Berkeley, CA — (press release excerpt) — In response to an uncertain political climate and the recent economic downturn, the USENIX Association and the Atlanta Linux Showcase, Inc. jointly announced today that they will offer free registration to everyone wishing to attend technical sessions at next month's Annual Linux Showcase & Conference in Oakland, California. The conference takes place November 5-10, 2001 at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California.

USENIX and ALS are making this unprecedented offer because they believe the networking opportunities and high-caliber technical content at this conference provide an important service to their membership and the general open source community. The current political situation impacts a community already struggling due to the failure of many dot-com companies that used open source operating systems and open source techniques.

“We recognize this may only be a temporary readjustment until the 'brick and mortar' companies start using open source products to a greater degree. Therefore, we feel that it is crucial to provide current technical information to the community at this time,” said Jon “maddog” Hall, USENIX Director and ALS Invited Talks Program Chair. “There are also several political issues facing the open source community right now such as DMCA, SSSCA, copyrights, and software patents. The ALS invited talks track reflects this and we felt that we could not put off these important discussions to a later time.”

Such focus on the open source community is not new for ALS, which originated as a local Atlanta, Georgia event.

“ALS has historically been a community based show,” said Marc Torres, ALS, Inc. President. “Since 1997, it has grown in scope and technical depth along with the open source community. It is a place for Linux developers to comfortably gather, compare notes, and create new ideas. ALS has always been where open source professionals can relax and discuss their projects and interests with their peers. We kept that community very firmly in mind during this decision process.”

Hall agrees. “At ALS, people get to talk to the developers and visionaries of Open Source projects. For example, when was the last time that both of the originators of Beowulf were at the same conference?” Hall asked. “This conference is also important for making open source professionals aware of the issues, both political and technical, and to get them mobilized to address them. And to have fun.”

 
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