[Linux-aus] Press Release: Tasmania's siren song draws world's top software brains

[James Purser]

Tasmania's siren song draws world's top software brains.
--------------------------------------------------------

For the first time the Australian state of Tasmania will play host to
one of the world's largest and foremost software conferences,
linux.conf.au, when developers from around the world converge on Hobart
to meet, learn and work together to advance their projects.

The Sandy Bay campus of the University of Tasmania, will be host to
linux.conf.au in Hobart, Tasmania from January 19 to 24, 2009.

As the world prepares for the challenges of climate change and a world
wide economic downturn, how do conferences like this remain relevant?
Free and open source Software is being heralded as a way for companies
to become more efficient and to expand their ICT resources, without
incurring extra costs.

More than 200 of the world's top free and open source software
developers will attend the conference, in addition to some 400 IT
professionals and enthusiasts.

Paul "Rusty" Russell attends the conference every year and is a
significant contributor of code to the Linux kernel, a popular open
source project.

When asked what makes the conference so productive, Rusty said
"Inspiration".

"Projects get started, enhanced, and change direction. It's an
enthusiasm-soaked incubator for development and developers, so there's
no better way to step up to the next level than dive into
linux.conf.au," he said.

An initiative of Linux Australia, the conference itself is organised
each year by a different team of volunteers. Ben Powell was nominated
conference director for 2009.

"The conference provides a unique opportunity for Tasmanians to discuss
their ideas on an international stage, and for business to support IT
innovation," Powell said.

Tasmania is well known in Australia as a great holiday destination, but
less known as a leading ICT hub. The national science agency, CSIRO, has
an ICT research and development centre in Hobart and is running a number
of innovative projects.

With a pristine environment, and proximity to Antarctica, Tasmania is
also an important centre for critical climate change research. Software
development is playing a key role in the quest for knowledge as
scientists test different scenarios and models to help industry and
government prepare for any change.

As for Rusty, he will certainly be back in 2009 delivering a tutorial on
virtualisation development, focusing on the lguest hypervisor project.

"I always learn something unexpected," he said. "It's always
exhilarating, challenging, exhausting and fun."

Organisers say tickets for linux.conf.au 2008 in Melbourne in January
sold out before Christmas 2007, six weeks ahead of the conference
opening, and encourage those wishing to secure a ticket for the 2009
conference to get in fast.

About linux.conf.au
-------------------
linux.conf.au (http://linux.conf.au/) is Australia's annual technical
conference about Free Software. Fun, informal and seriously technical,
linux.conf.au draws together Free and Open Source Software developers
from across the world. It will be held from the 19th to the 24th of
January 2nd, 2009 at The University of Tasmania, in Hobart.
 
About Linux Australia
---------------------
Linux Australia (http://www.linux.org.au/) is the peak body for Linux
User Groups (LUGs) around Australia, and as such represents
approximately 5000 Australian Linux users and developers. Linux
Australia facilitates the organisation of this international Free
Software conference in a different Australasian city each year.

Media Contact:
 ben.powell at marchsouth.org 

-- 
James Purser
Web Team
Linux Australia
http://linux.org.au

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