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Linux Conference Australia Write-Up
I was actually invited to come to present the hacker survey that OSDN had done in conjunction with the Boston Consulting Group. However, upon looking at the conference plans, it was quickly apparent that that would be one of the few non-technical presentations, which was a pleasant change from my normal conference regime, in which the technical stuff seems crammed into one half day. I've heard that OLS is quite similar, but have not had a chance to attend. Nonethless, obviously my work withstanding *grin* the presentations were excellent - read the program to see for yourself.
I was able to attend Tridge's keynote, having only arrived Wednesday morning, a ARQuake presentation done by Wayne Pierkarski (we've mentioned it before). The afternoon was spent at Conrad's presentation on sweep, which is a hella cool audio app. Finally, the Q&A was Rusty, BDale, Tridge and Linus. Some of the typcial questions were asked, but there were some other questions 'round about DRM, IPv6 and some of the more social questions that were interesting. I think the DRM issues is one of the areas that some people are greatly concerned about, while other people have adopted a more Pollyana approach to it.
Unfortunately, on Friday, while I was presenting, there were two other presentations that I wanted to attend, but alas, had to speak myself. Rasmus, as usual, did a number of talks, and I was able to catch part of PHP printing with PDF, which was informative. Alex Reeder, part of VA Linux Japan also did a presentation on his work with bioauthentication, and my final piece of the show was Horms' presentation on Perdition, a mail retrieval proxy he's been working on.
But presentations aside, which were as a rule exceptional, I think one of the best parts was the relaxed feel, and the amount of interchange between just about everybody here. Almost every one that you talked to was fluent in Linux, programming or what not, which made for easy conversation with everyone there. The Perthites who really managed to put this together also did an exceptional job. To be frank, this is the only show I'd ever consider travelling 13,500 miles for.
I'd encourage anyone who attended or was part of it to post below -- and here's to looking forward to next year. One of the most amusing pictures though has to be the Linus in the penguin suit. The hats are off to the organizing team for their hard work -- and the speakers who traveled afar to be part of this. And from the wonderful uses of pizza box - yet more zaniness.
You can also check out some of photo round ups from Leon, Noel, and, of course, Marc Merlin's done a great round-up, as well as group round-up and one final one.
Overall, I highly highly recommend this show -- probably one of the best on the planet -- and for those in know, 23 will fall.
Tell me about it, at 13 cent a megabyte for over flow, downloading RedHat 8 will either use up my entire quota and then a little more, plus updates. Or it will cost me over four hundred aussie dollars.
Depends why you go to a conference like this. The reason I attend is to talk to _developers_, not "potential business partners". If a businessperson wants to talk to me, that's fine, but I'd hope they take me as I am. While I'm probably am not as intimidating looking as some of these hardcore wild-eyed, long-bearded hackers, I will not go for suit-'n-tie.
And frankly, I've noticed that the real businesspeople don't need to be pampered either. They understand we're not and don't want to be PR people, and appreciate the candor with which we explain the technical issues that rule our work.
If explained properly (and I do admit this isn't something all of us manage to do all the time), they are completly capable of understanding what we're trying to accomplish. I think that's more important than the (false) image you're trying to project using a suit.
I tested at MS for 6 mos before I got a real job. For the most part, everyone there had the blank, affectless vibe of Stepford Wives. There were a number of heavy folks, but mostly it was empty folks- basically sociopaths. Even the HR boothbabe equivalents they hired didn't seem to have any blood in their veins, and I suspect they were no more anatomically correct than Barbie.
Profoundly unattractive.
Perhaps you're not familiar with Australia's weather: it was hot. There's no sense in dressing up to the hilt in suit and tie when it's 37 degrees centigrade outside. Did you want attendees dropping like flies as they walked across the lawns from one conference room to another?
LCA is a technical conference, held in a relaxed country, attended by friendly, informal people whose work attire generally consists of jeans and t-shirts. We weren't there to peddle our wares to big business, and if big business wanted to be there, then they'll have to damned well accept us on our terms.
If you want suit and tie, go to a stuffy US business expo.
-- Even if a god did exist, why the fsck should I worship it?
A "Quantas" desk at customs? A "victim" being handed back to his pals and a German representative in a bloodied and beaten state? No corroborating evidence in an airport lined with cameras? In the unlikely situation that the police did say bugger off lawyers would be climbing all over each other to get their opportunistic heads on TV crying racism. International diplomatic incidents such as the one described do not just disappear, particularly in a country where the media loves to find a racial aspect on any news item. I'll believe it when I hear about it somewhere with more credibility than an AC on slashdot.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park