SCALE 3X Wrapup Report

The third Southern California Linux Exposition (SCALE 3X) successfully
completed its run the weekend of February 12-13 at the Los Angeles
Convention Center. SCALE 3X provided two full days of featured speakers
arranged in four tracks, a small exposition with an interesting range of
booths, a speakers dinner Saturday evening, plus a VoIP panel discussion
that closed the event.

Track A was oriented to the experienced Linux user, covering the
most technically sophisticated topics, including the kernel, embedded
issues and remastering Knoppix.
Tracks B and C were somewhat less technically oriented and included talks
about application development and availability, a variety of
implementation issues and relevant social issues.
Track D was oriented to the Linux beginner and included tutorials on
such topics as
distributions, networking, content management and Samba.
The VoIP panel discussion that closed the conference tracks was well
attended and included a spirited Q & A session.

All speakers allowed ample time for Q & A, and several speakers
continued discussions with interested attendees in the hallways after
vacating the platform. Many of the speakers even allowed for questions
during their talks, which--although it broke the flow of the
presentation--allowed for a more immediate approach to the speaker.

The range of speakers and their topics was ample for an event of this
type. Although a few attendees periodically grumbled
about a lack of technically sophisticated material in certain
presentations, the overall mood among attendees was positive. Given
that SCALE 3X never billed itself as anything like a hackathon, any
expectations by attendees of this sort of activity represents a clear
misunderstanding on their part.

The SCALE 3X organizers digitally recorded the conference sessions, so
check
here for the sound files in the days to
come.

The speakers dinner Saturday night was very informal and was a good way
to connect with others in the Linux community over a meal. The only way
to diversify the interaction further would have been to hold a cocktail
party before the dinner.

In the exposition hall, the two prime locations were
occupied by IBM and Novell, which greeted attendees with a new Linux
server hardware platform (OpenPower 710) and CDs with Novell Linux
software, respectively. Also present were various backup solution
vendors, content management software providers and
middleware and application developers.
Noticeably absent from the exposition hall was Red Hat, which one would
think would at least send somebody to distribute Fedora CDs in an
effort to broaden community support.

As one would expect at such an event, the distribution communities were
present. The Debian booth featured local community members along with
i386 platform stable and unstable CDs for sale at the usual price of $1
USD. Although Gentoo did not offer CDs, its booth featured a
demonstration of a sound application running on PPC hardware. KnoppMyth
had a booth featuring its playback capability and offered current CDs.

Also as expected, the FSF offered printed material. LTSP showcased its
considerable capabilities using nominal hardware. LinuxChix let us all
know that "Chicks Dig Linux". Rounding out the exposition space were
booths featuring USENIX, local LUGs and SIGs and other related
non-profit groups.

FreeBSD and NetBSD had booths, too, presenting their non-Penguin free
software. FreeBSD featured free boxed CD sets of both the 5.3 and 4.10
releases. NetBSD featured its OS running on a small sample of
relatively obscure but fully supported platforms--Amiga, Cobalt, DEC
and SGI.

It was interesting to witness these xBSD community members having to
explain what their software is (an operating system), how it is licensed
(BSD instead of GPL) and how it is developed (centralized
organizations) to unfamiliar attendees. However, it was even more
interesting to listen in on the informal but friendly debate about
hardware support that arose as the show was closing. And it was
precisely this kind of open atmosphere between conference attendees,
speakers and booth personnel that was so refreshing.

Some rough edges were evident during the course of the weekend,
but given that the organizers represented local LUGs and not a
professional event corporation, this was not surprising. However, after
reflecting on them, they actually added to the charm of the event. As
the major Linux expositions have become increasingly commercial in focus
at the expense of community-style gatherings, it is quite refreshing to
be able to experience more of a community-oriented atmosphere from start
to finish.

As a postscript, I cannot resist noting that SCALE 3X was located
next to the Staples Center, which housed the Grammy Awards on Sunday
evening. In fact, SCALE 3X closed just as the big limousines appeared
on the LAPD-guarded streets. Could there be a more delicious
juxtaposition of polar opposites than a modest group of penguinistas
concluding their local community event in the shadow of big music's
annual self-congratulatory gala?