Ottawa Linux Symposium Update

Andrew Hutton wrote me with some interesting news about his Ottawa Linux Symposium. It seems that they now have some prizes to give away, including 2 Netwinders, and a bunch of User Friendly hats, plus a few copies of Civ: CTP. He says that with any luck, anyone who registers before July 1st should have a 1 in 20 chance of winning a prize. Also, it seems there now is an IA-64 talk, a Mozilla talk (our friend Mike is a busy man, it seems), and of course, Alan Cox's keynote. If I get lucky, I'll be giving a tutorial while I'm there (if I'm there). Stay tuned and check the website for further details.

So is it free if I register 31 June :-)?

[Max Hyre]

The registration price list shows prices for registration ``before June 31'' and ``after June 31''---so we have 24 hours of undefined prices.

I'd go but....

[Ron Harwood]

It's too damn expensive...
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Re:So is it free if I register 31 June :-)?

[Don Sample]

If you can register on June 31 I'm sure they'll let you in free. (hint: check your calendar)

Re:I'd go but....

[Anonymous Coward]

How is it too expensive! The content is far superior to any of the other shows and you even get to pay in Canadian Dollars!

If you check out the Travel section of the pages there are even people offering free lodging to people on a budget who cannot afford the hotel.

What??

[Outlyer]

I'm thinking about going to this, but $125 for students? Even Comdex is free.

Re:I'd go but....

[Mr Bill]

I'm sure that in the next month or so you can save up $125. Just stop drinking for a month :). And after all, what is OSAP really for. This is an educational experience after all. I'm sure you will learn more in this conference than you will in your courses at Queens (not a shot at Queens, just at Universities in general).

Then again, I'm trying to justify spending the 225 bones myself (I have a student card, but it's expired now)

If you do decide to go and need a ride, let me know, because IF I go I'll be coming through Kingston (I live in Toronto)

Re:So is it free if I register 31 June :-)?

[reed]

which june 31? june 31, 1999 or june 31 2000 :) ?

Re:I'd go but....

[Obasan]

I have to agree it's too pricey. I'm a student. I can't justify $125 before travel expenses to attend something like this, though I certainly would like to. Let's see, go to linux conference or eat next month. Tough choice!

I think they need to bump their student rates down considerably. Oh well.

Obasan

A BOF? (not BOFH :))

[Telsa]

BOF: birds of a feather, I believe. Idea is that if you have a thousand or so folks there, there's lots of stuff which won't generate enough interest for a big talk (or maybe a big talk isn't the right format) but you'll certainly find 20 or 30 people interested in kernel documentation, porting blah to some-odd-architecture, using a particular suite of programs, or discussing different licences. So you set up a couple of rooms and they have different BOF sessions one after the other. Most of them are set up in advance, but I think it's common to have at least a couple where the first bunches of people to go "Hey! We're all interested in this! Let's schedule a BOF and see who else there is, too!" can do so.

At least, that's my understanding. (I saw the BOF sessions advertised last year for something and had to go and find out, too :)) My examples of what are typical BOF interests might be a bit skewed, as this is yet another area I wot not of. They're usually scheduled against the evenings, but they can clash with talks, too. They do try to schedule them sensibly (a kernel internals talk against a graphics BOF, for example) but it's not easy, given the typical range of interests of many conference attenders.

How typical. I write all that and _then_ check the Jargon File. Oh well, apparently I'm roughly right: BOF in Jargon File [tuxedo.org] (I hope).

Re:I'd go but....

[mathboy]

dude, you KEEP your expired card around. no one
person is going to know anything about how each
university formats their cards. Christ, my
UfToronto card has a sticker on the back thats all
ratty that says what year it was valid. But its
small and totally unnoticeable where it says
1995. ;) NO ONE is gunna know.

However, if you can get the man (your employer)
to pay, then do do so.

It's not too expensive!

[ctrl-alt-delete]

Good grief, why don't people understand the difference between an advertising trade show and an informative symposium?

I suspect because they probably haven't ever attended anything other than COMDEX type shows. Well, you're losing out then. There's a big difference. At trade shows, all you'll get is stupid advertising of product XYZ. Most likely, the most valuable thing you'll walk out of the show with is a T-shirt. The symposium proposed for ottawa you'll walk out with a real benefit: better understanding of technologies etc.

And the fact of the matter is somehow money has to be paid to cover rooms, organization, and flights for speakers etc. (I doubt the speakers are making much for appearance)

Prices in Canadian Dollars

[John Kacur]

Don't forget those prices are in Canadian dollars. if you go to their registration page, they estimate what the equivalent in American dollars is. Look at this page.
http://www.ottawalinuxsymposium.org/registration .html
So, the $125.00 Canadian student price is $85.00 American. Seems like a deal to me.
Alan Cox speaking there clinches it for me. (besides I am Canadian, and Ottawa's not too far away)
Hope to see a lot of you there.

Re:It's not too expensive!

[diz]

Some of them are losing money in fact.