Are you interested in attending the second Ubuntu Live conference taking place July 21-22 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon? I'm happy to announce that LQ is able to give away one full conference pass completely free of charge. The normal price of the pass is $895.00. To be eligible, simply post in this thread explaining how you work with Ubuntu or how you're involved in the Ubuntu community along with why you'd like to attend the event. We'll randomly select a winner from the eligible entries. We only have a single pass to give away, so please make sure you are able to attend the event before entering. Thanks, and good luck.

--jeremy

http://en.oreilly.com/ubuntu2008/public/content/home

--jeremy

I use Ubuntu linux as my desktop operating system, edit all of my videos on http://www.ungab.com using avidemux on Ubuntu, use it to program in a few different languages, and use it to run apache as a server for my websites ( http://www.ungab.com, http://www.lovethis.org, http://www.philliprhoades.com ).

I moved to the Seattle area in 1989 to work at a then-unknown and relatively small company called Microsoft. As a newly-minted graduate of the University of Illinois, I was pretty familiar with software development (though, at the time, a degree in liberal arts degree in pure computer science didn't even exist: it was a math degree that used computers to help solve difficult problems). But, software development at a fundamental, commercial level was very new indeed. My first project was Word for Windows 1.0 (code-named Opus). At the time, the Word application shipped with an OS called Microsoft Windows, since no one ran the Windows OS natively: there simply was no reason to do so.

Fast-forwarding through these past 19 years, and I've learned a great deal about software development from many different angles. I was a very lucky kid who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness this incredible technological shift. Very lucky indeed.

Today, I'm no longer a Microsoft employee. Times have changed, and so has what it means to develop software. To me, the future of software has tended more towards community-based development practices that foster openness and success through merit. That success, to me, is exemplified in linux and its derivatives.

What a great time to be a part of the software development world. Truly amazing changes are taking place... once again...

Technology is very cool.

I'm a grad student interested in research in security related topics including browser/ web server security, use of virtual machine technology for security applications, rootkit technology, etc.
Of late I have been using Ubuntu alot in my test environment. Initially, I started using it because of my affinity for the philosophy of Ubuntu, but I've kept with it because of it ease of use while not sacrificing any core functionality. Also, the support community is great.

I've done my best to get others interested in using Ubuntu. I've done so with some success.

I'd love to go to the conference!

Gev

I am a Nigerian, and work as a geophysical (seismic) data processor in Port Harcourt, Nigeria; and have been using Ubuntu as my preferred OS both at work and home for a while now. I have gotten quite a number of people interested in Linux particularly ubuntu because its very user friendly and above all free. The free Ubuntu CDs I received and gave out to friends got them thinking about other computing ways. I just upgraded to Ubuntu Hardy (8.04 TLS). Using ubuntu's made me know more about how stuff work.

The conference will be a good place to get to know and learn more about Linux, and the spread of its usage particularly for us in Africa were much education needed is of absolute importance. In Nigeria, computer literacy's increasing, therefore availability of cheap and free software will further computing knowledge in this region. The conference also will a place to put faces on some of the contributors who's given their all to provide free, cheap and affordable software.

This conference is really a great idea and would love to be a participant.

Regards

Geordzilla

I use Ubuntu Linux on my computer, in the office i am also preparing for Linux LPI exam. It will be desirable if am given the opportunity to be a partaker of the second Ubuntu Live conference taking place July 21-22 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, as this will also foster my Linux experience and exposure to Linux. Thanks

I'm using ubuntu as
1) desktop environment, I use for my media playing and files arrangement and editing.
2) production environement: I'm a software developer, I'm using ubuntu to develop software using tools like Java and Oracle Application Server and many times I face problems during installation that would have been solved if know the OS archeticture and ins&outs well.

Also I'm spreading the word about Linux in general and ubuntu specially in the community I live at, I make copies and give them to my friends (most of them are developers too), help them when they ask me, try to make it appear as a development environement in my company, so if i get better understanding of ubuntu, I will be able to convince more people to use it.

So please, help me in this step towards better usage of open source software for software development.

Thanks and Best of luck for all,
Ahmed.

I've had ubuntu on 2 desktops and my laptop now for about 2 years. And since we're searching for some hosting systems for our internal troubleshooting databases, I'd like to investigate using ubuntu rather than Aix.

Plus I can attend the conference because I won't be going to Singapore this year because my girlfriend and I decided to call it quits.

Thanks for the responses so far. Two additional notes:

1) The winner will be selected on May 14th.
2) You are responsible for all travel, lodging and any other related costs.

--jeremy

I'm the IT Manager for a small company, and yes. I'm a Microsoft user. We've tinkered with Linux here and there, in particular Ubuntu because it's one of the user friendlier distros I've come across. Attending a big conference like this would be like diving into the Ubuntu pool in the hopes of coming out of it with some solid and practical business information to give to my bosses and get the O.K. to finally break free of my Microsoft shackles.

We are using Ubuntu at Cranium Solutions which is a start-up focused on software and services in the computer and network security space. Its flagship product, the Cranium Automated Penetration Testing Solution (CAPTS), is a fully automated end-to-end network penetration testing solution that performs device discovery and vulnerability and exploit testing, with detailed reporting, analysis and recommended remediation procedures across multiple domains.

CAPTS, currently in alpha release, supports Windows XP, XP Pro, 2000, 2003 and Linux servers and is designed to satisfy annual regulatory network perimeter tests and audits, and pre-deployment network device QA.

Ubuntu is currently being used to develop, test and deploy the CAPTS product as part of out VM-ware solution. Dave

hello
i am graduate student in computer science and engineering..computers have been my passion ever since i have been a child.i started off as a windows user and then came to know of linux from my friend..debian was my first linux.but soon i switched to ubuntu seeing that it had a strong and active community and that it was much easier to use..
even though is started off as a mere user of ubuntu then i started to understand the power it had and so i thought i should try to exploit the maximum from this power house.i started to learn to program in c and also kick started learning perl.i devoloped a software to keep track of the student database of my college..also i am a member of the computer association of our college and we manage our college server and college website which is http://www.mec.ac.in.
i also devoloped a remastering script for slackware based linux.i was the finalist in the linux guru contest conducted at a South India level Technical Festival.i now look forward to actively participate in the devolopment of the Ubuntu Linux and i suppose that this would be a good place where i can start.i wish i could go for the conference.

I started putting desktop, microprocessor-based systems on business desktops in 1977, in the form of dedicated word processors. Two years later I was selling and supporting Intel 8085-based microcomputers with 8" floppies made by Pertec Computer Corporation. The machine was known as the PCC 2000 and was among the earliest truly business-oriented desktops. At the time, Pertec was ranked 35th worldwide in microcomputer technology and was, shortly thereafter, acquired by Triumph-Adler.

Subsequently, I worked selling and supporting Z80-based systems running CP/M and eventually, about 1983, began working with some of the first PC-compatibles. Notably, I worked with the original Leading Edge PC, manufactured by Mitsubishi, (not to be confused with the later and more popular Daewoo-made machine with the same name).

The PC-compatibles ushered in a new era of access to computing and revolutionized the computing and software industries. Unfortunately, it was these clones that also built the empire of Microsoft. Even in the early '80's many of us realized that MS DOS was a buggy, tangled, bloated mess. With the decline and eventual demise of Digital Research's CP/M 86 at the hands of Windows 3, little hope remained for a rescue from Microsoft's stranglehold. Apple simply could not mount an offensive beyond the graphics world, because of a lack of business applications. Besides, despite the impassioned and vituperative protestations of Apple cultists, little differentiates the monopolistic designs of Steve Jobs from those of Bill Gates.

In 1994, the school I was teaching business computing applications at went out of business. Shortly thereafter I went full time with a paddlesports store I had started on the side, (I am an avid and accomplished whitewater canoeist). In September of last year, I closed that shop, with the intention of returning to the business computing world to promote Linux and, in particular, K/Ubuntu.

I feel that the missing link in the ascendance of desktop Linux is the development of the systems and programs to train and support Linux in the enterprise. It is my goal to work toward filling that gap. K/Ubuntu offers an exceptional platform and its repositories are filled with top-notch applications, well-suited to business deployment.

I live in Salem, Oregon, about an hour's drive from the convention center. Last year, despite having to run my paddling shop, I was able to attend the second day of Ubunutu Live and found it a worthwhile and enriching experience. This year I hope to attend the full conference.

I believe that the Ubuntu Live conference offers great potential benefit and I hope I can work to advance the distribution. I appreciate any consideration you might give to my candidacy for the complimentary pass.

Having only used Windows I decided it was time for a change about 2 months ago.

I realised that there are not many users / supporters of Linux in New Zealand, so I started using Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon on my desktop and I recently bought a new laptop that I use Ubuntu Feisty on.

I am a complete novice and have everything to learn, but I make a point of using Linux every day and trying to learn more about it every day.

I am very keen to learn all I can about Linux because I believe that Linux is the future for all desktops and I would like to lead the change in New Zealand.
New Zealand is a small country and with the right strategy and support I am convinced it can lead the change to Linux.

Attending a conference like this will equip me with the tools to drive the change down here.