O'Reilly Open Source Convention Call for Participation

For Immediate Release
January 7, 2003
For more information, contact: 
Suzanne Axtell (707) 827-7114 or suzanne@oreilly.com

2003 O'Reilly Open Source Convention Call For Participation: 
Embracing and Extending Proprietary Software

Sebastopol, CA--O'Reilly & Associates invites programmers, developers,
strategists, and technical staff to submit proposals to lead tutorial
and conference sessions at the 2003 Open Source Software Convention,
slated for July 7-11 in Portland, OR. Proposals are due February 15,
2003.

The open source community has counted its enterprise successes pretty
darn sweet of late--Linux and other open source tools are being adopted
by supercomputing institutions and by governments around the globe;
Perl is a cornerstone in emerging fields such as bioinformatics.
Proprietary software vendors are setting aside their supercilious
attitude towards open source, and have begun incorporating open source
aspects into their product offerings. This melding of the open source
and the commercial in operating systems and applications is becoming
the norm, for financial and technical reasons, making open standards
for data exchange and service interoperability essential.

The O'Reilly Open Source Convention is the central gathering place for
the open source community to exchange ideas for resolving integration
issues, pushing technical boundaries, and maximizing the benefits of
both open source and proprietary software.  The following tracks and
conferences will be featured at the convention: 
-Perl Conference 7: Perl 5, Perl 6, Parrot, and mod_perl, including
useful modules, software development tips, developing for Parrot and
Perl 6 
-The Python 11 Conference: Python and Zope, in particular using the
latest modules, software engineering, case studies 
-PHP Conference 3:  Unix, Windows, Apache, plus new developments,
security, case studies, large-scale applications development, best
practices 
-Apache: The Apache web server, including 2.0, modules, configuration,
performance tuning, security 
-Apache XML:  Apache XML projects--Xerces, Xalan, Cocoon, FOP, SOAP,
XML-RPC, XML Security 
-Apache Java: Apache and other open-source Java projects such as
Jakarta, Jserv, Avalon 
-XML: schemas, software, standards, best practices, web services, and
IP issues around standards and schemas 
-Applications: system administration tools, servers, back office
utilities, GUI systems, user applications, productivity tools 
-MySQL and PostgreSQL: configuration, migration, data warehousing,
tuning, clustering and replication, fallover, backups, efficient
client-side processing and query design 
-Ruby: introductions to aspects of Ruby for people unfamiliar with the
language, and power user talks for experienced Ruby programmers

Proposals that emphasize practical knowledge over theoretical are
particularly welcome, especially presentations that explicate best
practices for a tool or system, new features or modules, fundamental
skills, or case studies showing how open source software solved thorny
problems or replaced expensive closed source software. Individuals and
companies interested in making presentations, giving a tutorial, or
participating in panel discussions are invited to submit proposals for
tutorials and convention presentations (sessions). Presentations by
marketing staff or with a marketing focus will not be accepted; neither
will submissions made by anyone other than the proposed speaker.

Session presentations are 45 or 90 minutes long, and tutorials are
either a half-day (3 hours) or a full day (6 hours). If you are
interested in participating in or moderating panel discussions, or
otherwise contributing to the convention, please let us know, including
your area of expertise. If you have an idea for a panel discussion or a
particularly provocative group of panelists that you'd love to see
square off, feel free to send your suggestions to
oscon-idea@oreilly.com.

All presenters whose talks are accepted (excluding Lightning Talks)
will receive free registration at the conference. For each half-day
tutorial, the presenter receives one night's accommodation, a limited
travel allowance, and an honorarium. Proposal deadline is February 15,
2003; speakers will be notified by March 15, 2003. Registration opens
in April 2003. For more conference details and to submit a proposal,
visit: http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon.

Additional Resources: 

For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the
conference, contact Andrew Calvo at (707) 827-7176, or
andrewc@oreilly.com.

Check out news from last years O'Reilly Open Source Convention:
http://www.oreillynet.com/oscon2002/

Details from last years O'Reilly Open Source Convention can be found at:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/os2002/

For more information on open source issues, visit the O'Reilly Network:
http://www.oreillynet.com/

Comments about the 2002 O'Reilly Open Source Convention:

"The conference was just excellent and the community, experience and
discussions from the keynotes, with the attendees and the speakers were
invaluable for me and my two collegues."--Jonagustine Lim, eGovernment
Team Specialist, State of Hawaii

"I am really looking forward to the Open Source Convention. IMHO I
think it is the best event I attend every year." --Stacey Quandt,
Industry Analyst, Linux and Open Source, Giga Information Group

"...hordes of volunteer programmers who make up the open-source
movement met this week for their annual convention in San
Diego..."--The Economist, July 25, 2002

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