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Announcements Software Linux

Linuxfest Northwest 84

Posted by michael from the fun-for-the-whole-family-except-your-parents-and-siblings dept.
An Yong Zheng writes "Linuxfest Northwest is being held on Saturday, April 26 at Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, Washington. LFNW is a grassroots event put on by a coalition of Pacific Northwest Linux user groups to showcase what Northwest Linux users are doing with Linux and Open Source software. It features a keynote speech by Jon "maddog" Hall from Linux International, lots of great presentations and tutorials, displays of the various cool things that Linux can do, Free Stuff, etc. Click here for more information and here for the schedule of events!"
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Linuxfest Northwest More

Linuxfest Northwest

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  • Of course, for ultimate irony value... (Score:3, Funny)

    by JessLeah ( 625838 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @01:00AM (#5787355)
    ...they could have hosted it in Redmond...

    (DUCKS!) ;)
    • id have to show up if it was
    • I can't believe I haven't heard about this yet! I live in Tacoma, and admittedly I've never managed to make it to the LUG meeting here. You'd hope that some local papers, etc, would have meantioned this, but we are in the Microsoft Municipality here, so what can you expect.

      I was looking at the list of speakers, and damn, it's impressive.

    • Irony: giving out free OSS/etc at the Fest (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Brian Hatch ( 523490 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @09:54AM (#5789528) Homepage Journal
      You want irony? We're going to be near the belly of the beast, and we're going to have all sorts of open source / free software related freebies and raffles. I know of at least the following:

      • Bill Wright (aka the "Hunter Gatherer Penguin") is the main raffle/freebie/swag organizer, and has some books donated by O'Reilly, as well as who knows what else.

      • I've gotten about 40 books (security, perl, linux, web dev, etc) from McGraw-Hill, Addison-Wesley, NewRiders, and Sams, as well as a few copies of EnGarde Linux by Guardian Digital, and possibly some swag from Gibraltar Software. I'll also have some of my books for raffle/signing/etc.

      • Jeremy Reed of ReedMedia [reedmedia.com] will be giving out a boatload of FreeBSD cds. Or maybe that was NetBSD cds. I forget.

      • But, for the real irony, Lee Fisher will be providing some Microsoft .NET development CDs at the LinuxFest.

      There will undoubtably be plenty of freebies at the booths and presentations, so if you want to come and can't justify it to yourself, just think of it as a free Open Source swag shopping spree.

  • Why Bellingham? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Chokai ( 10224 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @01:03AM (#5787361)
    Unless it's because of facility cost I can't see why. Bellingham is about a 2 hour drive from Seattle, where most of the Linux users in the Northwest are anyways!. I'd pay $10 to have it at some campus in the Seattle area rather than pay $15 in gas to get to Bellingham. Oh well.
    • Heck, I'm expecting more along the lines of $40 in gas round trip. I'm heading up from Eugene, OR and willing to carpool. Leaving Eugene at 4am. Returning same day. Wanna go?

    • Re:Why Bellingham? (Score:2, Informative)

      by rotten_ ( 132663 )
      The reson why it is in Bellingham is because it was originally started by the Bellingham Linux Users Group, this is the fourth one.

      The reason it is still in Bellingham is because most of the folks that have been the most active in organizing it are in Bellingham, and we're familiar with the facilities. I wouldn't be suprised it if moves next year to a more accessible location.

    • Re:Why Bellingham? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Doddster ( 615609 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @01:17AM (#5787403)
      There are a few reasons for Bellingham, not the least of which is facilities cost. Esentially, we get the venue and a phenomenal amount of on-site support in exchange for providing some publicity for the school. Also, most of the core organizers are Bellingham locals. This is a yearly thing and our first attempt at getting other LUG's involved. We've talked about moving to a more centralized location, but it depends on a lot of factors which include things like the level of interest of other lugs, the amount of vendor response, etc.
    • Why not Bellingham? Just reach out to your local linux community. Use this event as a model. All volunteers, no body is getting charged or paid one cent. It's the Linux community getting together because they want to. Remember, it's just for fun!
    • I mean, relative to Seattle, Portland's second to none for pac-nw open source. You're outside the area and crosswind from any place likely to be effected by atomic blasts targetting Microsoft. We have the Open Source Labs [osdl.org]. Seattle has beer, but Portland is home to Henry Weinhard's. We've got a new addition on the Oregon Convention Center, but there's far more interesting and free meeting spaces, both indoors and out, and we measure the number of pubs we have in pubs per square foot.

      What's Bellingham g

      • What's Bellingham got?

        As someone who lives in Bellingham (in fact, a five-minute walk from BTC) let me offer one, non-computer-related thing that Bellingham has: natural beauty. Bellingham consistently wins awards for the quality of life it offers its populace, and it's well-deserved. Yes, you could pick larger and more populated venues for this kind of event, but you would have a hard time finding something more surrounded by natural beauty. (May not mean much to some people, but it means a lot to me.) T
      • What's Bellingham got? As mentioned before, Bellingham has the core team of organizers and a free venue. If there are enough volunteer organizers, an appropriate venue free of charge, and enough exhibitor interest, there would be no problem switching to a different metro area, but as it stands the only way we can afford to do this is by holding it at a location that's provided free of charge.

        Also, one of the big appeals of this event is the "grassroots" nature of it. That's really what has drawn the im

      • Re:Why not Portland? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Blain ( 264390 )
        Why not Portland?
        • Because Portland didn't do it. If you want to do it, get to work, and you can do it too.

        Why Bellingham?

        • Because Bellingham's already been doing it.
        • Because Bellingham is cooler than Portland.
        • Because the Cocoanut Grove is within walking distance from BTC (Portland can not say the same thing, btw).
        • Because Bellingham is much closer to Illiad.
        • Because Bellingham is much cooler than Tacoma (and safer if you're not packing heat). It even smells better since they closed the toxic waste
    • And who says Linux isn't for grandpa - AARP gives Bellingham (unofficially known as the city of subdued excitement) 2nd place for best location to "reinvent your life" [aarpmagazine.org].
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • We also have a university here. We end up getting some big names in entertainment who will stop here for a mid-week show between weekend gigs in Seattle and Vancouver.
      • The Canadians are coming, the Canadians are coming!! Actually isn't somebody from Userfrienly.org going to be there? I'd love a geeky autograph :)
      • and yet, so far.

        As for Why Bellingham? I'd rather spend $15 on gas than deal with the traffic in downtown Seattle. I know, it's not very eco-friendly (and would get me kicked out of most places in Fairhaven), but B'ham is just a lot more fun.

  • Mono (Score:4, Informative)

    by AirLace ( 86148 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @01:14AM (#5787397)
    I've been tipped off that the Mono guys are going to be showing their latest hacks. Look out for Jackson Harper's presentation.

  • Archives? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by knightinshiningarmor ( 653332 )
    Will any of this event be broadcast live or recorded for later streaming? I'm guessing most of us don't live in the northwest..

    • Re:Archives? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Doddster ( 615609 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @01:42AM (#5787465)
      We'll be recording Maddog's speech, and I'm sure there will be a few video cameras around. Someone will probably edit together a video of the event. I hear Windows Movie Maker is great for that kind of thing!
    • I'll try to tape some footage and maybe post it, but don't really have the time to engineer a live stream.
    • I'll be putting the slides from my "Linux: The Securable Operating System" presentation online after the show. I believe that Crispin Cowan will be putting his online as well. He's doing a fun one about how WireX's Immunix box handled Defcon's capture the flag.

      I'd imagine lots of these will be online somewhere. We'll probably link to them from the linuxnorthwest.com [linuxnorthwest.com] page.

  • ...so I can piss on the cd's and light them on fire.

  • But do they have a wall of 50 computer monitors running full-screen xeyes?
  • Feel free to pick this [ebay.com] up from me...
  • Its nice to see groups binding together like this to bring a message to the general populus or at least other geeks :)

    Rus
  • I triple guarantee you, Linux does not exist! It is a fabrication of the lying American-owned Al-Jazeera! I will take you there and prove it IN ONE HOUR!
  • Linux is still around? I thought those guys went out of business.

  • If you live more than 20 mile from Canada... (Score:5, Informative)

    by OwnerOfWhinyCat ( 654476 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @03:24AM (#5787757)
    Then you're probably going to come at Bellingham from the South.

    In which case, the best place to get great road snacks (fresh baked scones, muffins, bread, coffees) and non-greasy (no fryers in the place) food on the trip is probably going to be the Calico Cupboard [mapquest.com] in Mt. Vernon, near exit 226.

    I always find myself stopping there on the way to Seattle. Taking exit 226 and turning West on Kincaid street, you'll hit 1st street. Turning north onto 1st, you'll drive past a good pizza place, a great Thai restaurant and an outstanding (hippie, veganesque) food co-oop all on the right with substantial amounts of serv in food (I'd call it a deli, but I don't recall any meat there :) ). Just across Division, the large brick building on the left is CC, and there is a pretty decent bookstore attached (and accessible from the restaurant while your waiting).

    On the East side of the freeway a mile North is a decent sized mall with a many-screens movie theater (a Google-Plex?) and a See's Candies for any family members that will be bored to tears at a LinuxFest. Adjacent to those (to the South) is a largish outlet mall as well (for the shopping addicted).

    I hope this is of help to those whose families are not entirely composed of Penguinistas; Hope to see you there.

  • Some local links for any out-of-towners (Score:4, Informative)

    by inkswamp ( 233692 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @04:11AM (#5787940)
    Just thought I'd post a few local links for anyone coming from out of town.

    bellingham.net [bellingham.net] -- slash-style local news and events site.

    bellingham.com [bellingham.com] -- general info.

    The Bellingham Herald [bellinghamherald.com] -- local newspaper and its local entertainment and events site [bellinghamherald.com].

    Bar Stop [barstop.com] -- should be self-explanatory. ;^) Bar Stop has a guide to places to stay [barstop.com] and restaurants [barstop.com].

    City of Bellingham [cob.org] official site.

  • Short notice. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by kinema ( 630983 )
    I live in the Northwest United States. I would have loved to have gone to this. I have never been attend a Linux/OSS conference because of my location. It just would have been nice to know a bit earlier. Three days seems like kind of short notice to me. A week would have been nice (my employer schedules a week in advance). Unfortunatly due to this "economy" (especially out here) I was forced to take a job that requires me to work most weekends. If I had a bit more notice I may have been able to g
    • I hear you, but Slashdot really isn't the place to go for announcements of this type. Check with your local lugs, we've been working on this for quite a while now. And don't worry, there will be more of these.

      bcl
  • Ahhh yes my favorite open source get together. I am looking forward to seeing "Mad dog hall" and Illiad again. Not to mention all the cool warez that will surely be there...

    Hmm, I wonder if Microsoft and SCO will be there... ;)
  • I'm in Victoria, BC and I'm planning on going provided the boarder doesn't give me any trouble. The only problem I have with this event is there is so much going on, and it's only 1 day! I'd gladly take a week off to go to everything! ;-)

  • Bus and Train schedules (Score:3, Informative)

    by dzelenka ( 630044 ) on Wednesday April 23, 2003 @10:27AM (#5789868) Journal
    Here's the Amtrak schedule:

    Service From To Departs Arrives
    510 SEA BEL 7:45am 9:52am
    516 SEA BEL 5:30pm 8:00pm

    Here's the local bus schedule from the Amtrak station to the Linuxfest site:

    http://www.ridewta.com/new_route23A.html
    or
    ht tp://www.ridewta.com/route50.html

    See you there!
  • The largest Linux supercomputer group in the NorthWest, and in the World. Which is located Less than 5 hours away from Bellingham, in southeastern Wasington at PNNL [pnl.gov]. I have not heard of any invitation to present at Linuxfest. Seems like this is a great thing to be shown/talked about at LinuxFest Northwest....
  • Hey they could have had it in Spokane....i wouldnt have minded :) WIsh I would have heard about this even before today since Im going to Portland this weekend. I would have loved to take a road trip to Bellingham to go there....you guys whine you have to drive 2 hours to get there. From Spokane its like 6 hours....

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