[lca-announce] lca2011 - Call for Miniconf Papers - one week left to submit

[linux.conf.au Announcements]

Hi All,

Many of the excellent lca2011 Miniconfs have current CFPs open and
would value your submissions. Time is quickly passing by, and if you
were considering submitting you proposal to a miniconf organiser, now
is the time to do so!

linux.conf.au 2011 Miniconfs

Arduino

The concept of Free / Open Source Software, already well understood by
LCA attendees, is complemented by a rapidly growing community focused
around Open Hardware and "maker culture". One of the drivers of the
popularity of the Open Hardware community is easy access to cheap
devices such as Arduino, which is a micro-controller development board
originally intended for classroom use but now a popular building block
in all sorts of weird and wonderful hobbyist and professional
projects.

The Arduino Miniconf is looking for presentations that cover topics
such as specific techniques (such as "Compiling Arduino apps from the
command line") and projects (such as "How I built an
Arduino-controlled autonomous submarine"). Topics can cover either
hardware, software, or both.

To submit a proposal: http://lca2011.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/ArduinoMiniconf

Business of Open Source

The "Business of Open Source" Miniconf is for people interested in
business aspects of open source. Topics include licensing your work,
building a market, building a community, gathering market data,
distribution, communications, working with Open Source developers,
working with governments and countries, working with procurement
departments, corporate governance, funding, pricing, lessons from your
experience, and whatever related topics people would like to bring up.
Whether you are a student working on a one-person Open Source project,
own your own Open Source consulting company, or create Open Source
strategy for a multi-billion dollar company, this Miniconf hopes to
bring different people together to exchange thoughts and facilitate
discussion about these topics.

To submit a proposal:
https://fossbazaar.org/content/lca-business-open-source-brisbane-2011

Data Storage

This miniconf aims to cover many of the current methods of data
storage and retrieval and attempt to bring order to the universe.
We’re aiming to cover what various systems do, what the latest
developments are and what you should use for various applications.

We aim for talks from developers of and developers using the software
in question.

Aiming for some combination of: PostgreSQL, Drizzle, MySQL, XFS,
ext[34], Swift (open source cloud storage, part of OpenStack),
memcached, TokyoCabinet, TDB/CTDB, CouchDB, MongoDB, Cassandra,
HBase….. and more!

To submit a proposal:
http://lca2011.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/DataStorageMiniconf

Freedom in the Cloud

Whether or not 2011 will be known as the year of the Federated Social
Web remains to be seen, but the cloud is certainly not going away and
we'd like to propose a Miniconf to cater to all cloud enthusiasts.
Specifically, we'd like to solicit proposals from two main groups. The
first one is the hard-core technical cloud engineers who build their
tech on Open Source software. The kind of people who know so much
about tweaking their kernels and scaling their infrastructures that
they could out-Google Google.

The second group of people we'd like to attract are the free network
services and federated social web people. These folks know that the
growth of netbooks and smartphones has meant a great dependence on
centralized network services. But as more and more computing moves
into "the cloud", users and companies are losing direct control over
their data and processes. They see a very high risk to businesses and
individuals.

To submit a proposal:
http://lca2011.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/FreedomInTheCloudMiniconf

Haecksen

Linuxchix have been a feature at linux.conf.au since 2007. Last year,
the miniconf was renamed to "Haecksen". The word haecksen is the
German feminine word for "hacker", and it is designed to encompass the
wide range of activities that women are involved in throughout the
open source space. This miniconf has historically attracted women
involved in areas as diverse as software development, OLPC hacking,
and smart crafting, along with a wide array of other disciplines
within free and open source software.

Some suggested topics are smart crafting, usability, cloud living,
professional development, loyalty tax, community management, best
practices, documentation, impostor syndrome, virtualisation, computer
security, social engineering, fashion technology, hardware hacking,
how to submit your first patch. Don't see your favourite talking point
on the list? Don't worry - if you're passionate about it, we want to
hear about it.

In brief, we are looking for women doing interesting stuff with
interesting technologies. If something has captured your enthusiasm,
come and share it with us! If you have never spoken before, the
Haecksen miniconf is a friendly and relaxed environment to find your
'stage-legs', so go ahead and submit something!

To submit a proposal: http://haecksen.net/node/273

Libre Graphics Day

Do you develop, use, document, or train with Free Software Graphix
tools? Tools such as GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Blender, Krita, Sk1,
Fontforge and Fontmatrix. Are you involved in the testing and
development of the sub-systems and libraries on which these apps
depend? Perhaps you can share expertise in the 'How' of Libre
Graphics? Could you talk about Design techniques and workflow? Pre-
press, or Themes and Skins for open source web frameworks. What about
Digital asset management? What about the Why? Communication strategy
and effective marketing using graphic design. Open Source publishing?
What about Digital Art just for Art's sake? Perhaps you have other
ideas that relate to Libre Graphics?

We're calling for presentations related to Free Software in the
Graphics domain, and aim to provide an environment for cross-project
collaboration to build understanding of shared problems, and work
towards shared solutions. Most of all, we just wanna have fun, and
bring some of the Libre Graphics Love to the southern hemisphere.

To submit a proposal: http://libregraphicsday.org/

Multicore and Parallel Computing

The Multicore and Parallel Computing Miniconf offers a space to learn
about Open Source contributions (existent or in progess) to the
problem of developing parallel software. It aims to launch a
conversation on how the Open Source Community, the Education sector,
Scientists and Researchers, Developers and the Industry are looking at
this new scenario. We invite presentations with a broad scope from
specific code and technical developments, direct applications (i.e.
games industry, HPC, etc) and scientific research to training on
parallel programming and how the Open Source model will be central to
developing a sustainable platform for multicore and parallel
computing.

To submit a proposal: http://multicorelca.wordpress.com/

Multimedia + Music

The 2011 LCA Multimedia miniconf will provide a platform where users
and developers of open source multimedia and music creation software
can share experiences and gain new insights about the often complex
applications they use and rely on. It will present a fantastic
opportunity for users to interact directly with developers,
facilitating diverse discussions on topics such as required features,
new workflow ideas and the low level multimedia systems.

To submit a proposal: http://www.annodex.org/events/lca2011_mmm/

Open in the Public Sector

Free Software, Open Data, and Open APIs are already changing
government: lowering costs, exposing waste, increasing transparency,
and permitting citizens to use and extend government information and
services. Though already making a difference, adoption is by no means
as widespread as would make sense. While the benefits seem obvious to
proponents, public sector IT managers often see considerable obstacles
to adoption of free software,open data and practices.

This Miniconf will provide a forum to discuss the issues around Free
Software use and Open Government practices as well as showcase some
success stories and initiatives.

To submit a proposal:
http://lca2011.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/OpenInThePublicSectorMiniconf

Open Programming

The LCA2011 Open Programming Miniconf helps bridge the gap between the
low-level developer and the end-user by bringing the topic of tools
and techniques for application development to Linux.conf.au.

We invite 25-minute talks on a wide range of topics, tools and
languages with the aim of bringing together open source developers
with presentations that share techniques, best practices and values
amongst users of all open source programming languages.

If you know something about a topic of interest to the LCA Developer
community, please read our call for presentations and submit a
proposal!

To submit a proposal: http://blogs.tucs.org.au/opm/cfp

Research & Student Innovation

The FOSS in Research and Student Innovation Miniconf brings together
researchers and students with an active interest in Free and Open
Source Software with the broader Linux.conf.au community to highlight
exciting work taking place within the often esoteric world of academia
and educational institutions.

We invite 25-minute presentations on topics in two streams: “FOSS in
Research”, which provides an informal outlet for those pursuing topics
of interest to FOSS communities in their studies; and “Student
Innovation”, which brings the perspective of the student delegation to
the forefront, by allowing them to share their experiences of FOSS
with the broader LCA community.

To submit a proposal: http://blogs.tucs.org.au/frsi/cfp

Rocketry

All presentation components of this unique workshop event will be by
invitation only.

Southern Plumbers

A miniconference for people who can't sit listening about distros,
desktops, waves, web apps, multimedia, etc. This is a miniconf to
replace the Kernel miniconf I co-organised at a couple of LCAs
previously and would cover the kernel, X.org, upstart/systemd, udev,
and all things the Linux Plumbers Conference would cover except at a
miniconf at LCA.

To submit a proposal:
http://lca2011.linux.org.au/wiki/Miniconfs/SouthernPlumbersMiniconf

System Administration

The Systems Administration Miniconf will cover tools and best
practices used to manage real world Linux environments both large and
small. The Miniconf aims to provide talks that are directly useful to
professional Linux system administrators, and many will also be
relevant to users running their own Linux systems. The Miniconf will
follow a similar format to previous Systems Administration Miniconfs
at Linux.Conf.Au, in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Topics for presentations could include (but are not limited to):
Systems Administration, Backups, Security, Troubleshooting, Buying
Decisions, Virtualisation and Cloud Computing, DevOps, Enterprise
Monitoring and Management, Identity Management, Web and Email
management, Wiki, Clustering and High Availability, Log Management,
Spam and Virus Filtering, VOIP, Ticketing systems, Bootstrapping and
automated installation, Configuration Management, packaging and
provisioning.

We strongly welcome topics on best practice, new developments in
systems administration and cutting edge techniques to better manage
Linux hosts and environments.

To submit a proposal: http://sysadmin.miniconf.org/cfp11.html