Southern California Linux Expo madness is in full effect!!!

I spent most of the day helping out my new buddies in LinuxChixLA and hanging out with some of my Santa Barbara friends. Chad Page was able to help me with getting Tom Reed's ThinkPad ready for its cross country journey to MickeyVille, FL, otherwise known as Orlando. The software stuff is going to have to wait until I get back...the Internet access is unfirewalled, and a new install of Windows 2000 doesn't last too long until it gets 0wnz0r3d under those conditions. Snickering from Linuxheads who'd wonder "why don't you put Linux on that thing?" wouldn't help either.

Tomorrow I will actually sit in on some panels...there's an introductory Samba panel with my name on it first thing in the morning. Hoopy.

Oh yeah: The LA City Government is pondering whether to switch to Free/Open Source software. Most of my fellow geeks believe that this is merely a bargaining tactic to jawbone Microsoft into giving them a better deal on a site license, but I'm hoping some of us constituents can convince them that they should seriously consider open alternatives to closed/proprietary software. It sounds like the LinuxChixLA grrls are game for a little lobbying. Hopefully I can get other LUGs within the City of Los Angeles to join in the advocacy.

However, I'd rather not see the saved money go to the LAPD, especially considering that they haven't learned from their mistakes of the past. I'd rather see it go to education and afterschool programs for at-risk kids. Also the LA Public Library system could use an infusion of more money for books and full-time Children's Librarians. I could go on, but you get the idea. Whatever the savings is used on, I know I'd sleep better at night knowing my sales tax dollars were not being imported up to Washington State to line a few executives in Redmond's pockets. >_<