OSCON 2009 is just around the corner, this year in San Jose, California. When I spoke at the Silicon Valley Linux Users Group last night, they asked me for a few highlights. It’s tough to pick from over 200 sessions, all the best-of-the-best out of 800 submissions (and there were at least 100 more I wish I could have fit in). But, a few of the talks I’m particularly looking forward to are “Situation Normal, Everything Must Change” by Simon Wardley on the cloud computing apocalypse and its implications for open source, “Drizzle: Status, Principles, and Ecosystem” by Brian Aker, “Introduction to Animation and OpenGL on the Android SDK” by Satya Komatineni, “Security-Centered Design: Exploring the Impact of Human Behavior” by Chris Shiflett, “What Web App Design Can Learn From the Harpsichord” by Elaine Wherry, and “The Freedom to Cure Cancer” by David Dooling on open source software in the Human Genome Project. On a less serious note, Friday will be capped off with “The Art of Klingon Programming” by Paul Fenwick and “The Conway Channel” by Damian Conway, two speakers from the southern hemisphere who never fail to make me laugh and think all at the same time.
We’ve extended the early registration discount until June 23rd, so you can still save $250. And OSCamp—the unconference within OSCON, organized by participants for participants—is completely free (as in beer and speech) open to anyone registered for an Exhibit Hall pass. Hope to see you there.