The Last “Atlanta Linux Showcase”? Not Really

[ Thanks to Kate Cotrona for this
link. ]

It’s a sad goodby for the Atlanta Linux Showcase (ALS). October
10-14 at the Cobb Galleria will be the last time Atlantans will be
able to locally interact with exhibitors from the Linux movement.
No, they’re not closing down– they’re just moving shop.

The new “official” name of the showcase is the “Annual Linux
Showcase and Conference,” due to the fact that the showcase will be
traveling to a new city each year. Next year, ALS will be in
Oakland, CA. A definite schedule, however, has not been set for the
years following 2001.

Greg Hankins, Vice President of ALS, said that they will “try and
alternate between coasts each year.”

“We started travelling in order to give the show more of a national
presence. This way, we can bring the conference to a wider audience
as we move around the country, and to people that could’t make it
to Atlanta,” said Hankins.

When the first showcase was held in 1996, a meager 500 attendees
arrived to support the grassroots movement. Foundation exhibitors
included Red Hat, Spellcaster, Linux International and Caldera.
According to the ALS website, the showcase was originally founded
“for the purpose of furthering the use of the Linux operating
system in the public and private sectors.”

This year, more than 4,000 attendees are expected to see the last
show in its hometown.

Last year, USENIX, a corporate showcasing company, merged with ALS.
According to Hankins, USENIX and ALS shared most of the show
organization last year with ALS handling most of the logistics.
This year, USENIX is doing most of the show logistics, and ALS is
handling the special events and show network, and they are acting
as an advisor to USENIX.

Key exhibiting vendors, such as Red Hat, Atipa, IBM, Compaq, SuSE
and VALinux will be there along with other seasoned and “up and
coming” Linux companies. Look for your favorite distribution,
application, publication, hardware and accessory businesses.

Keynotes and Presentations will be given by Larry Wall of O’Reilly
& Associates, Inc; Urs Hölzle, Vice President of
Engineering at Google; and Ken Coar of Apache Software Foundation.
Technical Sessions will be presented under the following
categories: “Hack Linux,” “Extreme Linux” and “Use Linux.”

For more information on speaker times, class & tutorial times
or exhibitor information please see the ALS Website.

– Kate Cotrona/Atlanta Linux Newsletter