[TriLUG] Where is Linux today?

[Bill Farrow]

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008, Maxwell Spangler wrote:
> 3) A successful Linux conference today would require a big effort and
> big money to produce.  Without the energy and excitement about Linux
> this kind of event requires corporate backing and that seems

Hi Guys,
I've just moved to Raleigh from Melbourne, Australia, so my perspective is 
perhaps a bit different.

Australia runs an annual Linux conference (linux.conf.au) and each year the 
LUGs around the country submit bids to run the next years conference.  This 
means that no-one group gets burnt out, and it stays a volunteer run 
conference.  Big name companies like IBM, Intel, Red Hat, HP, all sign up 
to be sponsors, but it is definitely not a commercial or corporate event.

http://www.linux.org.au/LCA

This is not the time to drop the ball on Linux.  We are at a key point in 
time with regard to operating systems, with the rise of OSX, the stumbling 
that is Vista, and the advent of portable devices like the N800 and EeePC.

Linux is alive and kicking around the world.  When I look at RTP job 
advertisements, there are quite a few that are linux specific.

Be an active advocate:  When my friends ask me to fix their Windows PC and 
remove viruses, I tell them that I use Linux on my laptop and desktop, and 
since there are "no" viruses for Linux I don't have a virus scanner.  I 
then show them how much memory their virus scanner is using, and tell them 
how ridiculous it is.  /* Yes, the "no" viruses is debatable, but sometimes 
you have to "round down" the statistics for non-eng people :-) */

Bill