[plug] [OT] ish - LCA

[Simon Scott]

----- Original Email -----
From: Leon Brooks <leon at brooks.fdns.net>
To: plug at plug.linux.org.au
Date: 14-Jan-2003 14:53
Subject: Re: Re: [plug] [OT] ish - LCA

> On Tuesday 14 January 2003 01:56 pm, Simon Scott wrote:
> > How much can you *learn* in one of these seminars?
> 
> As measured in...?

Garbblats ofcourse - the universal unit of learning, approximately equal to
one O'Reilly book.

> 
> > 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?
> 
> You learn stuff that isn't in the precis, you get to ask your own questions
in 
> person - not buried with seventy others on a list or chat channel, you get 

yet somehow buried under 70 other geeks in the same room :)

> exposure to peers as well as gurus (AKA `networking'), you may get a dinner,


'networking' is an evil concept :) maybe I should hire some hookers, buy some
cocaine and really get on ACs good side :)


> you get to learn some of what you need to know to do your own presentation,


as if anyone would listen!?!? 

> you get to demystify some of those names, both big and small. In some 

I understand names. I have one myself.

> presentations, you get to laugh your R's off, too.
> 

OK, question answered :) 

> Leaning a bit more on that `networking' item, some of your fellow attendees

> will represent paying work for you, or solutions to your problems.

Not for me - linux is a hobby (mostly)

> 
> > or is it going to check out some geek celebrities?
> 
> That, too. And as I said in another post, the gaming mini-conf includes
cheap 
> LAN party time. (-:

Unreal Tournament Tac Ops (AOT)??? :)

Now we're getting there :)

> 
> > 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?
> 
> You keep using that word `scattered' instead of the much more appropriate
word 
> `eclectic'. Perhaps you should get out and about more.

Or perhaps LCA should run streams of related material like most other
conferences do :) Webdev stream, kernel geek stream, desktop user stream, unix
administrator stream etc. Or does that make things too easy? :)

Looking at the topics, in between all the TBAs, I couldnt derive a pattern at
all - attending the conference will therefore teach you to code a HTML kernel
module in PERL :) or something.


> 
> > I like the mini-conf idea tho - as I said Id love to attend some, but the
> > loss of income makes it totally unfeasible.
> 
> I lose a week's income, modulo the odd bit of moonlighting, which I can 
> ill-afford. I'm still going, happy to have the opportunity.

I have small child, I have bills - enough said really :)

> 
> I'm also *organising* one of the mini-confs, which although not onerous is 
> hardly a zero-time endeavour. Organising's been fun so far, although the 
> fix-bayonets-over-the-top part is still to come. You get to find out a lot
of 
> things which mere attendees will never know, you get a sense of personal 
> achievement, you get something extra for your resume, should you need it.
> 

As I said, the miniconfs sound like a blast, pity I cant attend :(


> It's worth pointing out that for any other Linux conference you would lose
at 
> least another two days in travel time on top of everything else you're 
> bemoaning.

Assuming youd want to go :)

> 
> >> 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 :)
> 
> If your memories of in-person 3D real-life real-time sensurround events are

> that bad, what hope have you of retaining much from a flat, static, 
> monochrome book?

My books are in colour - I need the pictures :) Believe it or not, Im more
likely to remember Chapter 3 of 'Mapping the Commodore 64' than something AC
might say..... I need to prove it for myself before committing it to memory.

So, to summarise, its a cool and froody deal (go linux, go linux yay!), and
having structured learning and value for money are secondary to fragging AC in
AAquake :) right, got it :)

When do registrations close? I must organise to forget that date :)