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<title>Linux Expo a Smashing Success! LG #30</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<H1><font color="maroon">Linux Expo a Smashing Success! </font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:normj@aa.net">Norman M. Jacobowitz</a></H4>
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For three days of May (28, 29, 30), the normally tranquil Duke University
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Campus was transformed into a raucous playground for geeks and hackers
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as the Fourth Annual Linux Expo was held at Duke's Bryan Center.
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<p>
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By all accounts, this year's Expo was a smashing success. Red
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Hat's Marketing Director, Lisa Sullivan, deserves special thanks for organizing
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and directing the event. Many others, from Key Note Speaker Linus
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Torvalds to the blue-shirted Duke University catering staff, were instrumental
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in making it a memorable three days.
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<p>
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According to Sullivan, approximately 1500 visitors were registered as
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paid attendees, while another 350 to 500 were registered as speakers, VIPs
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or other gratis attendees. Attendees ranged from as far away as
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Korea, Finland, Colombia and Alaska. Some 34 exhibitors
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showed their products and services.
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<p>
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Some of the speakers included:
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<p>
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<ul>
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<li> Eric S. Raymond gave an inspired, scholarly overview of hacker
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motivation in his ``Homesteading the Noosphere'' speech.
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<li> Miguel de Icaza, despite troubles with the overhead projector, shared
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much about the technical details and future features of ``GNOME, The GNU
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Network Object Model Environment'' GUI.
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<li> Mark Mathews described his success as a consultant and Linux programmer
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in his talk, ``Developing Linux Software for Fun--Turns into
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Profit''.
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<li> Jon ``maddog'' Hall described his encounters with Linux users worldwide
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during ``Linux Around the World''.
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</ul>
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Some exhibitors included:
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<p>
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<ul>
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<li> Corel Computer Corporation displayed their new Linux-based NetWinder
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Network Computer.
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<li> Digital Equipment Corporation exhibited their latest generation Alpha
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processors.
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<li> Linux Hardware Solutions showed off some of their line of, well,
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Linux hardware solutions.
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<li> Caldera, Red Hat and Turbo Linux were there presenting their latest
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Linux distributions.
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</ul>
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Of course, the single most popular event was Friday evening's keynote
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address by Linus Torvalds. An estimated 1000 to 1200 folks were on
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hand. In his typically unpretentious, casual and brutally honest
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style, Linus filled us in on his future vision for the Linux kernel.
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Linus first took a moment to thank everyone who has helped him with
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the stable kernel releases, especially Alan Cox. Linus went
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on to say he is happy with the way Linux is going, especially with
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the way new markets are opening up and new applications are being
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made available.
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<p>
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Here are some highlights of Linus's views on important topics for the
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future of the Linux Kernel:
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<p>
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<ul>
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<li> The 2.2 release: look for a code freeze in about a month with the
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next stable release, Kernel 2.2, to follow as soon as late July or early
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August.
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<li> SMP: Symmetrical Multi-Processing is currently one of Linus's favorite
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features of the kernel; expect continued development and enhancement of
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SMP in future releases.
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<li> Merced: Linus is not particularly impressed with or concerned about
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Intel's upcoming 64-bit processor, code-named Merced--he actually prefers
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DEC's Alpha architecture. He did say porting Linux to Merced should
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be no problem once GCC is optimized for Merced.
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<li> Java: While Linus would like to see an officially supported Java Development
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Kit from Sun, he is still not impressed with Java and would prefer to stay
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out of the Microsoft/Sun clash over Java purity.
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<li> Emulation: Linus would prefer to see native Linux applications and
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does not like the idea of emulating other operating systems for the purpose of running
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applications.
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</ul>
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Of course, Linus had much more to say, but the gist of his speech was
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that with more time and some more good luck, Linux will continue to move
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towards complete world domination.
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Judging from the air of excitement and the buzz of optimism pervading
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this year's Linux Expo, Linus is exactly right.
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Norman M. Jacobowitz <BR>
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Published in Issue 30 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, July 1998</H5></center>
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