| linux.conf 2008 |
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| 03 February 2008 | |
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CASE uses the Linux operating system to ensure members have secure and powerful computing resources to meet their IT needs.
Open source software is also a community of people who freely contribute their skills to the development of cutting-edge software. These highly skilled people are motivated simply by the opportunity to create the best possible systems they can. The opportunity to learn, share and socialise with these people is without a doubt one of the most valuable aspects of attending linux.conf.
Note: Most of the presentations mentioned in the notes below are available online from the conference programme.
Mini-confs There are two days of Mini-Confs preceding the conference that cover a wide range of topics.
The next day I spent most of my time attending talks at the 'SysAdmin' Mini-conf which covered such topics as performace tuning of LInux, Disaster Management and monitoring of systems. These were very technical talks but being a Systems Administrator they were exactly what I wanted and I gained a lot from the presentations. Each day of the conference a keynote speaker kicked off the day's activities. The first speaker was the highlight for me. Bruce Schneier spoke about 'Reconceptualizing Security' which was a very interesting talk about the mismatch of feeling secure and being secure. As a leading technical expert in the areas of cryptology and security most people in IT have read Bruce's books or subscribe to
his online newletters. He has a very down to earth approach and an interesting attitude regarding security issues. In recent years he has become interested more in the psychology of security. His most recent book 'Beyond Fear' thinking sensibly about security in an uncertain world, is a good example of this and makes for interesting reading even for the non-technical reader. I was so impressed that later that day I went to the University Bookshop to see if they had a copy of Bruce's new book. They did, but only in a bundle of three of his books. So I now have three shiny new books to read. Although I doubt that 'Applied Cryptology' is something I'll make it all the way through.
The keynote speaker on day three was Anthony Baxter who is one of the developers of the Python programming language. A major new release of Python has just been released and because it is not backward compatible Anthony's talk was what this would mean for all the software written in the language. Python is the language that the popular mailing list software 'Mailman' is developed in and is also the language the the interface for the One Laptop Per Child computer uses. Anthony had a very relaxing and casual way of describing what is a fairly technical and complex issue so I learned a great deal from his talk.
It was wonderful to learn more about the project and the technology of the OLPC. This year they surprised everyone by bringing quite a few of the laptops to the convention. But that was nothing compared to the announcement that they were giving them away with a random draw. So at least 50 OLPC's now reside with conference delegates. To demonstrate the attitude of the developers, the computer came with a note attached that said simply, 'Please do something cool with this OLPC'. After a year of trying to obtain an OLPC for evaluation I am very happy to report that I was a lucky recipient of an OLPC computer. Now, if I can get it way from my 22 year-old son, I might actually be able to have a play with it. Although they say that it's difficult for adults to use which I have found to be an accurate statement. Even opening it is a challenge for adults but any kid I've seen using it had no problem whatsoever getting started with it. Penguin Dinner
I was taken by the vibrant atmosphere of the markets and really enjoyed watching artists at work as they painted, played music and entertained the crowds. I couldn't resist the purchase of an interesting piece of art made out of a stainless steel wire spire with a glass ball in the middle that appears to float up and down as the result of an optical illusion unlike any I have seen before. You'll have to visit my office if you want to see what I mean.
Professional Delegates Mixer linux.conf is packed with events. This year's mixer was held at the Melbourne Musuem. Why a museum? Well, this museum has something that would interest any computer geek that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world! The world's fourth mainframe computer and only surviving first generation computer in the world, CSIRAC.
Open Day linux.conf includes an Open Day for Linux enthusiasts. I dropped in to see how things were going and to talk to they people demonstrating the open source media centre software, Myth TV. I'll have to stay up even later at night to build my media centre but it looks well worth it to have all my movies, photos and other digital media stored and accessible from one system. Not to mention that it can record and organise all your television viewing.
The coolest thing I saw was a delegate wearing a penguin shirt that his partner had made just for the conference. Now that's dedication.
Computerbank Victoria
Tasmania, here we come! Next year linux.conf 2009 will be held at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. See you there!
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Darrell Burkey, President of CASE, has just returned from a week at Melbourne University where he attended linux.conf 2008, one of the best Linux conferences in the world. He had the opportunity to learn from the best and meet many of the skilled people who make open source software available.
Darrell says that he likes to think of linux.conf as linux heaven. They say the conference is seriously technical which certainly is true, but the opportunity to meet the people who develop Free and Open Source Software projects is also important. Even head penguin Linus Torvalds (author of the Linux operating system) can be found at this fantastic event.
On the first day I attended the 'Community Wireless' Mini-conf where I had the opportunity to see what was happening with the 
On day two of the conference the keynote speaker was Stormy Peters who titled her talk 'Would you do it again for free?'. This was a talk about her research in talking to those who at one time worked on open source software for free but now who are paid to do similar work. Stormy was responsible for the introduction of Open Source software at Hewlett-Packard and she has been working with introducing the corporate world to the Open Source world for many years. She is a fantastic presenter and I really enjoyed what she had to say. She now works with
Last year I reported that developers from the 
This year's conference dinner was a casual affair held at the Queen Victoria Markets. This gave delegates the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of food as well as the opportunity to do a bit of shopping. 
It was a wonderful evening and we had the opportunity to visit the 'Bugs Alive' and 3D Theatre display as well. But of course, nothing would beat seeing CSIRAC on the list of 'must dos' for any self-respecting geek. 
One of the oddest things I saw at linux.conf was the self-replicating machine which was busy creating little plastic parts which I assume would be used in the production of another self-replicator. See the conference programme link at the start of this article if you want to hear the presentation and figure out what I'm talking about.
Here's a group that really has things right. I ducked out of the conference long enough to visit our friends at 
We have kept in touch with this organisation over the years as they are one of the few reuse/recycling projects that we belivieve have applied the strategy of computer reuse in an appropriate manner. Visit their web site or give them a call if you would like more information.
