Europe’s biggest Linux event
LINUXTAG
More keynotes on technological and politics, and more room for free projects: this was Linuxtag in its eleventh year. But attendance was down because Europe’s biggest Free Software event charged an admission fee for the first time.
Linuxtag [1] opened its doors to the public on June 22 in Karlsruhe, south Germany, accompanied by a spell of hot summer weather. Europe’s biggest Linux and Free Software event entered its eleventh year, but with a change. For the first time ever, Linux fans were asked to pay an admission fee. Fewer Visitors, More Keynotes It was understood that a change of this magnitude would affect the visitor statistics: Linuxtag 2005 notched up a mere 12,000 visitors compared with 16,000 last year. Andreas Gebhard, the press spokesperson for the organizers, Linuxtag e.V., was still satisfied, saying that the event was more action-packed than ever, with 180 talks in the four days. In addition, the organizers had put an extra 400 square meters of floorspace at the disposal of free software projects.