[ Thanks to Aaron
Turner for this report. ]
I’m happy to say we all made it back from New York in one piece.
It’s amazing just how tired one can get from standing and talking
all day. But, it was well worth it- all three of us: Jason, Daniel
and I (Aaron) had a great time.
First, on the behalf of SEUL
and the Linux Knowledge Base Org., I’d like to thank MandrakeSoft for sponsoring us
at LinuxWorld. Without their generous support none of this would of
been possible. Everyone at MandrakeSoft was extremely helpful with
every aspect of the expo, from hotel accommodations for the three
of us to providing computers to showcase the projects on the expo
floor. Having the opportunity to talk to so many people and make
them aware of what SEUL and the Linux KB are doing was an amazing
opportunity. Special thanks go out to Eugene Clement and Daniel
Monaler (sp?) who were so helpful with everything and willing to
pose with us for this
photo. (Eugene, Aaron, Jason, Daniel,
Daniel)
Anyways, about the expo…
Daniel, Jason, and I talked to a lot of people who stopped by
our
booth about what SEUL and the Linux KB are doing to make Linux
easier to use and problems easier to solve. The feedback we
recieved was overwhelmingly positive from longtime users and
newbies alike. We passed out a number of fliers to people, many of
whom promised to give them to co-workers and teachers who were
unable to attend the expo.
We also made contact with quite a few other websites (both
commercial and non-profit) who maintain their own databases of
support related content. All of these sites were extremely
interested in working with us. To be honest, I was rather surprised
just how easy it was to get people interested in colaborating
together. It really was amazing to me how everyone I talked to
wanted to work with us for the benefit of the Linux community. This
isn’t the same cut-throat world that so many in the Windows world
are so painfully aware of.
But, the expo wasn’t all work. Jason took the opportunity to
play a game of pool with Linus on one of the worlds most unlevel
tables at one of the evening parties. Linus was kind enough to have
his
picture taken with the two of us. (Aaron,
Linus, Jason). It was also a lot of fun just relaxing,
drinking a few beers, playing 8-ball, and just talking with other
people who are as excited about Linux and open source as we are. If
you ever get the opportunity to go to one of these, I highly
recommend it.
We also had the opportunity to have our ears assaulted by
the SCO booth. Let’s just say that I hope they don’t quit their
day job and try to start a band. The good news is that by Friday,
they were so hoarse they could barely speak, let alone try to sing.
I’m glad to say that as far as I could tell, the other vendors had
better taste than SCO. I also had a couple of interesting and
rather frank conversations with LinuxOne. I’m thinking about what
to say and the format I should present it in – hopefully I’ll have
something done in a few days.
