All:
I imagine that some of you would be interested in hearing about some of the speakers who will be coming to FOSS.IN/2005 http://FOSS.IN/2005, from far away shores. :)
So here are a few, and over the next few days, more will be revealed.
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Many people have an impact on their chosen field in a singular manner - typically through a specific project, or a specific direction. It is rare for someone to be known for two completely different things within the same field. Our first speaker, however, has managed to do just that.
He is the co-author of what could probably be called "The Bible of Linux Development", in which he uses his keen knowledge of the Linux kernel and its design to show people how to develop device drivers. No one in India would even *think* of trying this without referring to his book, now in the third edition.
He is also the editor of the world's most respected FOSS publication to be found online - the one place where *everyone* goes to read unbiased news, reviews and commentary about the FOSS world.
Our first visiting speaker is Jonathan Corbet, co-author of "Linux Device Drivers", and editor of LWN.NET http://LWN.NET, aka "Linux Weekly News".
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Last year, he came to LB/2004, bringing with him not only the development knowledge of FOSS projects he himself is deeply involved in, but his keen sense of direction when it comes to enterprise-wide deployment of FOSS solutions.
He also brought with him an ocean of experience related to the creation of events for the community, having himself helped bring to life one of the most famous of them all.
From Linux Australia, we have Andrew Cowie.
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Targetting the honorary position of "LB veteran", he will be in India for the THIRD consequitive time, to participate in our event.
His code safeguards millions of networks across the world, and can be found in virtually every consumer router these days. And when he isn't writing code, he makes the world a safer place for the GPL, by relentlessly tracking down and exposing corporations who "don't get it" when they use GPL'd code without following the rules of the game, and provided the first precedent of the GPL standing up in court - and winning.
From Germany comes the chairman of the netfilter/iptables project, and the
man behind GPLviolations.org - Harald Welte.
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He was Linux Bangalore's first "star speaker" back in 2001. He is heavily involved in not just FOSS, but free culture as well. He is the organiser of one of Europe's most respected FOSS & Free Culture events, and when he calls, people like Larry Lessig and Eben Moglen heed his call.
He speaks Japanese, German, English and a variety of other languages, but most importantly speaks Geek as well. He had a knoppix CD before people knew what that was, and can lie in the sun for hours without getting a tan or a sunburn.
He is Mr.Wizards-of-OS - Volker Grassmuck.
(watch out for a related announcement)
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Everytime you go to the web to access information, you are using technology that this man has had his eager fingers in. His work is one of the first instances of a FOSS project almost completely demolishing the proprietary competition, and is used in a majority of all webservers across the Internet.
He also is a shining example of how FOSS does not have to mean charity - as a successful implementor of FOSS technologies in the creation of a a successful business, he has shown the way to many who aspire to do the same in the future.
The man behind the Apache project, COLLAB.NET http://COLLAB.NET's Brian Behlendorf.
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He started off writing something to make it easier to maintain his personal home pages, and ended up changing the way the world created websites.
He can be blamed for the ANSI92 SQL-defying LIMIT clause in mSQL 1.x which has now, at least conceptually, crept into both MySQL and PostgreSQL.
He has been to India before, and his fondest memories have been the complete lack of Internet connectivity at Linux Bangalore/2003. :)
He is Mr.PHP - Rasmus Lerdorf.
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When she speaks, people sit up and listen. She was behind the open sourcing of the project that today gives FOSS a place in every office and in every home, and is also part of the organisation that decides what's Open Source, and what is not - literally.
But she is also known as a relentless fighter for the cause of FOSS, and especially for the smarter half of humanity. She is no stranger to India, having been here often enough to be treated as a native, and she is a staunch supporter of India as a future FOSS world power.
The Diva of Open Source - Danese Cooper.
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As one of the world's best known bloggers, he has played a vital role in getting his highly influential organisation to play nice with FOSS. He loves to dabble with things ranging from Linux servers, databases, to PCs, gliders and now powered aeroplanes.
He has been here before, and many people treasure the T-Shirts that he autographed for them. He has the ear of both the hacker and the corporate world, and spends considerable amount of time telling each world about the other.
He is Yahoo!'s Jeremy Zawodny.
-------- The world of sound and music is a fascinating one, and there has always been a deep connection between code-hacking geeks and music. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that a lot of effort goes into making FOSS platforms "music compatible" - not just in the playback department, but in the music creation and recording department.
For many years now, our next speaker has been behind both the documentation and the actual creation of FOSS-based music software. As a regular columnist of Linux Journal, as well as a contributor to many aspects of the field of FOSS based Music creation and recording, many people use his work every day without even realising it.
The man behind Linux Sound and Audio - Dave Phillips.
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Oh, and one more thing....
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He is probably one of the most recognisable faces in the FOSS world, and at the same time one of the most respected names, as well. His contributions to Linux rank with those of all the greats out there, and that includes Linus Torvalds.
He has been the official kernel maintainer, and little happens in the Linux kernel today without him having some say in it.
He is an outspoken critic of the DMCA, and has vowed not to set a foot on the USA as long as it exists.
He is the king of his castle, and has his wife's permission to say so.
Conferences and events in India have tried for the past half decade to have him come here, but FOSS.IN/2005 http://FOSS.IN/2005 is the first one he has ever agreed to come to.
He is Alan Cox.
(stay tuned for more in a day or two)
Read the original messagehttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/linux-bangalore-non-tech/message/5697 -- "GNU is the system, and Linux is the kernel." A proud GNU user http://www.gnu.org Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr