Sure there’s a lot going on right now: A report posted on the OSCON site this week has the show — which everyone assumed would be in Portland forever — moving to Austin and being rescheduled to May in 2016. Let’s call that AusCON from here on in.
Then there’s the release of Ubuntu 15.04, complete with the adjective and animal beginning with the same letter — Vivid Vervet this time around.
But what’s more important than those two items at the moment — we can deal with those later — is that LinuxFest Northwest is ramping up its 15th annual show in Bellingham, Washington, this week.
LinuxFest Northwest — just south of the border (the Canadian one, that is) — is like Old Man River: It just keeps rolling along. Shows come and go, they grow and move, but the oldest community-run expo has put down some solid roots at Bellingham Technical College. The show has grown over the years, and so has the college. With recent improvements over the last few years, LFNW has grown to be a top-notch destination for speakers, exhibitors and attendees, with around 80 presentations being part and parcel of LFNW’s weekend fare.
Recently, LFNW went on social media to try to prevent a bottleneck at registration on Saturday morning. With more printers and some volunteers with tablets, the process should move along. Pre-registering is always a good idea. It will speed up the process, and you should do so if you haven’t already. Also, registration will be going on all day, so you can always come back and get a badge during the course of the day. If you are planning to attend the Friday night Board Game party at the Hampton Inn in Bellingham, you can get your badge there as well.
Badges — you need your steenkin’ badges to get into the LFNW party on Saturday night. Hence, the advisory. You’re welcome.
FOSS Force, in the form of yours truly, will be reporting from the fest over the weekend and will give it a wrap on Monday. If you live within driving distance — for me, that’s 14 hours from Santa Cruz to Bellingham — then you should go. See you there.
Oh, and one more thing, which comes from my old pal and former editorial colleague Robert Mittendorf (now a copy desk editor at the Bellingham Herald and a volunteer firefighter): If you’re looking for breakfast on Saturday morning, the South Whatcom Fire Authority is hosting a Pancake Feed from 7 a.m. to noon at the Sudden Valley Fire Station, 2050 Whatcom Blvd., in Bellingham. It’s $5 per person, $15 per family, and proceeds go to Camp Phoenix (Burned Children Recovery Foundation) and the fire department. The three things firefighters do best is fight fires, save lives, and make pancakes — pretty much in that photo-finish order.
Larry Cafiero, a.k.a. Larry the Free Software Guy, is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate. He is involved in several FOSS projects and serves as the publicity chair for the Southern California Linux Expo. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero
Larry, There will be six of us from Montana going to LFNW this year. One from Glendive, two from Billings, and three from Bozeman. I’ll see you there… and yeah… I can probably lend a hand with Korora-related stuff. Pancakes sound good. I think you’ll be driving a little more than us though… but probably not the guy from Glendive.
Dagnabbit… a must-attend presentation for me (OpenVZ) is scheduled at the same time as the Korora BOF. 🙁
Well, Scott, let me see if I can change it.