Announcing LinuxCon 2010

The Linux Foundation — the non-profit organization dedicated to all things Linux — is involved in a number of conferences throughout the year. Among those, the newest is LinuxCon, which will be celebrating it's second year in 2010.

The location of industry conferences can be somewhat volatile — even those that have convened in the same city for the better part of a decade can suddenly turn up in another area. LinuxCon, at least for now, looks to be one that will jump from city to city each year, creating both an opportunity for individuals in geographically diverse locations to attend, and a nice guessing game over where that will be.

This week, the Linux Foundation announced where the conference's next hop will land, and when that will be. The second annual LinuxCon will assemble in Boston, Massachusetts from August 10 - 12, 2010, and will as always include a variety of speakers, networking opportunities, panel presentations, and other conference staples. Though the lineup has yet to be announced, past presenters have included Ubuntu's Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life, Mark Shuttleworth, Hewlett-Packard's Bdale Garbee, IBM Vice President Bob Sutor, and — of course — Developer-in-Chief Linus Torvalds.

Attendees will have the added benefit of being able to attend several other events that will also be underway. Though they were co-located last year, the Linux Plumber's Conference will not be on-site in Boston — it is scheduled for November 3 - 5, 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Several other events will run concurrently, however, including FOSS DevCamp and LDAPCon, will also take place at the same time. The Linux Foundation Training Program offered sessions during last year's conference, though its 2010 schedule has not currently been published. It should be noted that entry to, and the cost of, these concurrent events is not included in the LinuxCon registration.

Those interested in submitting a proposal to present at the conference may wish to keep an eye on the Call For Participation page on the Foundation's LinuxCon site. At this early stage of the game, details on when the call will be issued, like most information, have yet to be announced. Registration dates for the conference have been announced, however, and will open in February. Full details will be provided on the registration page at that time.

Conference fees do not appear to have been announced as of yet, but will likely be similar to last year's fees. The registration fees for LinuxCon 2009 were: $299 for Early Birds who registered a minimum of three months in advance, $399 for post-EB registrations no later than one month prior, and $499 for late registrations, which were available until three days before the event. Students, as is frequently the case, received the lowest rate, at $199. Discounts were available to a number of groups: Linux Foundation members received 30% off, as did those attending the LPC, while companies with three registrants and up saved 15%.