Four Red Hat employees will be putting all of their technical,
communication, and driving skills to the test this fall with the
launching of the Red Hat Road Tour 2002.
Set to start on October 31, the crew from Red Hat will travel
from their North Carolina home offices to cities across the United
States, looking to promote Red Hat and Linux, as well as “discover
the state of Linux in America,” according to the tour’s Web
sites.
The tour is already taken on a whimiscal air. The first
pre-entry in the tour’s journal from Jonathan Opp is a testament to
that.
“While the ground crew is busy scheduling events, reviewing
maps, warning everyone in our path, we’re preparing ourselves
mentally and physically. Jeremy and James attempted 1000 sit-ups
and did 15 minutes of lay-downs instead. I sat in my 45-minute
morning commute and imagined it being 133 times longer. Dave has
chosen denial,” Opp wrote.
Opp will be traveling with Jeremy Hogan, James McDermott, and
Dave Lawrence.
The goal of the tour is, according to tour organizers, to
promote the recent release of Red Hat Linux 8.0. It is also, Opp
writes, a chance to check on Linux:
“We’re going on the road because that’s where Linux is. Spread
among five thousand miles of pavement and lime green rest stops and
pancake houses where the home cooking is so authentic the waitress
looks like your aunt.”
This is not the first time Red Hat has used this form of
community relations: a similar trip was done in 1999.
The cities and dates have all been firmed up, though specific
times and places are still up in the air for some of the venues.
The list of cities includes:
Arlington, VA, Nov. 1; Chantilly, VA, Nov. 2; Bel Air, MD, Nov.
2; Collegeville, PA, Nov. 2; Philadelphia, Nov. 3; Columbus, OH,
Nov. 4; Indianapolis, Nov. 5; Champaign, IL, Nov. 5; Edwardsville,
IL, Nov. 6; Lawrence, KS, Nov. 7; Denver, Nov. 8; San Diego, Nov.
11; Los Angeles, Nov. 12; Sebastopol, CA, Nov. 13; and Portland,
OR, Nov. 16 and 18.
For more information on stop details, visit the Tour link site
linked below.