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<p>Ballarat, 19 November 2011
</p>
<p>With nine Miniconferences accepted, and three keynote speakers
already announced, preparations are in full swing for
linux.conf.au 2012, to be held in Ballarat, Victoria 16-20th
January.</p>
<p>Conference Director Josh Stewart was particularly pleased at
progress to date.<br>
"We've got some huge names lined up to keynote, including Karen
Sandler, Executive Director of the Gnome Foundation, Bruce Perens
- the creator of the Open Source Definition, and the community's
own favourite Mad Scientist Paul Fenwick. We still have one
keynote up our sleeve, but it's a very closely guarded secret!".</p>
<p>The conference schedule boasts a number of perennial favourites,
including Jon Oxer, Andrew Tridgell of Samba, Valerie Aurora and
Mary Gardiner of The Ada Initiative, Bdale Garbee and Jonathan
Corbet. A number of new speakers are also on board for the first
time, including software freedom advocate Ben Sturmfels. The
number of accepted talks by female presenters was the highest on
record, at just shy of 25%, speaking volumes about the
ever-increasing diversity of the Linux and free and open source
software community.</p>
<p>Registrations for the conference are filling up fast.</p>
<p>Early Bird registration for the conference sold out just before
the early bird close of end of October. Stewart was enthusiastic
at the response.<br>
"There was of course the usual rush just before Early Bird closed,
and the whole team was sitting there with anticipation watching as
we sold out! It's a great indication of the interest in the
conference."</p>
<p>For those interested in the conference, but for whom professional
registration is out of reach, there are a number of alternative
options, including Hobbyist and Student registration. Volunteer
nominations are also welcome. Volunteers are given a free ticket
to the conference in exchange for four days' volunteer work
undertaking tasks such as audio visual, ushering and
administration duties.</p>
<ul>
<li>Registration pricing options: <a
href="http://linux.conf.au/register/prices">http://linux.conf.au/register/prices</a></li>
<li>Volunteer nomination: <a
href="http://linux.conf.au/register/volunteer">http://linux.conf.au/register/volunteer</a></li>
</ul>
<p>linux.conf.au will be held 16th-20th January 2012 in Ballarat,
Victoria, Australia.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lcaunderthestars.org.au">http://lcaunderthestars.org.au</a> and @linuxconfau on Twitter and
Identica.
Registrations are now open and a tentative schedule is at: <a
href="http://linux.conf.au/programme/schedule%22">http://linux.conf.au/programme/schedule</a><br>
Media enquiries are warmly welcomed to
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:media@lcaunderthestars.org.au">media@lcaunderthestars.org.au</a></p>
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