It's already been posted on the fedora-list mailing list that 4 CDs is not desireable and people are being solicited for feedback on what to eliminate from the distribution to get a smaller set of installation discs.
Subscribe to the redhat-bugzilla or redhat-announce mailing lists. They have the sign up on their webpage. They tell the whole WORLD about what's going on bugwize in the OS. There is no need to purchase anything.
1. What is your full name and position at your company?
Christofer C. Bell, Systems Programmer, Sprint
2. What was the first time you heard about LinuxFest 2000?
I first heard about LinuxFest when Dustin Decker started trying to organize a KULUA dinner with Eric S. Raymond. At that time, I had no idea that the dinner was going to be in connection with LinuxFest. It wasn't until later when a coworker of mine, Jeffrey Watts, turned to me at the office and mentioned his concerns that the event wasn't being promoted at all and how he expected little turnout.
3. What did you think of the show?
I thought the show could have been a lot more successful. I think the people that did attend had a good experience for the most part, however, there were very few people there, far fewer than I would have hoped for an event of this type. When I walk into a Linux showcase event and ESR is giving a speech and only 1/3 of the seats are filled, I am embarassed, not only for Linux, but for my LUG whose name, however tenuously, is connected to the event.
4. What was the best part of the show?
I think the two highlights for me were the ESR speech and Emmett's keynote address. I also enjoyed being able to puruse and entire area devoted to Linux related merchandise for sale (the LinuxMall booth).
5. What was the worst part of the show?
Again, I can't stress enough how disappointed I was at the turnout. I amembarassed for the Linux community in Kansas. We had some big name vendors there, Red Hat, Informix, Atipa, Compaq, et al, all who pulled out before the show was over, and in the case of Red Hat, before it even began.
6. If it happened again, would you attend?
Of course I would attend, but that's because I have a passion for Linux, however, I am not part of the audience for events like this. I'm part of the choir and I don't need to hear the sermon, I'm already a True Believer(tm), it's the IT industry that needs to get their hands on this information, that need the exposure to not only what Linux can offer, but to the big names in the industry that are out there supporting us.
7. Did you attend any panels? If so, which ones, and how were they?
I attended the ESR keynote and the Emmett keynote. I enjoyed both immensely. It was excited to walk into my first day of LinuxFest and hear a voice I have heard so often in interviews on the Internet, Eric S. Raymond, one of the greatest proponents of the Open Source movement, preaching the Linux gospel live and in the flesh.
I enjoyed Emmett's keynote in that it showed more of the irreverent grassroots nature of the Open Source movement. It's the movers and shakers in the trenches that drive this technology, this revolutionary development model forward, and it's people like ESR and Emmett and others that can act as spokespersons to those that really need to hear the message, the CIOs and IT mamangers of the world.
8. What was the best thing the organizers did?
I think it's great that the organizers were able to line up some big names in the corporate world to come show LinuxFest what they have to offer the community. I am diappointed that the organizers were not able to follow through with promoting the event so that the people that need to hear the message would attend, or indeed even know LinuxFest ever happened.
9. How does the show affect your view of the Linux community on the whole?
Being a part of the community, it doesn't affect my view at all. What concerns me is the possible bad taste this event may have left in the mouths of the likes of Compaq, Informix, etc. I don't like the idea that Linux is tarnished, however little, in the eyes of the people we need to be impressing for Linux to break into the enterprise in the big way. I don't like the idea that the message we sent them is "the IT industry in Kansas doesn't care about Linux and doesn't want to hear your message."
10. Please include anything about the show that you would like to see in the Slashdot story about it.
I think the biggest thing I'd like to see mentioned is some connection between the on-fire grassroots effort that goes into developing and evangalizing Linux and how that same kind of fire was harnessed by the -local- community in an attempt to make the event somewhat of a success. How that drive and determinaion to succeed brought Emmett here, helped avoid ESR cancelling at the 11th hour, and made the event fun and interesting for those that -did- have a chance to attend.
I'd like to point out that other than getting Emmett out here and making certain the event organizer actually purchased a plane ticket for Eric S. Raymond, the local Linux community had nothing to do with the planning of this event.
I don't want people to get the idea that the local LUGs are responsible for the poor execution of this show. There basically would have been no show at all on Friday if not for KULUA pitching in to get Emmett here. I can't imagine that the three vedors that were there would have stayed in the absence of any speaker whatsoever.
Having attended Emmett's keynote, I was very pleased that he was able to make it. By the time Saturday rolled around, all the major vendors had already left (no audience for their wares) and the floor had shrunk as the partitions on the floor were moved around the "stage" area (a table with network connection).
Had Emmett not be able to attend to make his address (which was very appropriate for the people that did show up) there would have been nothing going on Saturday. There were no vendors (KCLUG was still there and I think one other group), no other speakers, and we would have ended up with a bunch of geeks staring at each other uncomfortably wondering what to do next.
On another note, I'd disappointed that someone would attempt to cast a bad light on Emmett attending this event and this event getting/. coverage as a result as somehow being unprofessional. This couldn't be further from the truth. No, your average weekly/monthly/whateverly LUG meeting isn't going to get/. coverage, there are simply too many events around the country. However, when a/. staffer travels to an event (at the invitation of a local LUG [KULUA] who, incidentally, footed the entire bill for the trip) then that's newsworthy. That deserves some mention here simply because a/. staffer is involved.
Slashdot Mirror
It's already been posted on the fedora-list mailing list that 4 CDs is not desireable and people are being solicited for feedback on what to eliminate from the distribution to get a smaller set of installation discs.
The level of ignorace here is staggering.
Huh. I never need them on my Red Hat system either. Wonder why???
1. What is your full name and position at your company?
Christofer C. Bell, Systems Programmer, Sprint
2. What was the first time you heard about LinuxFest 2000?
I first heard about LinuxFest when Dustin Decker started trying to organize a
KULUA dinner with Eric S. Raymond. At that time, I had no idea that the
dinner was going to be in connection with LinuxFest. It wasn't until later
when a coworker of mine, Jeffrey Watts, turned to me at the office and
mentioned his concerns that the event wasn't being promoted at all and how he
expected little turnout.
3. What did you think of the show?
I thought the show could have been a lot more successful. I think the people
that did attend had a good experience for the most part, however, there were
very few people there, far fewer than I would have hoped for an event of this
type. When I walk into a Linux showcase event and ESR is giving a speech and
only 1/3 of the seats are filled, I am embarassed, not only for Linux, but for
my LUG whose name, however tenuously, is connected to the event.
4. What was the best part of the show?
I think the two highlights for me were the ESR speech and Emmett's keynote
address. I also enjoyed being able to puruse and entire area devoted to Linux
related merchandise for sale (the LinuxMall booth).
5. What was the worst part of the show?
Again, I can't stress enough how disappointed I was at the turnout. I amembarassed for the Linux community in Kansas. We had some big name vendors
there, Red Hat, Informix, Atipa, Compaq, et al, all who pulled out before the
show was over, and in the case of Red Hat, before it even began.
6. If it happened again, would you attend?
Of course I would attend, but that's because I have a passion for Linux,
however, I am not part of the audience for events like this. I'm part of the
choir and I don't need to hear the sermon, I'm already a True Believer(tm),
it's the IT industry that needs to get their hands on this information, that
need the exposure to not only what Linux can offer, but to the big names in the
industry that are out there supporting us.
7. Did you attend any panels? If so, which ones, and how were they?
I attended the ESR keynote and the Emmett keynote. I enjoyed both immensely.
It was excited to walk into my first day of LinuxFest and hear a voice I have
heard so often in interviews on the Internet, Eric S. Raymond, one of the
greatest proponents of the Open Source movement, preaching the Linux gospel
live and in the flesh.
I enjoyed Emmett's keynote in that it showed more of the irreverent grassroots
nature of the Open Source movement. It's the movers and shakers in the
trenches that drive this technology, this revolutionary development model
forward, and it's people like ESR and Emmett and others that can act as
spokespersons to those that really need to hear the message, the CIOs and IT
mamangers of the world.
8. What was the best thing the organizers did?
I think it's great that the organizers were able to line up some big names in
the corporate world to come show LinuxFest what they have to offer the
community. I am diappointed that the organizers were not able to follow
through with promoting the event so that the people that need to hear the
message would attend, or indeed even know LinuxFest ever happened.
9. How does the show affect your view of the Linux community on the
whole?
Being a part of the community, it doesn't affect my view at all. What
concerns me is the possible bad taste this event may have left in the mouths
of the likes of Compaq, Informix, etc. I don't like the idea that Linux is
tarnished, however little, in the eyes of the people we need to be impressing
for Linux to break into the enterprise in the big way. I don't like the idea
that the message we sent them is "the IT industry in Kansas doesn't care about
Linux and doesn't want to hear your message."
10. Please include anything about the show that you would like to see in
the Slashdot story about it.
I think the biggest thing I'd like to see mentioned is some connection between
the on-fire grassroots effort that goes into developing and evangalizing Linux
and how that same kind of fire was harnessed by the -local- community in an
attempt to make the event somewhat of a success. How that drive and
determinaion to succeed brought Emmett here, helped avoid ESR cancelling at
the 11th hour, and made the event fun and interesting for those that -did-
have a chance to attend.
It's too bad you didn't get that information in time to attend.
I don't want people to get the idea that the local LUGs are responsible for the poor execution of this show. There basically would have been no show at all on Friday if not for KULUA pitching in to get Emmett here. I can't imagine that the three vedors that were there would have stayed in the absence of any speaker whatsoever.
Having attended Emmett's keynote, I was very pleased that he was able to make it. By the time Saturday rolled around, all the major vendors had already left (no audience for their wares) and the floor had shrunk as the partitions on the floor were moved around the "stage" area (a table with network connection).
Had Emmett not be able to attend to make his address (which was very appropriate for the people that did show up) there would have been nothing going on Saturday. There were no vendors (KCLUG was still there and I think one other group), no other speakers, and we would have ended up with a bunch of geeks staring at each other uncomfortably wondering what to do next.
On another note, I'd disappointed that someone would attempt to cast a bad light on Emmett attending this event and this event getting /. coverage as a result as somehow being unprofessional. This couldn't be further from the truth. No, your average weekly/monthly/whateverly LUG meeting isn't going to get /. coverage, there are simply too many events around the country. However, when a /. staffer travels to an event (at the invitation of a local LUG [KULUA] who, incidentally, footed the entire bill for the trip) then that's newsworthy. That deserves some mention here simply because a /. staffer is involved.