Linuxfest 2003 Schedule

From: Jed Reynolds; (360) 220-6095; Bellingham Linux Users Group (BLUG)
Date: Friday Feb 24, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Place: Bellingham Technical College, Bellingham Wash.
Date: April 26, 10 AM to 4 PM
For information contact: Leland Anderson, (360) 733-6010

NORTHWEST SOFTWARE EXPO HIGHLIGHTS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

LinuxFest Northwest, a regional exposition for computer users interested in the Linux operating system and other Open Source software, will be held on April 26 at Bellingham Technical College (BTC) in Bellingham, Washington. This event is being organized by Linux User Groups from Bellingham, Kitsap Peninsula, Seattle, and Tacoma, and hosted by BTC.

Admission to the event is free. The public is invited and will find material appropriate to computer users having a wide range of interests and expertise.

Jon “maddog” Hall, an internationally recognized pioneer in the Open Source software movement, will be featured as the keynote speaker. Events will include introductory to advanced lectures and tutorials presented by Open Source experts. There will be a number of vendor booths and a raffle of valuable computer products. A detailed schedule of events can be found at the event website, http://www.linuxnorthwest.com.

There will be a welcoming address given by Dr. Gerald Pomphrey, president of BTC, before the lectures begin. The schedule of lectures can be found online at the event website.

“We have an exciting lineup of speakers this year,” said Leland Anderson, an organizer of the event. “Not only are we privileged to have Jon ‘maddog’ Hall as our keynote speaker, several of our presenters are respected authors of books. In addition to lectures, hands-on tutorials will be taught in the BTC computer labs.”

“We’ve added a new educational track this year on the use of Linux in schools,” Anderson said. “There will also be some great tutorials on the Apache web server, free database management applications, Internet security, Perl, and Java all given by local professionals and expert users.”

“Open Source software licenses allow developers to view and modify the source code without having to pay for licenses to do so and may make those modifications available to others,” said Irvin Dorfman, an event organizer and publicist. “End user software developed from this Open Source code is generally available to the public at low cost, and often at no cost.”

“Open Source software is gaining popularity. If you are a student, a small business operator, a non-profit organization, a library or a school, the low cost and great reliability of Open Source software is appealing,” said Jed Reynolds, a software engineer from Bellingham.

“The exposition provides a showcase for anyone interested in learning more about the Linux and BSD operating systems and other Open Source software,” said Jeremy C. Reed, an event organizer and speaker. “Booths and speakers this year will highlight alternative desktop operating systems and stable, low-cost servers running Open Source software.”

“We will be cooperating with other Educational Service Districts (ESDs) in both Washington and Oregon to present the ways that Open Source software is used in their respective regions,” said Eric Hall, Information Services director for Washington’s Northwest Educational District (ESD) 189.

“ESDs provide support services primarily to public K-12 education. Many ESDs are supportive of Open Source software as a way to stretch the shrinking technology dollars available to our schools.”

There will be booths hosting vendors and demonstrations by enthusiasts. A list of vendors and demonstrations can be found at the event website. Vendors and presenters interested in participating can also find more information about LinuxFest Northwest at http://www.linuxnorthwest.com, or contact Leland Anderson at (360) 733-6010.

Planning Crew

The Fest has many volunteers who make this event possible. Below however, are the key folks who are working hard to make Linuxfest Northwest 2004 an event better event than years past.

Bill Wright

Bill has been coined the name “Hunter-Gatherer Penguin” for many reasons, much of which is his persistance to gather all he can to make the Fest a success. Bill has been working with Linuxfest since its start in 2000.

Mark Ashworth

Mark works hard to maintain the databases for scheduling and exhibitors. He also works with the planing team to make sure things get done. Mark is also a Linuxfest Vetran, working with the fest since its start in 2000.

John Blanford

Local Owner of Peak services in Bellingham, John is considered the “Linux Expert” he brings his technical expertise as well as his vast client experience to give us insight on what parts of the fest we should work on. John has also worked with Linuxfest since 2000.

Jakob Perry

Jakob has been the BLUG and Linuxfest webmaster since its start in 2000. Jakob has also been involved with tutorials and exhibits, bringing linux to unfamiliar users.

There are many other people who need to be added to this list. If you’re not on this list, please send me japerry@jademicrosystems.com your request and a little bio of yourself….