I just got back from LinuxWorld in Boston, and I have to say that it wasn’t nearly as geeky as I expected it to be. Judging from pictures I’ve seen from previous LinuxWorlds, I expected it to be like a circus, but I think I saw more business guys in suits than overweight guys with beards. I guess it’s a testament to how mainstream Linux has become over the last few years.
Observations:
- Too many companies staff their booths with hot girls in attempt to get people to notice their products (eg: VMWare). These were the booths I tried to ignore, just to teach them a lesson!
- Slashdot was there, but they didn’t have a booth (that I could see); just a bunch of couches and a projector which they were using to play video games on. What was the point? I have no idea.
- I think the Gentoo booth was staffed with some of the most stereotypical geeks I’ve ever seen in my life. Whenever I’m feeling uncool, I’ll just think back to what I saw at the Gentoo booth. ;-) Sorry Gentoo guys! I still love your distro!
I’m going to the one in London. I’ve been looking at pictures and figured it will be more business stuff, but I want the geek side of things. I’m definitly going to go to the Gentoo both then.
I used to go to them when they were in NYC and noticed that in 2004 (the last NYC one) that it was more business oriented than geeky. I guess 2003 was sort of the decline, or at least that’s the way I felt. There are very few true geek conventions anymore related to computers. Computers are too commercial.
just to clarify, when i talked about things being geeky, i was kinda making fun of it!
I was there too. We’re you wearing your invisible suit again? I didnt see you anywhere.