NewsForge: Five Years of Bringing Linux to the Feds First-Hand

“Tim Bogart, a mainstay of the Northern Virginia Linux Users
Group (NoVaLUG), is getting ready for the group’s fifth annual
appearance at FOSE, the Federal Office Systems Exposition. The LUG
setup is always among the most humble ones, seemingly lost in the
midst of flashy displays from commercial hardware and software
vendors hoping for a piece of the federal pie, but it is always one
of the busiest spots on the show floor. Tim and I chatted via IM a
few days ago. This edited transcript of our conversation can and
should serve as an ‘advocacy guide’ for other LUG activists who
want to do effective Linux promotion at computer expositions that
are not all about Linux–which are often the kind of shows where
LUG advocacy does the most good.

“Roblimo: How did the first FOSE appearance
come about? Did you ask FOSE or did FOSE ask you?

“Tim: Actually I annoyed them until they agreed
to open a dialog. I pestered them for about three months. Then Red
Hat had their IPO… more phone calls… then VA Linux… then I
got to talk to them. It was nothing but bulldog tenacity that got
us in there…”

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