Memories of LinuxWorld Boston, 2005

NEW DIRECTIONS

Author(s):

Booths, tools, toys, conference sessions, and birds of a feather – this year’s LinuxWorld provided few surprises. But a look beyond the routine revealed some emerging new perspectives on the state of Linux.

The Linux faithful gathered on February 7-10 for the East coast US LinuxWorld. Many worried that this year’s move from New York to Boston would diminish the size or energy of the event, but most observers agreed that this year’s show was as bustling as the last. Impressions This show looked like all the other recent Linux shows, but one could still get the impression that new things were happening in Linux – especially in the areas of the enterprise and the desktop, where the big vendors reached for new levels of acceptance. The shakedown of the high-tech market has made many of the more redundant tools go away. Every product at the show seemed to have a clear and recognizable purpose-- which is not how I recall the glory days – and this is probably an indication of health.