[plug] [OT] ish - LCA

[Simon Scott]

----- Original Email -----
From: Derek Fountain <derekfountain at yahoo.co.uk>
To: plug at plug.linux.org.au
Date: 14-Jan-2003 13:52
Subject: Re: [plug] [OT] ish - LCA

> > errrr, riiight... :D not sure I agree, but OK.
> 
> I think you're the first person I've ever encountered who thinks you can
keep  
> a career in the IT industry without constant learning. The whole business 

And you would be smoking what?? When did I say that!

My main question was 'is the value derived from the small number of
conferences that are interesting to you/that you can understand equal or
greater to the admission fee?'

> is  
> about selling knowledge. With IT, and Linux inparticular, you have to keep 

> running just to keep your knowledge up to date. I read books and websites
all  
> the time just to stay abreast of current trends. A conference, where you can
 
> quickly learn from the real experts, is a great way to get ahead of the
game.  
> How many of these opportunities do we get in Perth?
> 

'quickly learn' - hmmmm, I dunno - Id take some convincing that a seminar is
more valuable than a good book.


> > Well, for me it would be a 2 day conference (no time off work) and, as I
> > said, I cant see the value.... I guess Im simply not interested in enough
> > areas all at once to attend a conference with majorly diverse topics.
> 
> It's an investment. But if you can't see that, no one's going to force you
to  
> go.

Especially since noone has really answered my question.

How much can you *learn* in one of these seminars? What proportion of the
seminars is actually going to be useful to you considering your (compared to
the massive breadth of topics presented) relatively limited skillset?

or is it going to check out some geek celebrities?




> 
> 
> > If I were a kernel developer and it was a 6 day 'kernel developers'
> > conference then no problem. But Linux is such a large topic now
(especially
> > when you consider that anything that runs on linux is now defined as
> > 'linux' including all the GNU tools :) that I fear that the conferences
> > will become more scattered....
> 
> Are you a recent graduate or something? It really seems you don't have much

> experience about which you speak. The fact conferences are "scattered" is
one 
> of the main reasons to go. If you think you're going to maintain a career in
 
> one narrow aspect of IT, you're in for a shock. Times and technologies 
> change, and so do requirements of employers and clients. You have to keep in
 
> touch with what's going on and where things are heading.
> 

Hey dude, your grandmother is over there, go teach her to suck eggs.... :D

No, Im not a recent grad. Not at all :) I understand your point, but with such
a scattered set of topics, can anyone really derive much value from them?

I like the mini-conf idea tho - as I said Id love to attend some, but the loss
of income makes it totally unfeasible.

Maybe I shouldnt have brought this up - I should stand in the background with
my Tux shirt waving the 'this is l33t' banner :)


> Next time you're at an interview, and the guy asks e.g., "what do you know 

> about the benefits of memory efficiency with regard to web application  
> performance?", and you have to say "nothing", think about your missed  
> opportunities. If I'm next in the chair, and I can recall 30 seconds worth
of  
> something Alan Cox or Rusty Russell et al said at LCA, I'll get the job you 

> want.

errrm, so by your standard, the speakers will cover practically everything in
the subject field? No, Ill answer the question because Ive read well on the
topic and have experience in real-world situations....... I wont parrot dim
memories of something AC *might* have said in his limited time :)

Enjoy the conf dude, Ill look forward to the blow by blow stories on-list :) 

'...and then AC says to me "stay away from my pudding you ignorant pissant" so
I stabbed him with my fork!' :)