There’s a scene in the movie “Apollo 13” where astronaut Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) is excitedly rushing through the house after finding out he’s been picked to go to the moon on Apollo 13. His wife asks, “Why 13?” “It comes after 12,” Lovell replies without missing a beat.
For all the angst and trepidation that accompanied the fact that this is “unlucky” number 13 in the series of Southern California Linux Expo conferences, the show has gone forward in a relatively painless manner with only run-of-the-mill minor snags here and there.
Knock on wood. Throw table salt over your shoulder.
That, of course, was followed by a series of sessions that were, for the most part, once again standing-room-only, like Alison Chaiken’s systemd talk, where I understand no gunfire was exchanged. One track, SCALE: The Next Generation, is one where teens organize their own FOSS track and that did not disappoint, from wunderkind Justin King and his 65-year-old computer to Keila Banks’ talk on starting a FOSS-based business to Levente Kurusa talking about the Linux desktop and when it will be “our year.”
After a wide range of talks that all seemed to go off flawlessly, the evening consisted of the customary games: Games night in the lower lobby as well as the game show “The Weakest Geek.”
Overall, the tone of the conference is very upbeat, again (knock on wood, spin three times and point) very few problems have occurred during the course of the show, and the SCALE 13x Sunday features Ruth Suehle giving the Sunday keynote, with a report to follow tomorrow.
SCALE 13x In Photos
Rather than tell you what’s going on, why don’t I just show you?
More tales of the show and photos tomorrow.
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
