) The bigger booths are usually ASPs, ISPs, and huge software vendors whose products are for the most part already very well known.
So watching the progression of the trade show, it's been depressing and hopeful. On one hand, the shift in attendance clearly signifies to me that GNU/Linux is being accepted and used out there. On the other hand, this really isn't a "geek" tradeshow, and hasn't been for quite some time.
-- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
Just look that marketer in the eye, give them a little wink and ask, "So, do you want to go back to my room and get a litle...frisky?" (Try to roll the 'r' in frisky when you say it.) Ideally you would ask this question to several marketers under different conditions: wearing nice clothes, looking kind of dumpy, wearing cologne, wearing overpowering cologne, etc.
Try to get a good sample of linux marketers.
Kudos will be awarded for propositioning Linus.
This is a driver/support question.
I want to buy HP's new Legacy Free Tablet and run linux on it for an industrial application.
This tablet uses a digitizer that is similar to one that has a linux driver however the interface to the digitizer (http://www.linuxslate.org) ie active pen. Now this driver requires a Serial interface. But on Legacy Free PCs there is no traditional serial interface.
Does HP have any interest in supporting Linux on this device? Why not?
I am currently using Fujitsu LT-P600s running Gentoo.
Adults are obsolete children. - Dr. Seuss