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<title>Linux Expo 1999 LG #42</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 1999</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:ljeditor@ssc.com">Marjorie Richardson</a></H4>
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<A HREF="./photos.html">Photo Album</A>
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Red Hat proved once again that they can put on a good show for the
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Linux community. Bigger and better than ever, Linux Expo again doubled in
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size and attracted top speakers such as Dr. Peter Braam and Dr. Theodore
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Ts'o. Big business was there too, represented by such companies
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as IBM, Hewlett Packard and SGI (formerly Silicon Graphics), as well
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as the usual Linux vendors, such as SuSE, Caldera, VA Linux Systems,
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Enhanced Software Technologies, Cygnus and many others.
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<p>
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I talked to Dave McAllister of SGI about their involvement in Linux
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and Open Source and found SGI to be much more committed to this community
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than I would have suspected. They released their most robust and scalable
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file system, XFS, to the community in an effort to aid Linux in reaching
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what he called ``Enterprise level''. Whatever their reasons
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for doing so, this is certainly something that was applauded by everyone
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I talked to at the show.
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<p>
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One of the most exciting announcements before the show was
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O'Reilly's and HP's sourceXchange.com web site. I
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attended a discussion about this site, which is designed to aid in
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getting needed open source developed by obtaining sponsors who will
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pay developers to write the code they need and then release it to
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the public. This is an idea whose time has come, as another group
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has also started a web site for the same purpose--this one
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is CoSource.com from a couple of independents, Bernie Thompson and
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Norman Jacobowitz, who write for LJ. It's obvious that Bernie,
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Norman and O'Reilly are committed to the community and wish to
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drive open source development, but I was a bit suspicious of HP. When
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I asked about HP's motives for involvement in this project, Wayne
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Caccamo told me HP felt this project was inevitable and wanted to take a
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leadership role in it <i>and</i> they wanted to ``ingratiate''
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themselves to the Open Source community--talk about honesty! After
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that remark, I was ready to believe anything. I'm looking forward
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to seeing how both these sites work out. (For more on this subject,
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see Doc Searls' article on the <i>Linux Journal</i> web site
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at http://www.linuxresources.com/articles/conversations/001.html and
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Bernie Thompson's article in this issue, ``Market Making in
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the Bazaar''.)
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<p>
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There were the usual fun things to do, such as a chili pepper
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sauce contest and a paintball contest pitting vi against Emacs
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once more--and once again vi won, proving it is the best editor
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available--or that its advocates are the best shots. More than one
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group bought blocks of tickets to a local showing of <i>Star Wars-The
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Phantom Menace</i>. The ALS (Atlanta Linux Showcase) group invited me
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to go along with them. Fun movie, but not as compelling as the first
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one--then again, who expected it to be?
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<p>
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I especially enjoyed my booth time talking to current and future readers
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and authors. In particular, it was a pleasure to finally meet Alan Cox
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and Telsa Gwynne.
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<p>
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Alpha Processor, Inc., a Samsung company, announced they were
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joining Linux International, and Guy Ludden presented a check to Jon
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``maddog'' Hall. I got the picture and then took several
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others of Jon, including one with a people-size Tux, who was roaming
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the show floor.
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<p>
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Compared to LinuxWorld, Linux Expo came across as more polished, more
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``we've done this before successfully''. LinuxWorld had
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a lot of glitz--electricity and energy filling the air--that
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just wasn't there at Linux Expo. I think this had mostly to do with
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the fact that it wasn't the first time for these guys--the
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experience showed. The speakers all like Linux Expo better, as the Expo
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paid their travel expenses while LinuxWorld left them to get there on
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their own. LinuxWorld had more people and more vendors, but they also
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have the advantage of being in Silicon Valley.
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<p>
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Evan Leibowitz described the Expo as ``the show where Linux lost
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its innocence'' due to two unpleasant situations that arose. One was
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Pacific HiTech's being kicked out for passing out t-shirts without
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buying booth space. The other was the use of the Red Hat trademark
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without permission, by LinuxCare on their poster parodying a Palm Pilot
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ad. No matter which side you took on this incident--the calling of
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lawyers certainly signals the ``end of innocence''.
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<p>
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The show was a definitely a success. I talked to Bob Young on the last
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day, and he certainly seemed pleased with how it had turned out. See
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my interview with Bob in this issue. For more vendor announcements,
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see ``Linux Kernels''.
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1999, Marjorie Richardson <BR>
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Published in Issue 42 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, June 1999</H5></center>
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