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September 7, 2008

The Linux Foundation says it will host the Linux End User Collaboration Summit in New York City next month.

The foundation's press release that was sent said the event "Is by invitation only, but registration is free", in keeping with the idea of opening it to real Linux end users."

However, the Summit won't be open to any members of the press, and some were really angry to learn that. According to a public relations representative, "the logic behind keeping the press out is to make sure that participants do not feel like opinions, ideas or even dumb questions (!) will be recorded for posterity..."

Some of those members of the press asked both Linux Foundation personnel and their PR firm what other occupations would not be allowed to join the event. "Would bloggers be blackballed, unless their presence make attendees self-conscious," some asked?

And what about people who work in law enforcement or for intelligence agencies? The Foundation apparently never answered any of these questions.

Bad PR you say? Some would agree.

The Summit will be held in New York on October 13 and 14. If you're a GNU/Linux user but not a reporter or industry analyst, you might want to go to this conference.

As long as you are not a professional reporter, you can blog about it, but the PR rep hopes you will leave out personal information about other attendees so that they feel comfortable expressing themselves freely. (!) (?)

The Linux Foundation reportedly pays Linux Torvalds an undisclosed salary and otherwise facilitates development on the Linux kernel.

It's also the home of the Linux Standard Base, which works to make it easier for open source applications developers to write code that will run without modification on any popular GNU/Linux distribution, and for the benefit of the whole Linux community.

Of course some of the group's policies are questionable and downright rude some say.

They appear to be designed to please some big companies (without mentioning any names) not individual GNU/Linux users. Nevertheless however, The Linux Foundation does some pretty good work and deserves the support of the Linux community and from open source application developers.

What goes on there may be important to all of us, and it would be good for everyone to learn how the Linux Foundation is working for all GNU/Linux users, not just its corporate members.

Source: The Linux Foundation.

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