[NYCBSDCon] NYCBSDCon Workshop proposal

[George Rosamond]

On 08/16/10 22:59, Jason Dixon wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> First off, let me say a quick "howdy" to everyone working on NYCBSDCon
> 2010.  As George will attest, your event has always been one of my
> favorites.  I look forward to it for months every year;  needless to
> say, I was so disappointed there was no conference in 2009 that I had to
> start DCBSDCon just to tide me over.  ;)

And hopefully you'll continue it on the odd years, as we do the even ones!

>
> With that out of the way, I wanted to run an idea by the committee that
> I think might make an interesting event at this year's NYCBSDCon.

Organizing is a bit more open this year than running "an idea by the 
committee."  This list should be the central place of discussion for the 
con, IMHO.

>
> If you've been following the news lately, you're probably aware of
> Oracle's disbandment of the OpenSolaris project.  This has sent
> shockwaves through the Solaris and general UNIX communities.  The
> OpenSolaris project had built up a very loyal following over the years,
> thanks to technologies like Solaris zones, Dtrace, ZFS and LiveUpgrade.
> Leading up to the recent announcement, many users and companies began to
> look at alternatives to Solaris because of concerns over Oracle's lack
> of communication and general disrespect towards their Open Source assets
> obtained through the Sun acquisition.
>
> FreeBSD is a great option because of its tradition for innovation and,
> of course, its more recent adoption of many Solaris technologies like
> Dtrace and ZFS.  As someone who's active in both the BSD and Solaris
> communities, I've seen interest in alternatives like FreeBSD pique over
> the last few months.  The recent announcement by Oracle has lit a fire
> under many companies to begin looking for serious exit paths away from
> OpenSolaris.

Very worthwhile and significant news.  And kudos to JD and the metabug 
people who detected the opportunity.

>
> Therefore, I'd like to propose an extended workshop (or series of mini
> workshops) at NYCBSDCon to serve a dual purpose.  First, to extend an
> invitation to Solaris transplants, demonstrating how the BSD projects
> offer a compelling platform that includes many of the awesome
> technologies that they're used to.  Second, to highlight those same
> technologies for existing BSD users who might be unfamiliar with, or not
> otherwise exposed to these features on a daily basis.

So, great, two audiences. . . some overlap, but distinct yet they're not 
going to be talking apples and oranges.

>
> That said, I expect this workshop would appear to more seasoned veterans
> and businesses that already use BSD in an "enterprise" capacity.  As
> such, you might consider promoting this within your network of
> BSD-friendly employers and sponsors around NYC city and state to gauge
> the level of interest.
>
> Sorry for the extended post.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a
> man of few words in person, but you just can't shut me up over email.
> ;)

:)

I think it's a great idea. . . and I would propose a simple checkbox on 
the registration form indicating interest from Sept 15, when reg opens, 
until Oct 1.

At that point, we can move forward concretely with the necessary interest.

I'd say we do it on Friday during the day. . . .we get an adequate room 
(we have a variety of alternate options besides Cooper for that), and 
structure the tutorials.

I'm thinking an additional fee, but nothing significant.  If any 
sessions could get charged back, this very well may be it.

Give us some thoughts about what would be covered.

Obviously, ZFS (as ported to FBSD, and in the pipeline for NBSD), dtrace 
(same status as ZFS, AFAIK), Zones versus various BSD virtualizations.

We could certainly pull in some ZFS heavy users in NYC with this. . 
.I've bcc'd one of them.

Others have thoughts on this?

g