Looking forward to OLS [LWN.net]

The 2004 Ottawa Linux Symposium starts on July 21. The content this year looks as good as ever: the list of presentations includes well-known Linux developers from all over the world. As usual, the talks place OLS at the forefront of kernel-oriented Linux conferences, with some don't-miss desktop topics thrown in as well. It will be a great gathering for anybody interested in where Linux is going, or who just wants to hang out with a lot of developers and drink too much beer. At least, for anybody who has registered; OLS is sold out and is no longer accepting registrations.

Once again, OLS will be preceded by the invitation-only Kernel Summit. At the same time, the Desktop Developer's Conference will be happening upstairs; registration for that event is still open.

The 2004 event will be the sixth annual Ottawa Linux Symposium. We talked briefly with OLS founder and organizer Andrew Hutton about the event.

LWN: The sixth Ottawa Linux Symposium will be happening next month. Can you tell us how this event got its start? What inspired you to create OLS?

After attending Linux Expo in North Carolina in 1998 and 1999 and the Atlanta Linux Showcase I noticed that the technical events were in danger of being overshadowed by the Dot.Com inspired multi-million dollar marketing events that were beginning to happen at that time. Nobody I knew would voluntarily go to one of these new marketing events. At about 4am one morning while thinking about this problem I asked Alan Cox if he'd consider coming to Ottawa and doing the keynote for a new event on the other end of the spectrum, a pure technical event. He said something like 'sure haven't been to Canada yet, why not' and 3 months later we had the first Linux Symposium.

LWN: OLS has become one of the definitive gatherings of free software developers, especially in the kernel area. How is it that OLS is able to attract such an impressive list of participants - many of whom have to travel a long way to get there - every year?

Content, content, content. Above all else we try to attract the best leading edge content we can. The goal is to create an environment in which nobody goes to a presentation without learning something new about the subject.

LWN: This year, the Desktop Developers Conference will be happening immediately prior to OLS. Can you tell us a little about this event and your expectations for it?

The goal is to bring together the various parties involved in a functional free desktop from kernel people, to X developers, distribution builders, desktop infrastructure people (GNOME/KDE/etc) and application developers to share experiences and discuss the areas in which future cooperation is possible.

LWN: The 2004 Kernel Summit will also be happening just before OLS. Do you expect to host more such events in the future, along the lines of the successful "miniconfs" which accompany Linux.Conf.Au?

For smaller groups we've encouraged this for years. The Desktop Developers' Conference will be the first of the more public ones though. It may or may not remain adjacent to the Linux Symposium in the future. The main reason it is this year is that despite all the buzz you've heard about the future of the desktop, there isn't a lot of support for it yet and this makes it easier for people to justify attending both at this time.

LWN: Another Linux.Conf.Au idea that seems to work well is moving the conference to a different city every year. Might we ever be able to look forward to the Jasper or Victoria Linux Symposium?

Probably not. We discuss this every year and people just enjoy coming to Ottawa ever year. Ottawa is a nice tourist town these days, and has the facilities we require all within walking distance. One of the great things about OLS is never needing a car.

LWN: The Symposium is currently limited to about 500 attendees. Do you think you may ever allow OLS to become larger? Why?

There are two main reasons. Space and communications overhead. It is nice to have time to find and sit and chat with all the people you're looking for during the event. We do end up a bit larger than 500 some years, but for now the space we have isn't suitable either. To keep things productive keeping it small is key.

As usual, LWN editor Jonathan Corbet will be present at OLS and the Kernel Summit this year.

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