Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Portland Oregon resident, Linux creator, and open source proponents Linus Torvalds is now a US citizen.
Here’s a little experiment. Start a conversation about why open source and Portland go so well together. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Done? Okay.
Now, I’m not usually much of a betting guy. But in this case, I’m willing to bet that at some point in that conversation—for many of you—the inevitable “Well, you know, Linus Torvalds lives here” came up as some sort of qualifier. It did, right? Read More
[HTML2]It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to unveil a new version of memePDX, Portland tech news for those short on time and attention. And you’ll be happy to hear that we took your feedback to heart. We tried to keep it shorter and we tried to keep it more local.
Now there’s still some national stuff going on this week. But for the most part Cami Kaos and I are talking about Portland stuff like WordCamp Portland, Second Porch, LinuxCon, Linux Plumbers Conference, Google teaching computers to read, and I made $384 or $484 yesterday thanks to Twitter.
So without further ado, let’s get to it. Read More
LinuxCon is in full swing this week in Portland. And while there are tons of good open source conversations and likely some awesome hacking underway, there’s always a little bit of hi-jinx afoot, as well.
Given that it was the inaugural LinuxCon, some of that tomfoolery was planned. Specifically the “Fake Linus Torvalds” contest. And as it turns out, in the end, the open source faker was better than the seasoned proprietary faker. Read More
[HTML2]As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, Portland will be hosting the inaugural LinuxCon in a few weeks. Linux Plumbers Conf 2009 will be held in Portland the same week. And then there’s those Fake Linus Torvalds folks.
That’s a lot of Linux. And what’s one of our favorite things about Linux—and for that matter open source in general? That’s right, for people with knowhow, it’s a great way to adopt great technology for little to no cost. If only that same knowhow could get you into LinuxCon with little to no cost.
Well, now it can. But you have to act fast. Read More
This may come as a shock to you but any number of people—even completely mediocre bloggers—wind up with people impersonating them on blogs, Twitter, and the like. No. I’m serious. I mean, that’s why Twitter did that whole “verified” thing.
And the bar by which all imitators are measured? Fake Steve Jobs.
Well, leave it to Portland’s newest open source event—LinuxCon—to take the idea of online impersonation and make it more—well—open. Would you expect anything less? Now, four Linux community leaders will be vying for the title of Fake Linus Torvalds. Read More
[HTML2]There are usually three things for which I like to claim that Portland serves as the “de facto hub“: open source, OpenID, and mobile.
And tonight, two of those worlds collide—open source and mobile—thanks to Mobile Portland and Moblin, an open source project for mobile development hosted by the Linux Foundation. And it’s not just for phones. It’s for netbooks, as well.
Sound interesting? Well, you’re going to want to mosey on over to AboutUs for Mobile Portland, tonight at 6 PM. Read More
if you’re doing some interesting things with Linux, Linux Plumbers is really interested in hearing you talk about it. But you have to submit your talk by June 15th.
Next week, we’ll dive headlong into the first ever Open Source Bridge conference. But that doesn’t mean Portland’s open source event fun is over for this year. We’ve got Linux Plumbers Conference and LinuxCon coming up in September.
September? Why am I talking about it now, then? Well, if you’re doing some interesting things with Linux, Linux Plumbers is really interested in hearing you talk about it. But you have to submit your talk by June 15th. Read More
When people start conversations about Portland, Oregon, being a hub of open source, the conversation inevitably turns to one particular topic ‘Well, you know, Linus Torvalds lives in Portland.’
When people start conversations about Portland, Oregon, being a hub of open source, the conversation inevitably turns to one particular topic “Well, you know, Linus Torvalds lives in Portland.”
It’s played like a trump card. And while this is factually correct, it’s a little misleading. You see, Linus doesn’t often make local appearances. He’s here, but he’s not here. If you catch my drift.
And that’s why the news that Linus is going to speak at the inaugural LinuxCon in Portland is such big news: because we’re actually going to get to see that person who we often use as a defense for our open source cred. Read More
It’s no secret that we love the open source stuff around Portland. Tons of cool open source developers, projects, user groups, and as luck would have it, a few cool open source conferences.
And one of the latest open source conferences to call Portland home, LinuxCon, has just announced their keynote speakers:
LinuxCon combines the developer and end user communities to produce more than 75 sessions that address “all matters Linux.” The event takes place September 21 – 23, 2009 in Portland, Oregon at the Marriott Downtown Waterfront.
Speaking of announcing, um, speakers. Word around the campfire is that another open source conference in town, Open Source Bridge, will be announcing its final list of selected speakers Thursday at noon.
Well, okay, yes. I’m privy to that list. No, I won’t let you sneak a peek. More news on that as it becomes available.
(Hat tip to Mike Rogoway)
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Portland remains the place-to-be for this year’s sold-out Linux Plumbers Conference, a gathering of more than 300 folks who have a deep interest in the inner recesses of the popular open-source operating system created by Portland-area resident, Linus Torvalds.
Why “plumbers”?
Jonathan Corbet calls this the “kernel ecosystem”. We call it the “plumbing,” a collection of essential interfaces and services provided by the libraries, kernel, and utilities that make up a Linux system. Currently, when a problem exists that involves both kernel and user space, a developer must attend several different conferences to discuss the problems face-to-face with other key developers. As a result, problems crossing multiple subsystem boundaries are more difficult to solve than those within a subsystem.
Opening sessions begin today, with the bulk of the event happening September 17 – 19 at PSU’s Smith Memorial Center.
The Linux Plumbers Conference is underwritten by The Linux Foundation and organized in partnership with The Linux Foundation, Portland State University and community volunteers. For more information, visit Linux Plumbers Conference.