Episode: 730
Title: HPR0730: LFNW: Some Facts and 2 Interviews
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0730/hpr0730.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-08 01:38:11

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Hello everyone, I'm co-culture and in this episode I'm gonna talk about some facts
about the Linux Fest Northwest that I gathered from Carl Simmons and then I'm
also gonna add two interviews that I recorded at the Linux Fest.
Let's start with Carl Simmons. I was actually looking for an extension court
but then I saw a chance to get some background information about the Linux Fest
and sat down with Carl. It was very spontaneous and that's why it's not recorded.
All I have is some notes I took on Carl's note pad which as a little side note
was made from recycled paper that was only printed on one side.
So Carl is one of the organizers for the Linux Fest Northwest.
He emphasized that they don't have a president. The organization team just meets twice a month
and organizes the Fest together. And this year 2012 2011 is the 12th year
the Linux Fest Northwest is happening. It has always been free. It uses the
rooms of the Bellingham Technical College. I think they can use the rooms for free.
They just have to pay for, I don't know, maybe cleaning or something.
And Carl actually showed me the room where they held the first Linux Fest.
It's a room of 25 by 25 feet. That's about 8 by 8 meters.
It wasn't sure how many participants there were somewhere between 30 to 100.
And the idea came about because they wanted to do something for the community
introduce Linux to the community. And that's how it started. That's why it's free.
And throughout the whole Linux Fest it was really evident that it was for the community.
So four years ago they actually made it an actual nonprofit organization.
I don't remember exactly what it's called in the US, but it's an nonprofit to make it more attractive for sponsors.
They never really had to put much effort into finding sponsors.
A lot of companies want to be sponsors at the Linux Fest.
He also said that this year they have a lot of recruiters.
Actually there, for example, Amazon was there.
Also four years ago they decided to go from a one day Fest to a two day Fest,
which meant that they also had to have a party on Saturday evening.
And that was a lot of fun. They had home broom, beer and computer games and board games.
So it was a real fun party actually on Saturday.
So I asked him how many people there are and he said they don't really know
because they don't keep track. You don't have to register.
You can and if you register online, you can get a name tag.
So I asked him, well, what do you guess? And he says maybe about 1,000.
And I also had talked to one of the cooks and they actually sold 350 meals on Saturday.
So it's possible that there were 1,000 people.
Carl then quickly checked with the guys at the register and he said that they had 738 people register online.
So I guess about 1,000 is possible.
And I had the feeling that on Saturday there were actually a lot of people from Bellingham showing up.
I don't know how many talks they went but certainly the hall where the tables were.
There were lots of people just coming in and then being curious about everything.
They have a lot of talks. They ran 9 talks in parallel and Carl said they had 100 presentations during the whole fest.
Then I asked him about, there was this funny announcement on Saturday.
It started something like, this is an important announcement by the Bellingham police, bomb squadron, and so on and so on.
And it was an announcement for a demo that they did outside of their bomb robot.
I couldn't go because we were too busy at our table.
So I asked him about that robot demo and he said, yeah, the robot has nothing to do with Linux.
But it has a lot to do with how the community is involved and how the police actually participates and adds their own little demo.
There was a part of the fest that was specifically about robots.
So that was basically what I got out of Carl and he then arranged for me to have an interview with another organizer which is going to be next.
My name is Bill Wright and I've been involved with Linux Fest since the beginning. We're in our 12th year.
I am retired. I give you a little idea of my background in computers. I started working for the Great Northern Railway in 1968 because I had computer experience.
That's back when TTYs were really TTYs.
I was a punch cards ticker tape. I retired from Burlington, Northern and went to work as an IT person at local college.
After that, I've just been raising two daughters and got one off in college and one still in high school.
So that's basically my full-time job and I like Linux and I like the politics of Linux as well as the software.
And I love the idea of community. And that's what Linux Fest is about.
Yes, exactly. So let's start at the beginning. How did the Linux Fest get started? Where did the idea come from?
Were there other Linux Fest already?
No, there weren't. I was a member of the Bellingham Linux user group.
We thought that we should do something for a little outreach in the community.
At the same time, this was around post.com crash.
So we thought, well, let's try to not only reach out to the local community, but let's try to reach out to the Linux community, the open source community and see if we can't bring it all together.
And it started out pretty slow, but we started networking through other user groups.
And it's basically grown by word of mouth. We've tried lots of ways of promoting Linux Fest and the tried and true method has just been talking with other people and connecting in the community.
And that's how the word gets spread.
Yes.
We wanted something that was free. We wanted something that was useful as in good content.
Where you didn't leave just impressed by the speaker, but you actually learned something, something useful that you could take with you.
And so we found that utilizing a college campus suited us pretty well.
And it's a good match for us.
So talking of free, I talked to Carl this morning, Carl Simmons, and he told me that you don't even have to search for sponsors that they actually come to you because it's such a great Fest here.
Yes. Well, we do do a little bit of promotion and we go to Oskahn every year and have a booth there and make our presence known.
But most of our sponsors, when they realize what we're about, want to contribute.
They also like, that's why we get a lot of recruiters here too.
Like Amazon is actively recruiting this year here. They've got a whole team of recruiters.
They like the people that we attract to Linux Fest. They're technically qualified folks.
We're a good resource for them.
There are several sponsors that are actually brown paper tickets for this one.
It's an open, they've built their whole company on open source software and Linux.
And they wanted to pay back to the community and show their appreciation.
So the last two years, they've been our gold sponsors. Just to show, I talk with William Scott Jordan, the CEO.
And he just wanted to show his pay back and show his gratitude for the support of the community.
And really that's what we're about is community support with support of the community.
I mean, we support them through their support, basically. That's how we work.
We're a nonprofit organization. We're a 501. We're not about making money.
If we can cover all our expenses at the end of the event, that's exactly where we want to be.
And our goal, basically, is content. It's not money.
And we want to open to mom and pop coming in the door.
And we want them to be able to benefit just as much as a highly skilled technical person coming in the door.
There's something for everybody. We have a tutorial. We have the bell.
The tutorial is where you can get help on your...
The tutorial, yes, is where people that are just curious about Linux can sit down at a seat and test drive
and have people that are knowledgeable help them walk them through the process.
And, you know, I've never seen anybody leave their disappointed. You know, they're always in next.
That's nice. So talking of content, where do you get all the speakers from?
Because this year you have nine sessions running in parallel.
I heard there were like 100 blocks. I mean, the numbers are amazing.
Yes. A lot of people come back. A lot of people hear about it.
A lot of people are attendees that were attracted in the past and realize that they had something to share.
Yes.
A lot of people are technically knowledgeable that don't really see themselves as keynote types.
Or maybe they don't see themselves as celebrities in the software world, you know, but they're very educated people.
And by the nature of our event, Linux Fest is really a big classroom in a lot of ways.
And we see a lot of the presenters actually sitting in other folks' presentations.
So they walk away learning something. Everybody does.
So do you have to go out and find the presenters? Or do they just come and you get enough of...
Most of the presenters submit presentations. They know about Linux Fest.
They feel they have something to share. And we very seldom have we ever turned anybody down.
Just not that we'll accept, you know, any presentation about shining shoes or something.
It's just that the color of the caliber of the presentations are usually so high that we don't find it necessary to turn folks down.
And I also think an important aspect for the community is your website where people can register for the conference, but you don't have to.
But when you register, you can kind of sign up for the talks that you like and you get a few things that you can do.
What's the importance of the website from your perception?
Well, it's a good interface for us in the community.
We have the ability to comment on the website.
We actually have a way you can pick a show which presentations are going to attend.
And that way it helps us design the layout, what rooms we're going to, the room capacities that we put presentations in.
It's a way of showing vendors, for instance, that we have a lot of interest.
And it makes it appealing to recruiters because they look and see on the website that we have a lot of attendees interested in.
We also have links to past LinuxFest on the site so you can look back.
That's great.
This is a question I probably should have asked you first, but what is your role in the LinuxFest?
Well, my role has traditionally been the world famous raffle guy.
Yes.
The raffle is not only one of the most fun things we do at LinuxFest, but it's one of our biggest fundraisers.
People really like the excitement of the raffle, but they also like a way of contributing and possibly winning something.
And so it's been a lot of fun. I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
It's a lot of work finding quality prizes and offerings.
Yeah.
But it's just, it comes to, it comes to a head at 4.30 on Friday or Saturday afternoon.
Yeah.
And it's really a lot of fun interacting with the audience.
I also know first, what were the top prices yesterday?
Oh gosh, let's see.
Pogo Linux, the grand prize was an Uber workstation.
It was all the bells and whistles, you know, solid state drive.
Okay.
A SATA drive for storage.
The best world's best Nvidia card.
More RAM and you could stuff into the thing and, you know, it was, it was a great workstation.
That was donated by Pogo Linux and they've been one of our supporters for years.
We had everything from that type of a prize to free pass to Lisa to in Boston.
Usenix stuff, Linux journal, Linux Pro magazine donated things.
We had active state had three complete commoto integrated development environment.
Kits were about 300 bucks each.
Yeah.
I had the, one of my, the ones I hated to give away, I really wanted myself was lullabot.
Donated, donated their complete learning series.
Drupal learning series.
Yes.
Yeah.
How many DVDs?
I tell you watch, watch it one DVD every, DVD every two nights by the end of the month.
You've been an expert in, in Drupal that, so that's the type of thing, you know.
Yes, that's great.
Yeah.
But I also solicited exhibitors.
I look for speakers.
Yeah.
Not just, I try to encourage people to present that I feel will be interesting.
Yeah.
Like my, the one I was working on this year was, well, one we got a, a Zonker Brockmire came out and spoke.
But I took a lot of pleasure in, in bringing together the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU.
They did independent presentations as well as, as well as having a joint panel discussion.
Yeah.
And that was, that was standing room only.
I mean, that's the type of thing that people are all worried about.
Yeah.
Or not worried about, but on their minds today, privacy, data mining, you know.
Yeah, and your rights, you know.
What's, what's hanging out there, you know, what are people who scrutinize, what are your, what are your vulnerabilities, you know, and that sort of thing.
What's your, what's your rights as a citizen to, excuse me, to be anonymous.
If you want to, you know, that's sort of, those sorts of issues.
Yes.
And, anyway, I got a lot of, a lot of pleasure out of that.
So those are kind of things that I do.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's very good.
So, I don't have any more questions.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
No, I just would encourage, I would encourage those folks listening to this interview that if they want to go to a good, a great event
that's filled with a lot of smiling people that everyone's having a good time and they're also learning something.
We have the same type of content as a lot of big conventions, but we don't have the skirts around the tables and some of the trappings, but we're free.
It doesn't cost you a thousand dollars to get into the exhibit hall and that sort of thing.
Yeah, no, you're free.
It's like you don't have to pay anything.
We're totally there for the community or the support of the community.
And that's what we're about.
Yeah, that's really great.
Well, thank you very much for your time and your information.
It's been a pleasure.
And I really like how you achieve this whole community aspect.
I can see and feel it in this conference.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
This was my interview with Bill.
And it was my second interview I ever did, like radio interview.
And the next one is going to be the first one I ever did.
It's with Sabrina Roach from Brown Paper Tickets.
And her focus on some radio work.
And we had to record this interview twice because the first recording was just not good enough.
We did it in the exhibition hall.
So this is the second recording.
Yeah, the second time isn't quite as spontaneous anymore as the first time.
But I hope it's going to be informative anyways.
So my name is Sabrina Roach.
I work for Brown Paper Tickets, which is based in Seattle, Washington.
And I'm their radio slash new media doer, which just means I go out and I try and identify projects
that can help community radio stations, online radio stations as well as public media.
And actually, I'm really excited to meet folks from hackerpublicradio.org
because I think that there's a way that, well, I think it'd be interesting if there are some folks who want to start community radio stations
and do terrestrial broadcasts.
And there's this new opportunity opening up.
We know that most broadcasts are really crowded, especially in cities.
But Obama just signed the local Community Radio Act.
And that will open up several hundred more radio stations in our communities in the next couple of years.
You told me it's about low power FM radio, so it's really within a narrow range.
Yes.
They sometimes call hyper local.
Hyper local.
So that can be something that broadcasts within maybe a 10 mile range if it's high up enough and it's flat enough.
And a little bit less than that if there are lots of tall buildings and hills in the way.
Yes.
So tell me about some ideas that are out there for radios that you've shared of.
Well, I'm really excited about the Prometheus radio project.
They go around doing radio barn raisins, which are basically small conference parties around new radio stations.
Whether those are full power community radio stations or like 10 watt low power FM.
And those are events where there are people learning how to do wiring.
There are people learning how to sell underwriting or do community events to raise money to run their stations.
All that sort of thing.
And Prometheus is actually heading up a national effort to get the word out about these low power FM licenses.
And that they're heading up the people powered radio coalition.
And so that's just really exciting to me.
So that is called people powered radio coalition.
What is especially people powered?
Or how would it be different?
What other powers are there?
Well, there's corporate power.
Just the name one, you know, just to go out on the limb there.
And this is distinctly different from that.
It's community oriented.
It's people working with not only free speech issues, but also using radio as a tool to organize to whatever ends they have.
So Prometheus is doing a round of educational how to start a low power station webinars.
That's coming up like May 10th through the 18th.
And you can go to PrometheusRadio.org slash webinars to sign up and you can get some materials in advance.
And Prometheus is also going to be helping community groups to fill out their applications.
But even the terms of the applications, that's still being negotiated with the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC.
Oh, so it will take a while until we actually see those radio stations popping up.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay. Do you have any idea how long it may take?
At least possibly a year, maybe a little less time, maybe more time.
I'm just not sure about that.
So that's one example of what you're involved in, with your work, to have any other projects that you're fascinated with.
Well, something I'm not involved with, but that I'm really fascinated by is this night Mozilla News Technology Partnership, or Mojo, as I call it.
And through a series of innovation competitions, or rather, innovation challenges and community events, they're going to identify 15 fellows who will be then embedded in leading newsrooms around the fellows.
So people.
Fellows, or I might call them hackers in newsrooms.
Yeah.
And they'll be working with Aljazeera, BBCBoston.com, the Guardian, and Zyta on Long, which is out of Germany.
So that's something that I think is really exciting, that just the concept of using open web concepts in newsrooms, I would love to see that spread more and more.
So what are the hackers going to do?
What's their role?
Well, I think that that has yet to be defined.
But part of it is just generating great ideas through the innovation challenges that they're doing.
And I think the first one has to do with open video that's going on right now.
Just, you know, thought leadership is something they'll be happening through the fellows and through the community and news partnerships.
And they'll also be, you know, making software.
Okay.
And training folks.
So I'm always big on training.
I always get really excited when there's training opportunities for free or low costs.
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And what's the target audience?
Is it, is there a target audience or is it pretty open?
That is a really good question.
You know, I can't really comment on that, not be inside the project.
Yeah.
I just heard about it.
And I think it's maybe pretty open.
Yeah.
Because it is all those different stations.
I just like always when I hear training, I also think, are they training kids?
Are they training adults?
Who is the training?
Yeah, I think it is a context.
I think in this context it's going to be, it's adults, it's folks who already have experience and are deepening that experience and have the capacity to work with these, you know, world famous news organizations.
This is some pretty heavy hitters.
Okay.
But I hope it filters down into community newsrooms.
I mean, that's the kind of thing that I'm really hopeful about.
You know, in a few years' time when these open innovations happen, that it's going to be really usable for folks who don't have the means to pay for the more responsive things that are getting developed.
Okay.
Well, anything else you would like to add that we didn't cover?
I think I'm good.
I think I'm good.
I'm just really excited to find out about the hacker public radio.
Okay.
Anything you want to plug about, brown paper tickets, any website that we should look at.
Well, there's some brownpapertickets.com.
You can go there to buy tickets and they're pretty great because there's a very small fee for the ticket buyer instead of a large fee for the ticket buyer.
It also really supports community groups and nonprofits in a meaningful way because they're given all this infrastructure for free.
And it really helps that local culture and community develop.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, thanks for that.
Thanks, man.
In conclusion, I have to say it is a lot of fun having a table for hacker public radio at Elinux Fest.
So I hope that others will do it as well.
I have all this stuff here, this stuff that is the fantastic tablecloth that Poke's mom made with the HPR on it.
I still have a few stickers left.
I know how you can order the mini business cards from Mu.
I have t-shirt sets, kits that I send out to people who need t-shirts.
What else did we have?
Well, we brought our own computers and microphones, so that is really helpful.
But anyways, whoever is going to have a table upcoming, please let me know and now pass on the material.
Oh, I just remember we also had the books with the QR codes.
They are really good to talk about.
All the different shows of hacker public radio and allow people to download shows with their cell phones, mobile devices.
Let me know whoever is next and I'll send the stuff.
That's it from Co-Culture.
Thanks for listening to hacker public radio.
Thank you for listening to hacker public radio.
HPR is sponsored by caro.net, so head on over to C-A-R-O dot 18 for all of us here.
Thank you very much.