From OSOpinion: “Who would make the better President for tech consumers and investors — George W. Bush or Al Gore? As the candidates prepare to debate again this week, it’s a good time to ask this question. My hope is that moderator Jim Lehrer tries to work in some questions about technology policy this time. But in case technology gets the shaft again, here’s what we know so far:” –Kelly McNeill

On October 28, 2000 the Simi Conejo Linux Users’ Group will be hosting LUG Fest III in Simi Valley, California. A LUG Fest is an
opportunity for Linux users to demonstrate Linux (or other Open Source operating systems), Linux applications, attend seminars, and BOF
(Birds Of a Feather) sessions. Additionally, Linux vendors may participate and show off their wares.

SCLUG is looking for persons willing to demonstrate their favorite application, and vendors willing to show off their latest and greatest
Linux wares. If you have got amazing and awesome skills with a Linux application such as GIMP, Samba, or any other Linux application, we
would love to have you volunteer for a seminar. If you are a vendor with a cool Linux product, we would love you to have a table.

LUG Fest II was twice the size of the original LUG Fest. People came from Orange County, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, the South Bay area,
and all points in between in California, and from areas outside California as well. Many Linux vendors donated items for give aways and
raffles. Several vendors who came with their wares were Corel, eLinux.com, VMware, Loki Entertainment, and Magic Software. We need YOUR
help to make number III even better!

If you have a special skill with Linux or a Linux application, or if you are a Linux vendor who would like to show off your products, SCLUG
would love to have you participate in the October LUG Fest! We have doubled the area available for the LUG Fest, so we have plenty of room
for you to show off your skills or products!

LUG Fest is put together by a local Linux Users’ Group and the main focus of the event is Linux. However we do welcome participants and
attendees from other open source/free OS communities.

For more information please visit the LUG Fest web site at link or email Gareth at gareth@wiked.org. Thank you and we
hope to see you there! –Ilan Rabinovitch

From OSOpinion: “Visit the Sun Microsystems Web site lately? If you have, then you may have noticed the “howto.com” section. One of the first pages listed in this section is, Ed Zander’s article: The next “killer app”. In this article Zander reveals some telling things about the direction Sun has decided to take for the future.” –Kelly McNeill

Australian IT is reporting on China’s progress in the world of e-commerce.

By Emmett Plant
NewsForge Columnist
Speaking of GNU/Linux

(Even though Emmett wrote this column for the San Jose Linux World show a few months ago,
it applies just as much to the Atlanta Linux gathering he is attending this week,
so we decided to run it again. – Ed) Next week, booth babes and geeks alike will descend upon San Jose for the
LinuxWorld Conference and Expo. Whether you’re going or not, I’m going to
prepare you for the Linux tradeshow scene, which can be pretty exciting
and exhausting. Forget everything you know about conferences and
conventions, because the Linux community is a little different than
most. On to the action!Let’s talk a little bit about the currency of the show. Some items are unbelievably expensive, like a $7 hot dog or $11 plate
of nachos. Other items are believably expensive, like rackmount servers
and big-ass displays bigger than your television. Other items are
absolutely free, and this is what you’re really after. You don’t really
want to attend the conference sessions. They’re usually boring things you
go to to satisfy your boss. The Linux community is well-known for being
overtly social, so if you really want to know something about your
favorite Open Source program, the chances are good that the author is
running around the expo floor, trying to get as much free stuff as
possible.

Let’s make one thing clear. You’re supposed to go for T-shirts. Ignore
pamphlets. Grab sunglasses, not business cards. Take posters, not fridge
magnets. I’m not saying go for the expensive stuff, I’m just saying get
the coolest stuff. A lot of it will depend on how much you can carry. The
reason you want to get the cool stuff is this — if you get cool stuff
fast, you’ll still have cool stuff that you didn’t pay for when the cool
stuff runs out. Eventually, you’re going to meet someone cool who missed a
piece of cool stuff. You’ve got the cool stuff. Supply the shirt, and
convince the guy to teach you about what he does with Linux.

Avoid public relations people. They are your enemy. I’m not
kidding. They’re going to be really super-friendly, and chances are good
that they’re going to be beautiful. Remember, they’re hired because
they’re friendly and beautiful. They’re being paid to get your attention
and keep it for as long as possible, or until you buy their
product. Resist. Please don’t assume that the PR people want to date
you. They don’t. They’re hired to be interested in whatever you’re talking
about. It amazes me that people who wouldn’t be caught dead in a strip
club will attend trade shows, when the same forces are at work. OK,
they’re not all bad, and they are humans, after all. They’re a necessary
evil. Deep in my heart, I love public relations and marketing people
because of a deep love for my common man, but I don’t trust these people
worth a damn. I’m a tech writer, and they recognize me because I’m at
every show, just like they are. They’re so happy to see me. They even hug
me. But I never hear from them unless I’m at a show. Interesting, eh? Now,
this isn’t absolute truth in every case. My friend Lynne from Corel does
e-mail occasionally, and not press releases. I respect her a lot.

I talked about the conference sessions earlier, and told you to avoid
them. I may have been a bit hasty. I guess I meant to say, “don’t waste
your time.” A lot of the stuff you see at these conferences is readily
available information on the wWb, so I would avoid stuff like security
panels and the latest GNOME tutorial — you’ll learn about it soon enough
from another source. But there are really great panels there that you
should avoid. I like attending “Linux and the Media” panels, and
conversational “Birds of a Feather” panels. They’re fun. So, go to some of
the sessions, but make sure you’re not wasting time there. There’s free
stuff being given out upstairs.

Speaking of free stuff — do you like to drink like a fish? Are you
interested in being lambasted on the Web for weeks after someone takes
your picture while you puke on Linus’ shoes? Are you interested in
dancing? Music? Do you like to have conversations with other people by
screaming over loud club music? Then the conference party scene is for
you! There’s usually a party every night of the show, and if the evil PR
people are working their magic, you’ll know about all of them.

Remember, if your company sent you to a Linux conference, you owe it to
yourself to screw your current employer and get a job with one of the
companies exhibiting at the show! They don’t appreciate your worth where
you are, anyway. I’m only kidding, but a decent percentage of people who
go these shows end up differently-employed when they leave. Keep your eyes
open and your loyalties shifting!

InfoWorld reports that Intel will not be relaunching its 1.13GHz Pentium III processor.

ZDNet is reporting that Intel Corp. is preparing to create a version of its Pentium III that operates on low power to compete with Transmeta’s Crusoe.

CNet reports that TurboLinux has announced Wednesday a further $30 million in funding from IBM, Intel and others amid a drawn-out plan to go public. TurboLinux also received funding from new investors Fujitsu, Hitachi, SGI and Softbank’s e-commerce unit.

InfoWorld has a followup on an earlier report: “The first version of a new Linux Development Platform Specification (LDPS) was released Wednesday, clearing the
way for the adoption of standards that will make participating Linux platforms work together seamlessly. The new LDPS standards will be adhered to by some of the largest Linux distribution companies, including Caldera
Systems, Corel, Red Hat, SuSE Linux, TurboLinux, and VA Linux Systems, the group said.” (Disclosure: VA Linux owns NewsForge.)

It’s at LWN.net: “There is a lot going on behind the scenes in the world of Midgard. The
first version of the Midgard 2.0 requirements document has been released
along with a rewrite of the documents for 1.4. The final touches of 1.4 are
being finished as David Guerizec rewrites the Admin interface. We should
see one last beta release of 1.4 before the final candidate is released.”