What Linux Event Should You Attend (and Speak at)?

This year LinuxCon will be held in Boston. Maybe people don’t realize that Boston is a hot-bed of the Linux and open source communities, with companies such as Red Hat and Novell head-quartered in the area. Besides Portland and San Francisco, there is probably no greater center of open source development than Boston.

I also wanted to point out that there are many great events held throughout the year by other organizations and community groups. LCA, going on right now, is one of my favorites. (I wish I was there!) You can find a great list of these events on the LWN.net event listing as well as on our own calendar list.

We are hosting a variety of events this year, and I often get asked: what event should I attend? Here’s my short hand for each one of our events. 

Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit

April 14 – 16, 2010

San Francisco, Calif.

This event is an exclusive, invitation-only summit where key Linux stakeholders meet face-to-face to advance and create initiatives that address the most pressing opportunities for Linux today. http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/collaboration-summit/

Summit CFP submissions are due February 19, 2010 by midnight PST and can be submitted online at: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/collaboration-summit/cfp.

This event is where Linux Foundation members and community participants meet to advance Linux. It’s for those working on workgroups (like Moblin or Open Printing) or in projects that need cross-industry collaboration. Real work gets done here, so if you’re new to Linux, a conference like LinuxCon is probably a better fit for you.

Linux Foundation End User Summit

October 25, 2010

Jersey City, NJ

Another invitation-only event, the Linux Foundation’s End User Summit brings together senior kernel leadership with the C-level executives who are managing Linux in the largest most dynamic companies in the world today. In its third year, this event helps to close a “communications loop” to advance Linux development to meet everyone’s goals. To request an invitation, please visit: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/end-user-summit

If you run a datacenter using Linux, this is for you. This is all about connecting end users and kernel developers in an intimate setting. Again, real work gets done here, not education.  In the past two years we’ve had a virtual who’s who of operations executives from Wall Street, healthcare, insurance, government and other industries.

LinuxCon

August 10-12, 2010

Boston, Mass.

LinuxCon is North America’s premiere conference for all matters Linux. The event will bring together community and business leadership as well as up and coming developers to attend sessions produced by the community for the community. LinuxCon will be preceded this year with a variety of “mini-summits” on August 8 and 9, 2010, including the Linux Storage & Filesystems Workshop, the Wireless Mini-Summit and the Bluetooth Summit. http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon

This is a conference, meaning attendees can learn from the best in a relaxed setting. A lot of work gets done, but mainly at the mini-conferences and in the social hours. We have content for advanced developers, as well as operations people and the business/legal side. This event is the “big tent” event for Linux in North America so it’s also a great place to connect with people in the community, potential customers and partners.

Japan Linux Symposium

September 27 – 29, 2010

Tokyo, Japan

The Japan Linux Symposium is the leading Linux conference in Asia Pacific and brings together developers, administrators, users, community managers and industry experts from across the globe. http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/japan-linux-symposium

Great event for technical users and developers who live in Asia. Very successful in its first year.

Linux Kernel Summit

November 1 – 2, 2010

The Linux Foundation will again host the annual gathering of the world’s leading kernel developers to discuss the state of the kernel and to plan the next development cycle.?http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linux-kernel-summit

This is only for you if you get an invite. Only the most prolific and most important kernel developers in this small conference.

To get more information about Linux Foundation events, and to register, please visit: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/.