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Another Year of LinuxFest Northwest (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the volunteer-for-15-years-and-you-get-15-shirts-with-logos-on-them dept.

We last interviewed LinuxFest volunteer Jakob Perry in January, 2013, when he and the rest of the crew that makes this event happen were gearing up for their 14th version of this outstanding regional Linux/FOSS conference. Now they've gotten through LinuxFest 15, which makes this one of the longest-lasting Linux shows around. And Jakob is still helping to put it together, as he has since he was a teenager. Since he's been with LinuxFest Northwest since the beginning, this gives him some serious longevity cred, especially when you realize that he has been volunteering with LFNW since he was 15 years old -- and hasn't seemed to lose a bit of his enthusiasm in all that time. (Alternate Video Link)

12 comments

  1. Yet...Another...Effing...Year...Of...Effing... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Funny

    >> Another Year of LinuxFest Northwest...is still helping...hasn't seemed to lose a bit of his enthusiasm in all that time

    I hope you realize your intro makes this thing sound like the local cat show for computing.

    1. Re:Yet...Another...Effing...Year...Of...Effing... by Hypotensive · · Score: 1

      Every show is the local cat show for someone.

    2. Re:Yet...Another...Effing...Year...Of...Effing... by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

      Don't worry. If people don't like it, they'll just fork it into 100 different competing conferences.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    3. Re:Yet...Another...Effing...Year...Of...Effing... by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1

      No wonder he remained enthusiastic when Linux has been grabbing no less than 0.001% of the desktop share in each of those 15 years! Onward to another 15 triumphant years.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
  2. And another year of linux failing on the desktop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  3. Brian Lunduke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the upper-left corner of the first third of the video Brian Lunduke is in the background.
    He is a professional computer game maker (you can buy his Linux software from places like Steam), and has been giving speeches at LinuxFest for years. They range from entertaining to hilarious, as he is known to make a compelling speech proving one side of a controversial statement (like how Linux sucks more than anything else at all-- yes, he gives that speech at Linuxfest), and then he spends the next allotment of time successfully proving the opposite side (and successfully use the same evidence to support both sides). He's also gone a crony from SuSE (whom he is seen talking to in this video) and a crony from Red Hat/Fedora who have been known (especially in his 2013 speech) to serve to add to the entertainment value.
    Brian Lunduke's announcement of LinuxFest Northwest plans
    Why Linux Sucks (As Usual), 2013, Why Linux Does Not Suck (Not even a little), 2013 (unfortunately, the videos' view of the slides is sub-par)
    Why Linux Sucks and Why Linux Does Not Suck (2012)
    If anyone sees him at a fest, be sure to buy him a cookie. I, some random stranger posting as Anonymous Coward, can personally attest that he likes that.

  4. WTF is up with the location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you guys ever thought about having it somewhere around people? Having Burning Man in the middle of the wilderness is fine, but a tech expo should be where there are actually people. You'd definitely get more of turn-out. Having it somewhere that most people in the Seattle area have never heard of, much less have ever been to, means that the technical people in this state simply won't go. I don't want to take Amtrak that will take over two hours each way and cost about $60 just to go. Plus, with the train schedule, you would have to spend the night. Are there even hotels in that area?

    1. Re:WTF is up with the location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > in the middle of the wilderness

      That's part of the fun. The first Linux event I went to was in a town I had never heard of: Raleigh, North Carolina. It was as horrific as you would expect it to be, but it was a learning experience. That was the first time I saw people my age missing teeth. It was also the first time I was called the n-word. It was interesting seeing the white trash that work at Red Hat. You would never think they could even turn on a computer given their stupid hick accents. After the event, it was interesting to see what people in that farm community did for fun. You should definitely go to that Bell place. You'll probably remember that experience forever. At the very least, you can make fun of the Republicans.

    2. Re:WTF is up with the location? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I apologize for the length of this article, but since apparently two people (see also CID 46936151) have this same idea, which makes no sense at all, I figured I'd just douse the area with some facts (and a touch of contrary opinion at the end).

      I've found that people throughout Washington State, including Seattle and Ellensburg, have heard of Bellingham. Bellingham is the largest city between Lynnwood/Everette (on the North side of Seattle) and Vancouver, BC. I'd say that Vancouver is a bit closer, but in most cases, Seattle serves as the nearest "big city" in practice, because there isn't the international border in between.

      I believe most people (at LinuxFrest) from remote don't arrive via Amtrack, though I suppose that's certainly an option. There's also BLI (which is the three-digit code for Bellingham International Airport). Bellingham is on Interstate 5, which goes from Canada to Mexico. So quite a few people probably just get to Seattle. Then, driving 90 minutes to Bellingham is often nearly as fast as boarding a plane from SeaTac Airport to BLI (and then waiting for takeoff, etc.) So people just rent a car from Seattle, and drive to their destination (e.g., a hotel) in Bellingham.

      The city also has Fairhaven, which is a tourist-centric "old town" section a few blocks away from the Alaska Ferry Terminal. Bellingham is the last city of its size for people traveling to this corner of Canada, including people wanting to reach Alaska by land. The city has dozens of hotels. Yes, occasionally we do see taxis, vans (Bellingham Blue Cab), not to mention buses or the Airporter Shuttle (which has 11 trips to SeaTac daily).

      The city is also the residence of quite a few college students, thanks in large part to Western Washington University, which is one of six major universities/colleges listed by Wikipedia's Universities in Washington: primary state universities offering 4 year degrees. There are a number of other colleges, including Bellingham Technical College (2-year degree college where this LinuxFest Northwest is held), Whatcom Community College (2 year degree), and private colleges including Charter College (offering 4 year degrees), City University, Trinity Western University, Northwest Indian College

      The city has multiple commercial options for Internet access and/or data centers, such as Wave (which recently acquired Black Rock) and one of three FiberCloud data center locations.

      Bellingham is listed as number 193 on Wikipedia's list of metropolitan areas of the United States. Sure, it's not as significant as the giants like Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR, which people around the nation have heard of. But this city of over 80,000 people is not just some dinky farming community, which is my first major point of this article.

      The second major point is this: If Bellingham can have a successful experience, why should they decide to not have that successful experience? LinuxFest is largely run by people in Bellingham. Why should all those people commute to Seattle so that the organizers and the Bellingham residents have to travel to Seattle?

      If Seattle wants to have a Linux meeting, then, great. But why shouldn't Bellingham also be able to have a Linux meeting? You make it sound like Linux is a topic unworthy of anywhere but a metropolis, and all local Linux festivals should be shut down unless they are held in a city with millions of people. What utter nonsense.

      LinuxFest is a substantial draw, getting over 1500 visitors to meet about Linux in the 2 day annual event. For most interesting things involving such a large number of people, people in Bellingham are expected to commute to Seattle

  5. You should add a map to the site by greenwow · · Score: 0

    I've lived in the PNW for nearly fifty years, and I have never heard of this place where you are having it. I did some research and found-out it's in the empty area between Seattle and the other Vancouver. Surprisingly, there's an Amtrak train that runs from civilization to that place. How far is the field where you are having this thing from the train station? Are there taxis that are going to be there for the event? Is there lodging available within an hours drive of this place? Why not host it somewhere where there are people?

    1. Re:You should add a map to the site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regarding the subject of this article, you're right. The LinuxFest NW website should have a map.
      However, it doesn't take a lot of brain cells for a person to find a map. In addition to just Googling directly, as soon as a person finds that LinuxFest NorthWest is held at Bellingham Technical College, they can just click on the college's "About" page, which links to the How to Find Us (Bellingham Technical College) page, which shows a map and has a hyperlink to Google Maps.
      LinuxFest is meant for people with brain cells. (That's not just meant as an insult, but an observation: LinuxFest is targeted to people who are interested in Linux, or at least people who heavily use computers. People who don't get a thrill out of using their brainpower will probably not find LinuxFest to be interesting.) So, the lack of a map on the linuxfestnorthwest.org website is probably not a major issue.
      Regarding all of your other questions, they are addressed by CID 46938675.

  6. That boy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That boy needs to get a life!