Here’s what I tend to do:

• Look out for blogs that talk about open source especially in the context of my locale or region. There are quite a number of local bloggers and they have something to share about their experiences in the free and open source community. And they also share what they do or what theu plan to do. Whether it’s a release party or some kind of conference, they enjoy sharing it with their blogs. If I’ve been following their blog for quite some time now, I also have more reasons to join them.
• Read sites and blogs that cover technology. Sometimes they also post links to events. There are some events listed that could come up as a surprise and well, it could be quite good to figure out anyway. So if those events don’t conflict with my existing schedule, I’d actually plan to go.
• Follow some folks on Twitter. Every once in a while, I encounter people with interesting ideas. Like the thing about hacker spaces and open hardware. I ended up following some folks on Twitter and they do re-tweet information about niceh topics plus events too.

I know that social networking and social media could be quite overwhelming but certain keywords will tend to jump at you if you’re looking for them. In this case, events and the particular project/s you are concerned with. I guess it’s a matter of conditioning your mind to look for them? Some folks will be quite blatant about events they are promoting so those will be easy to remember. *laughs* But for the rest, just learn to skim through your headlines and something might actually show up.

The best way for me to learn about events is from people I know. If they say they’re going, chances are, I am going too. : ) And this December, there’s a DrupalCamp happening in Manila so I am going to be there to join the fun and learning.

I hope you find some events that you like too!

Post from: New Linux User

Not everyone might be able to appreciate these things especially new
Linux users but reading about them at the very least gives us a better
idea of how development happens, who are some of the key people in the
community, what might be happening in the coming days for us.

Not everyone might be developing software in the free and open source
community. But those who do have a great impact on Linux as we get to
use it. The kernel might seem to be a very intimidating thing to most
newbies. But the kernel is an important part of the Linux distros we
use and love. The very performance of these distros on our respective
computers have a relationship with how developers improve the kernel.
We might not understand all the processing being done by the CPUs and
how the kernel interacts with it but these names make it possible for
us to have something that we could use everyday for our work and play.

I suppose those who are more into technical details and hacking would
be able to appreciate the talks and training tracks in Linux Kongress.
Be sure to check out the
Linux Kongress 2009 page for other information.

Linux kernel developers deserve our appreciation for all their hard
work and time. After all, they’re part of the group that make Linux
become better and better each time.

Post from: New Linux User

A sample of topics:

• Perl 6: Why? What? How?, Damian Conway, Thoughtstream
• Introduction to Google App Engine, Joe Gregorio Google
• How to Write Your Own Eclipse Plug-ins, Beth Tibbitts, IBM
• Django in the Real World, Jacob Kaplan-Moss, Django
• What You Need to Know About Rails3, Yehuda Katz, Engine Yard
• Linux Filesystem Performance for Databases, Selena Deckelmann, PostgreSQL Project
• Cloud Computing – Why IT Matters, Simon Wardley, Canonical Ltd
• Building a Business on the Cheap, Chris Wanstrath, GitHub
• The HTML 5 Experiments, Bruce Lawson, Opera Software ASA
• High Performance APC, Brian Shire, Facebook, Inc.

I am sure that some of my co-workers will want to go if it was possible. There are topics that would be of interest to us:

• Use Open Source Tools to Program iPhone Games on Linux and Windows Without the iPhone SDK, PJ Cabrera
• Writing Open Source, moderated by Addison Berry and Emma Jane Hogbin
• Using Drupal, James Walker and Angie Byron, Lullabot
• Google O’Reilly Open Source Awards
• A Brief History of Software, Michael Lopp, Rands in Repose
• Business Models for Open Source Developers, Darrius Thompson, OpenCandy

Check out the complete schedule of OSCON 2009 here.

Looks like it could be interesting to go there. But as I live in another country, it’s not possible for me. I hope to hear more about it from you guys after the event, in case you will be going. I hope people will have a great time learning together and meeting new contacts.

Register soon so you could ensure your slot in the said event. (OSCON 2009 Registration Details.)

Post from: New Linux User