Berlin, 7. March 2012 – Open to changes – this is the basic concept of Linux and Open Source. LinuxTag, Europe's leading Open Source event, stands under exactly this concept. At each of the past 17 LinuxTag something new was introduced – concerning content and event formats. In this regard the 18th LinuxTag – 23. – 26. May 2012 – will set new standards. A number of innovative formats for business and community will experience their premiere in the exhibition halls underneath the Berlin radio tower.
This way we enter the new lecture format “Open Minds Economy” to gain value creation by cooperation in industry, science and society. The lectures and discussions on the 24. May are being organized by the Open Source Business Alliance. IT innovations, success stories and case studies from the region around Berlin are the centre of the new track “open valley berlin” on the 23. May. The supporters include IHK Berlin, init AG, Amt 24, the Open Source Business Alliance and the IKT inter-trade organisation from Berlin-Brandenburg – SIBB Association. The RootCamp Berlin on the 25. and 26. May basically organises itself. Target groups of this first the topic-oriented BarCamp are Linux- and OSS-users and administrators.
Petra Kuhfuß, project manager at the LinuxTag at the Berlin trade fair: “Never have offers for business and community been so extensive and multifaceted. Due to these facts the LinuxTag reflects a general trend. The Open-Source model arrived a while ago in our society. Meanwhile, it is about far more than the publication of source codes. It is about impulses for more openness when it comes to thinking, more cooperation and collaboration. The LinuxTag 2012 makes a lot of offers of exactly these topics.”
20 theme-tracks in the open lecture program
The successful combination of new and established, has been set as a goal by the organisers of the LinuxTag. With great dedication, they have therefore started the arrangement of the free lecture program, a pillar of the event. With the over four day-long event with 20 theme tracks in five halls it is one of the most substantial on Linux- and Open Source events in Europe. The program committee is currently working flat out to catch sight of and work on the approximately 200 proposals.
“It is important to us to offer the visitors a universal concept. We are not only sorting the suggestions, but are also working out a corporate story with our speakers”, said Nils Magnus, speaker of the program committee. This way visitors will get an overview and learn directly from experts about the tools and techniques, as well as experiencing by using practical examples how Linux and Open Source are used in practice.
This year System Management belongs to the special focuses of the lecture program. Apart from Monitoring the LinuxTag also plans five other full-day tracks, including virtualisation, high availability as well as system- and kernel tuning. Apart from that, the term cloud computing, which is not valued by everybody, will also play a significant role. Other key aspects act in accordance with the software developers, thematically mobile applications such as Android and investigate the usage in the business environment, as well as presenting users with new tools and programs.
Presence in conference and exhibition
Another important pillar of the event is the trade fair itself. Companies and research institutions, as well as free projects present their new products and solutions. Companies which have already accepted include Univention PLC, init, Taranto, Thomas-Krenn PLC and Microsoft. We have also received several applications from France. Characteristically for the LinuxTag is that numerous companies and project engage in both the exhibition as well as the lecture program.
The registration deadline for the free projects ends on 20. March. So far we have received about 40 applications from projects. “What we are still specifically looking for are new projects”, said Elke Moritz, consultant for free projects at the LinuxTag Association. “Thereby we mean both projects we haven’t had on the LinuxTag so far as well as those who are still “young” and want to use the LinuxTag to present themselves to a broad audience and convince others to participate.” The concept “Project-Marketing-Points”, which was introduced last year, has proven its value to help exactly those ‘new’ companies. Little projects, which are not able to have a complete stand for the whole event, have the opportunity to present themselves to the audience at specific ‘office hours’.
Panel of experts about the application standards in the management
Case studies make the already traditional business- and government congress an essential event for everyone who wants to learn more about the advantages of using open source software in the public sector, industry and the business world. On the 23. and 24. May the topics include “ways out of the license-jungle” and “free software for everyday use”.
Current challenges for the public administration are also part of the 3. OpenMind ManagerMorning. About 20 experts from IT, management and education are going to discuss about “Public Sector Application Standards”. In the first two rounds the topics included free software and education.
Education and training are also considered very important topics at this year’s LinuxTag. On this topic there is also the “Academy Day” on the 26. May, which will be hosted by the German information-academy. On the day before the first workshop “digital school” is taking place in cooperation with the Open Source Business Alliance and tarent. In this workshop the center are answers on the question how students can improve their learning with open source software. The workshop is the result of the 2. OpenMind ManagerMorning in November 2011.
Ideal preparations for the certification by the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) and discount exam fees have already been standards of the LinuxTag for years. This also applies to special events such as the hacking contest, the Kernel-Kwestioning with many attending Linux developers, the Key-Signing-Parties as well as numerous workshops.
About the LinuxTag
The LinuxTag is Europe’s leading trade fair and conference on topics such as Linux and Open Source. The four-day event has been held since 1996, since 2007 yearly on the Berlin fair grounds. It offers updates for professional users, decision makers, developers, beginners and the community. The LinuxTag Association is the ideal host for the event and manages to accomplish it together with the Messe Berlin PLC. More information is available at http://www.linuxtag.org/