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Review Of LinuxWorld 2004
jamienk writes "I went to the LinuxWorld convention at the Javits Center in NYC again this year. This is where the post-post-industrial corporate complex flexes for us consumers and infrastructure staff to see. And the smell of Corps was thick in the air. So was the nerdy, curious, driven, hacker odor. Guess which vibe won?"
I know all these journalism sites have to write stories about the supposedly big announcements and "new" technologies that come out at linux world, but to be honest there's exactly one reason I go year after year: Hanging out with the people there. It forges relationships that can be carried on well past the end of the convention. I'm glad all that desktop stuff was demoed, and I know it's important for the future of linux, but the best thing by far was making connections with like-minded geeks.
Anti-slash: In sacred jihad against slashdot
I walked out with a RH Enterprise 3.0 WS distro (thanks, RedHat), a SuSE SLES 8 developer edition, a SuSE 8 full distro (thanks SuSE), plus Fedora CDs for cow-orkers, 7 t shirts and a blanket. The Oracle / Linux installfest on wednesday night was fun: free food, free beer and free (proprietary and free) software (this I already pay for as an oracle customer, but it was still a nice gesture).
Too bad that 10g db wasn't ready for prime time.
I think I'll make the trip up to Boston next year.
the Pogo Linux servers looked pretty sweet.
I missed the BSD babes of previous years.
Pd
I went to LinuxWorld on Thursday and it was my first time... some thoughts.
.org pavillion rocked. By far the most knowledgeable and friendly people in the place. Spoke to some of the good people at geekcorps, FSF and gentoo. One thing I will never understand... why were the people at LILUG playing that stupid dancing game? They looked like a bunch of fools.
Good to see the large companies trying to get a piece of the linux pie.sigh Buzzwords were flying all over the place. Fed up, I started asking exhibitors at large companies for "scalable enterprise solutions". Most had answers! lol...
The
We sat in on a keynote Thursday afternoon, "The Impact of Open Standards on the Technology Industry". Absolutely useless. I was quiet amused at the people feverishly taking notes on very general topics.
Good experience, learned alot and will probably attend next year.
100% Insightful
and it was but a mere shell of what it used to be.. at least I got to support the FSF by buying a nice-looking "Free Software/Free Society" t-shirt. Other than that, got the google pen and a good look at small displays that would be perfect for replacing my in-dash GPS display screen.. looking for one with multiple inputs. Oh, and I finally got a replacement Linux license plate. The one on my car now has "Compaq" in huge red letters on it, which isn't too cool as an IBM consultant. :) The new one has "OpenGroup" up there now.
Oh, and my vote for the most mis-guided individuals who have no idea how to make the conversion to Linux-for-business: the VOIP people who ran their setup on a chipped X-Box. Are you kidding me, people??? You want a business to buy your product, and you power your display with a video game console? The coolness factor drops way the hell off when you're trying to sell VOIP solutions. Build a damn PC. Jeez.
Anyone remember the IBM party in 2001? They rented out the whole upstairs, had an open bar, great music, a real BattleBots cage, and, well, an ice sculptor. But he cut out a damn fine Tux, too. THAT'S what I think of when I think about the days before the bust.
Intelligent Life on Earth
Corporate technology companies have portrayed the computer as being driven by companies. Linux development has been driven by hackers. At Linux World, the corporations put their accomplishments and offerings front and center, but they still somehow get dwarfed by the independent developers, who are more creative, more excited, more genuine, and more fun. I have no problem with businesses making money, touting their wares, and spinning their services. But they are the less interesting side of the story, a predictable sideshow.
I don't work in the software industry. I never have. I don't expect I ever will. My first contract out of college was as head automotive engineer for a small outfit developing electric cars.
I'm an entreprenuer. A businessman. I like business. I've got a copy of "The Art of Selling" right over there on my shelf, next to the Halliday & Resnick. But I grew up in a hard core marketing family (marketing development manager for GE Broadcasting Corporation) and have a finely tuned nose for the stink of hype. It isn't that I think I'm better, I just know when I'm being hustled. I've been the hustler.
And you're absolutely right by making the comparison to the way cars are sold. I've been top management at a dealership specializing in exotics and collectables.
Unfortunately that comparison makes my point. Not yours, "safe," "comfortable," and "economical" having little to no meaning within the context they are used when selling cars. Especially since cars are overtly dangerous, uncomfortable and damned expensive to purchase and own (possibly more expensive than your home even).
All they do is make you, as you say, "happy" about the words and thus more inclined to buy the car.
Yes, within certain contexts those words have real meaning. Outside of those contexts, like in a sales pitch, they are pure buzzword gobblegook designed explicitly to fleece the "mark" and make one's quota.
By the way, have you read "Ogilvy on Advertising"? Brilliant man. Brilliant marketer. You don't pay attention to what he has to say at your company's peril.
KFG