Events               

Wednesday meetings are designed for a general audience. The topics are chosen to illustrate  business applications of Open-Source  Software or Open  Standards. The presentations should be of interest to both technical and non-technical users. (Meeting format)

For questions regarding upcoming events, please join the Mailing List. 

If you plan on attending the meeting please email rsvp@sdoss.org. This will reserve you a seat an allow for us to plan accordingly (Thanks)

No Events Scheduled at this time

 Selected list of previous events:

June 4, 2008          History & Misconceptions: 500 Years of  Open Source and Copyright 

We have enjoyed the benefits of various types of 'Open Source' for over 500
years. We have also had copyright systems for about 500 years as well.

Many myths about the history of open source and copyright persist today. By
learning about the last 5 centuries of open source, and how it relates to
copyright, we can avoid these misconceptions.

This talk will describe this history and how open source has flourished for 500
years with and without the help of copyright.

Speakers bio:

Christian Seberino has been programmer for many years. He is currently an independent software consultant who is always on the lookout for interesting and challenging work. He has worked with numerous languages on personal computers and supercomputers. He earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. As part of his dissertation, he built a parallel supercomputer to run a parallel magnetic recording simulator he designed. This software utilized then recently developed algorithms and is still in use today. He has developed many other scientific and engineering applications including cryptographic libraries for the National Security Agency (NSA) and stochastic simulation software for the United States Navy.

April 2, 2008          Government use of Open Source Software

Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and many other Government agencies, including all the Armed Services are embracing Open Source Software, and Open Standards. When will our community Government Agencies follow suit?

San Diego City and County face severe fiscal demands, it is certainly time to evaluate our choice of software solutions, and standards.

The Gartner Group Estimates:
 'By 2011, at least 80% of all commercial software solutions will be based on open source.'
It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.  How much money will our Government waste before the transition is accomplished?

This presentation will explore the tradeoffs between Open, and Proprietary Software solutions, and the Value Proposition.

Presentation as a PDF

Outline:

I) Economics of Software
   a) Costs involved in creating & distributing
   b) Costs involved in changing the software in use:
        i) re-training user-base
       ii) hardware/software costs of new system(s)
      iii) gain or loss in productivity
   c) How OSS changes the economics

II) Government Use of OSS
   a) World-wide
   b) US : Federal
   c) US : State
   d) US : Local

III) Call to Action
   a) Understand government procurement procedures
   b) Can Tax Dollars be Saved with OSS?
   c) Are you mad yet? -- Want to do something about it?

Link to: Open Source Government Strategies Conference Presentation ...

Speakers Bio:

T.Michael Turney has been working in the embedded software field for more than 20 years, the past 7 years have been dedicated to working with embedded Linux. He was employed by embedded Linux pioneer Monta Vista Software for 18 months. He has worked on numerous consulting engagements ranging from:  board bring-up, coding device drivers, Linux ports, to application-level work with OSS. He has taught numerous corporate Linux programming training classes, as well as college-level Linux classes.  He maintains the www.recipes4linux.com website.

February 6, 2008    MindTouch Deki Wiki: Open Collaboration Platform

In recent years wikis have come to surface with a varying degree of features, functionality, and licenses. Deki Wiki incorporates the best of the industry. Developed by MindTouch, Deki Wiki has grown massively in popularity over the past year with an average of 1,000 downloads a day. Licensed under GPL, Deki Wiki redefines wikis with its friendly WYSIWYG editor, powerful REST API, robust XHTML engine, and versatile deployment options. Deki Wiki is free open source software and runs on various flavors of Linux. It can either be installed as pre-configured VMware appliance or from source. Discover why wikis are the fastest growing tool for collaborating and building communities, and why MindTouch Deki Wiki stands out from the rest.

Interview with Steve Bjorg and Aaron Fulkerson

Speakers Bio:

Aaron Fulkerson is a multifaceted entrepreneur and technology advocate. He is a recognized expert on communities, software, and open source. Aaron has been a featured speaker on these topics at conferences and Universities. He has successfully deployed and managed communities virtually and in meatspace for non-profits, teams within Microsoft, open source projects, and research and development teams. He also co-founded and helped community outreach programs­ to provide computing resources to underprivileged persons in North Carolina and Minnesota. Aaron received his BS in Computer Science from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. Aaron Fulkerson is the Co-Founder and Chief Community Officer of MindTouch.

December 5, 2007          Collaboration tools

A change is coming and it is definitely for the better.  Novell's Teaming and Conferencing will change the way employees interact and share information. 

Gone will be the days of mapped drive letters, server login screens, disk shares, and perhaps a lean toward less e-mail usage (could that be true).   It is all about using better tools to do every day activities.  Novell with its partners will bring a better environment for getting things done.  It will rely on no particular operating system or browser yet cross platform interoperability couldn't be easier.  Novell Teaming + Conferencing is fully integrated with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org, and Novell is working on integrating it with end-user clients, including Novell GroupWise®, Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. Integrations are also being planned that will provide compatibility with enterprise applications such as CRM and ERP.  Web Conferencing allows an entity to own, manage, and secure their very own net conferencing server.  This server provides a WebEx like experience without the constant cost of the initial meeting and additional costs for storage and distribution.  Full desktop and application sharing is supported as well as voice integration.  Video Conferencing is currently being worked on for the next release :-)

Speakers Bio:

Brian Six is a Category Specialist with Novell since 1996. Brian transferred to San Diego in 1999 where he was a Systems Engineer for Novell in the Herndon Virginia office.  Prior to Novell Brian worked with a systems integrator for 4.5 years building medium to large scale networks.  Just out of college Brian spent 4.5 years with a software developer focusing on Legal Time and Billing applications.  Brian's degree was a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

October 3, 2007          Oracle on Linux, what you should know!

Proprietary software is not limited to proprietary platforms. The Linux platform is fully supported by Oracle. Mr. Bigonger will share his experience with us.

Introduction
Outline
Why Oracle
Why not Oracle
Oracle's Commitment to Linux
Versions of Oracle
     · Free Oracle?
Basic Architecture
     · Basic logical & physical components
Oracle Tools
     · sqlplus, lsnrctl, dbca, netca
     · SQL Developer
Management with Oracle Enterprise Manager
     · DB Console vs. Grid Control
     · Basic info and administration
Backups/Restore, Exports
     · Hot vs. Cold
     · Archive log mode
     · RMAN
     · Backups, Exports
     · Key data structures for backup/recovery
Best Practices
     · General
     · Storage layout
     · Hardware
High Availability Configurations
Gotchas
Oracle 11g - Notable New Features
Groups and Links
Q&A

PDF of Presentation

Speakers bio:

Brent Bigonger has been involved with Oracle for about 8 years, is both an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) and Microsoft certified. His most recent experience includes working with 10g's high availability features such as RAC and Data Guard and he has been involved in both the creation and management of multiple HA systems. His background also includes many years as a system administrator. Brent is currently Manager of Technical Services for ServerCare, Inc., a company that specializes in Oracle and Linux/Unix management and consulting. Brent also holds a degree in Computer Science from San Diego State University.

June 6, 2007          Why not get rid of copyright altogether?

On hearing the word "copyright", many people immediately think of programmers, musicians and other creators earning a living by selling copies of their works. Often, people also think that copyright is what protects creators from plagiarism — that is, from having their work used by others without proper crediting.

This picture of copyright is mostly a myth. Copyright subsidizes distribution, not creation. It was designed in an age when distribution expenses were the major obstacle in making a work accessible to the public. But today, distribution costs have dropped to zero, thanks to the Internet.

The purpose of this talk is to: spread awareness of how today's copyright system hurts artists and audiences, how copyright shackles the Internet to a distribution model designed around the limitations of the printing press and to argue that better "post-copyright" systems are possible. 

This talk will not be just dreamy wishful thinking. In order to help everyone give these ideas fair consideration, I will help the audience understand where copyright comes from and what it actually does.

Presentation slides

QuestionCopyright.org

Speakers bio:

Christian Seberino has been programmer for many years. He is currently an independent software consultant who is always on the lookout for interesting and challenging work. He has worked with numerous languages on personal computers and supercomputers. He earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. As part of his dissertation, he built a parallel supercomputer to run a parallel magnetic recording simulator he designed. This software utilized then recently developed algorithms and is still in use today. He has developed many other scientific and engineering applications including cryptographic libraries for the National Security Agency (NSA) and stochastic simulation software for the United States Navy.

April 4, 2007 Xen: One Box, many Virtual Machines

How many Servers do you need? 

Perhaps less than you think, using virtualization, one box can isolate, and accomplish, several services simultaneously!  

Xen is a virtualization technology that has a lot of promise.  It is an Open Source technology that is appearing in Linux distributions and also as a dedicated server technology competing with other solutions like the ESX server from VMware. 

Xen leverages a two pronged approach to virtualization: Full-Virtualization and Para-Virtualization.  Come join a discussion on what Xen is and why Xen is changing the landscape of traditional virtualization. 

Brian's Presentation

Speakers Bio:

Brian Six is a Category Specialist with Novell since 1996. Brian transferred to San Diego in 1999 where he was a Systems Engineer for Novell in the Herndon Virginia office.  Prior to Novell Brian worked with a systems integrator for 4.5 years building medium to large scale networks.  Just out of college Brian spent 4.5 years with a software developer focusing on Legal Time and Billing applications.  Brian's degree was a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

Feb 7, 2007  6:30pm 

Spammers, Phishers, Con artists, so how are you going to protect yourself!

At the last meeting you learned how the Internet works (The Beauty). However the Spammers, Phishers, Con artists, your ISP, and a host of bad guys know what you know (The Perils)! Don't be an easy mark, there are ways to avoid being a victim. 

Topics will include:

Overview of Data Security
   Use principles of Secure Operation
   Know that there is no 100% secure data

Principles of Secure Operation
   Password strength and security
   Avoid opportunities for security breach (browsing / email)
   Back up your data … offline
   Protect yourself from other users

Protecting Your System
   Patch your OS
   Rights management
   Software firewalls
   Virus scanning
   Adware scanning
   Checking for compromise

Protecting Your Network
   Firewall reduces exposure
   NAT is good, but not excellent
   Assume listeners are present

Application Security
   Patch your Apps
   Don’t cache passwords – or files
   Cookies are sometimes deadly
   Restrict app integration (scripting, executables)
   Get your apps from trusted sites

Best Practices
   User rights
   Email
   Web Browsing
   FTP
   Installing software
   Encryption
   Detecting and recovering from compromise

Jason's Slides

Speaker Bios:

Jason Mansfield is head systems administrator at California Regional Intranet, an industry leader in dedicated server and shared hosting services. 

Jason has been working with UNIX/LINUX and the Internet since 1994. He served in the United States Marine Corps as a computer support technician, web master, software developer, and IT instructor. His professional experience includes: Security forensics; Web development; System automation with Bash and Perl building High Availability Clusters; Technical documentation; Training.

Steve Wallace is CTO of Complex Drive a full service San Diego Internet service provider with three colocation facilities under management.

Mr. Wallace has extensive leadership and technical experience in the telecommunications and Internet industries. Prior successes include being founder of American Digital Network, where he was the principal architect of San Diego's first commercial all-digital dialup network. He also worked with the Naval Ordnance Center (US Navy), where he lead the execution of several national automation initiatives and installed a secure Pacific Rim network.

Mr. Wallace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from California State University.

Dec 6, 2006  6:30pm  The Internet; The Power and Perils of Open Standards!

One of mankind's greatest accomplishments is the Internet. The Internet epitomizes the power of Open-Standards. The next two programs will introduce how the Internet works (The Beauty), and the second, how to avoid being attacked (The Perils).

This presentation will explore the basic power of how the Internet, many layers each providing a platform for the other. For anyone interested is setting up a mailbox, website, router, mail server, or any other service, or client, these precepts are essential. 

PDF of the Presentation: 

The presentation is designed to give an overview, the topics will include:

Internet Basics

Communications consists of layered protocols
          Physical
          Data Link
          Network
          Everything Else…. 

TCP vs UDP 

Web-surfing Basics

URL: where is it and what is it called?
          IP Addresses
          DNS resolution: caching vs authoritative 

It’s all about files and directives
           Browsers and port handling
           FTP, control ports
           TLS/SSL – how safe is browser encryption? 

Email Basics

“Simple” Mail Transfer Protocol
Store and forward
The mail hierarchy (MUA, MSA, MTA, MDA, et al.)
Sending vs receiving 

Websites and Mail Servers – are they the same server?
DNS and mail
The true cost of spam

Speakers Bio:

Steve Wallace is CTO of Complex Drive a full service San Diego Internet service provider with three colocation facilities under management.

Mr. Wallace has extensive leadership and technical experience in the telecommunications and Internet industries. Prior successes include being founder of American Digital Network, where he was the principal architect of San Diego's first commercial all-digital dialup network. He also worked with the Naval Ordnance Center (US Navy), where he lead the execution of several national automation initiatives and installed a secure Pacific Rim network.

Mr. Wallace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from California State University.

10/04/06 6:30pm  SUSE Enterprise 10
This meeting will be at our regular location

This meeting has two parts. The Wednesday evening meeting will introduce the SUSE 10, with a presentation and Q&A. Distribution Discs will be available. For those folks that would like help with the installation, we have scheduled a Saturday Installfest. Refreshments will be served at both events.

10/07/06 8:00am  SUSE Enterprise 10 Installfest
This portion of the meeting will take place at: THAT Technical Bookstore
Bookstore Website       Map 

You are encouraged to come Saturday; we are going to have a great time.
However space for the installfest is limited, so those folks who actually want to do the install on Saturday will need to make reservations (for time slots) Wednesday evening.

Learn how the all new SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10 is the best-engineered, lowest-cost and most interoperable platform for enterprise computing. From the desktop to the data center, SUSE Linux Enterprise offers a complete open source platform for the mission critical applications that drive your business.

Learn how SUSE Linux Enterprise:

• Delivers the only open source desktop-to-data center solution for mission-critical computing
• Increases desktop productivity through integrated search, an OpenOffice productivity suite and innovative 3-D desktop graphics
• Helps you consolidate applications and improve server utilization through integrated Xen virtualization
• Enables you to manage your entire Linux deployment, from software updates to subscription entitlements, through one on-line interface
• Is supported by a broad ecosystem of hardware partners, software applications and solution providers
• Offers a whole range of consulting, developer, migration, and training services to support your enterprise needs

Speakers Bio:

Brian Six is a Category Specialist with Novell since 1996.    Brian transferred to San Diego in 1999 where he was a Systems Engineer for Novell in the Herndon Virginia office.  Prior to Novell Brian worked with a systems integrator for 4.5 years building medium to large scale networks.  Just out of college Brian spent 4.5 years with a software developer focusing on Legal Time and Billing applications.  Brian's degree was a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

06/07/06 6:30pm  Embedded LINUX, it's everywhere!

So Linux isn't as ubiquitous as you thought it would be, by mid-2006? The pundits said it would be everywhere, so where is it? Would you believe it's in your home?  It might even be  hanging off your belt or in your purse. It's definitely in your office, even if it isn't on your desktop.  Would you believe Corporate America innovation would grind to a halt without Linux? Through the sharing of survey and statistical information, as well as case-study examples, T.Mike hopes to convince you that Linux is indeed, ubiquitous today, you just didn't know it.

In terms of unit piece shipments, the embedded market has always and will always surpass the desktop by orders of magnitude.  As design labs get restarted after the recent recession, embedded Linux is a very attractive alternative to deliver consumer products, from wireless routers to hand-held PDAs and cellular phones. How about that new flat-screen television you are eyeing at Circuit City or the DVR you plan to use to record your favorite programs in HDTV?

Mr. Turney's Slide presentation:

Speakers Bio:

T.Michael Turney has been working in the embedded software field for more than 20 years, the past 5 years have been dedicated to working with embedded Linux. He was employed by embedded Linux pioneer Monta Vista Software for 18 months. He has worked on numerous consulting engagements ranging from:  board bring-up, coding device drivers, Linux ports, to application-level work with OSS. He has taught numerous corporate Linux programming training classes, as well as college-level Linux classes.  He maintains the www.recipes4linux.com website.

05/03/06 1:30pm 
LINUX, Trusted, Secure; Ready for Critical Government Applications

Note: Special Time and Place
Acapulco Restaurant, Old Town
Map and Directions

Mary Ann will share an update of Open Source and Linux in the Government Marketplace.

She will discuss government adoption of Open Standards, Open Source and Linux based solutions. Key areas of discussion include: Government Access Applications, Infrastructure Optimization, High Performance Computing, ERP solutions leveraging a range of business solutions (Oracle, IBM Middleware...),  and many others.  She will also review the investments that IBM and key partners are making in Linux to extend its value to government.  These include investments  in Linux Security to meet common criteria security standards and support  cross domain applications, such as Trusted Computer Solution's Trusted applications including the Secure Thin Client.

Doc Shankar will address the State of Linux Security.

There are still some customers who continue to be unconvinced about the security of Linux. Some are skeptical due to it's open source nature, while others are not convinced that security in Linux can be assured. They continue to ask questions -  Is Linux secure enough for the enterprise? What's different about Linux security? Can an enterprise trust Linux? Is Linux as insecure as the internet? What is being done to make Linux secure? What should customers do? Is open source more secure? How do analysts view Linux security? What is the open source community doing? What is IBM doing? So many questions! The talk will provide some answers. We will specifically examine the state of Linux security and look at what is being done to make it a secure platform for the enterprise. We will describe the various Linux security technology areas that IBM is investing in - Mandatory access control, Multi level security, SELinux, Common Criteria certification, Trusted computing, Xen security, Loadable security modules, Encrypted file system, Audit capability, Vulnerability mitigation & Bastille. The purpose of the talk is to convince the audience that Linux is secure and ready for the enterprise.

Speakers Bios:

Mary Ann Fisher currently serves as a program executive for IBM’s Global Government Industry.  She is responsible for IBM’s Open Source and Linux business initiatives with governments around the world.  In this role, she sets and oversees IBM’s open source and Linux business strategies for its Government programs.   Key areas of focus include consultation with clients around the world, IBM investment in Open source and Linux for Government, partnership development with business partners and ISVs, and Global communications and marketing.  Mary Ann also leads IBM government initiatives in the areas of unstructured text analytics and enterprise content management.

Doc Shankar is a certified executive IT architect and technical lead for Linux Security at the IBM Linux Technology Center. He has presented and conducted security sessions for numerous customers and at various conferences. He has extensive experience in computer security. His current focus is on ways to improve Linux security. He is not a kernel hacker, but wants to ensure it can't be cracked! His key to success - ensures his team is brighter than him. When he is not in office, he can be found convincing customers (or anyone!) that Linux is secure. Doc will discuss how IBM has worked with the Open Source community and key business partners to enable Linux to meet key government security standards. He has a Ph.D in Computer Sciences from UC, Berkeley.

04/05/06 6:30pm  VoIP, Powered by Open-Source and Open-Standards

Voice over IP is a hot topic in tech circles these days. At it's most basic form, VoIP enables phone calls to be routed over the internet. Why is this new way of making phone calls grabbing all of the headlines? Come find out what VoIP is, and how it has combined with open standards and open source software to take plain old telephone calls to the next level. 

The presentation will explore the differences between current digital telephone networks, and VoIP; and the similarities and their respective strengths and weaknesses. We will also cover how one deploys a VoIP solution. What services are needed and who provides them? Where are the cost tradeoffs, and who is a candidate for deployment for VoIP. 

PDF of Presentation 

Speakers bio:

Brian Degenhardt's experience in the hi-tech industry includes work in such diverse areas as network engineering, on-line media delivery and console game development. Currently he serves as CTO of Four Loop Technologies, the makers of the Switchvox PBX. Brian has contributed to numerous Open Source Projects including the Apache HTTP Server Project and the Squid Web Proxy Cache. Before Four Loop Technologies, Brian worked at Sony Computer Entertainment America developing the online component of many Playststion 2 video games. As a senior software engineer at MP3.com, Brian designed and developed the serving infrastructure necessary to maintain the hundreds of MP3.com's content servers, serving more than 60 million users with over 5 million downloads.

3/01/06 6:30pm Linspire, The full featured alternative

Linspire is a complete desktop Linux operating system focused on the needs of everyday consumers, not geeks.

With a very comfortable user interface and loads of “horsepower under the hood” provided by the technically respected Debian Linux, Linspire is answering the challenge thrown down by Microsoft to get in the ring and duke it out for the heart, mind and wallet of the regular guy. The name of the game is to give the people what they want!

If you've ever wondered whether Linux can step up and provide effortless out-of-the-box support for wireless network connectivity, plug-n-play USB devices, multimedia playback including Windows Media, laptop suspend/resume, this presentation is for you.

Come learn about key Linux advantages over Windows XP, explore the range of software that comes bundled with the OS, and get introduced to the CNR Service, Linspire's ground-breaking digital software delivery system that is drawing raves from Linux editors worldwide.

Every attendee will also receive a free Linspire book with a “Linspire Live” CD and a discount to the upcoming 4^th Annual  Desktop Linux Summit to be held here in San Diego, April 24^th & 25^th, 2006.

Speakers bio:

Kevin La Rue, VP of Marketing at Linspire, has been involved with the consumer software industry for nearly two decades, beginning with the innovative San Diego Macintosh software start-up Silicon Beach Software in the late-80's. La Rue later co-founded Allegiant Technologies to capitalize on graphics & interactive multimedia authoring technology, where the firm's flagship product "SuperCard" became MacUser's 1995 "Authoring Tool of the Year" and MacUser UK's 1997 "Multimedia Product of the Year" competing head-to-head with such tools as Macromedia Director and Apple's own HyperCard.  After holding marketing management positions at SAIC and SONY, La Rue joined Linspire in late 2002.  La Rue graduated with a BSBA in Marketing, along with honors in the inaugural program at the Karl Eller Center for Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

2/01/06 6:30PM Zimbra, the Open-Source Alternative to Exchange

Zimbra has many of the features that small (and even large) businesses are looking for to lessen their reliance on Microsoft, increase their security, and lower the client cost.

Zimbra is a web-based application, based on AJAX, that supports all major client platforms and browsers - even mobiles. Client resource requirements are minimal. To facilitate integration of the product, it has tools for Active Directory integration, Outlook compatibility, scheduling and mobile clients, plus inherent hierarchical storage management (HSM). Backups! --- and they don't cost an arm and a leg! of course, the underlying server platform is LAMP.

Presentation slides

Speakers Bio:

Steve Wallace is president of Complex Drive a full service San Diego Internet service provider with three colocation facilities under management.

Mr. Wallace has extensive leadership and technical experience in the telecommunications and Internet industries. Prior successes include being founder of American Digital Network, where he was the principal architect of San Diego's first commercial all-digital dialup network. He also worked with the Naval Ordnance Center (US Navy), where he lead the execution of several national automation initiatives and installed a secure Pacific Rim network.

Mr. Wallace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from California State University.

1/04/06 6:30pm What's Novell up to? OpenSuSE and the Standard Code Base

The next logical step in Open-Source is an Open Distribution, and the Standard Code Base. Novell is leading the way. Hear where we are going, and what's next!

Novell has made another step in keeping Linux open and accessible OpenSuSE has arrived. OpenSuSE provides daily access to new builds and updates. It's retail/personal desktop product is also available here for download. Novell has also released it's second Point-of-Sale, POS software offering to become first in the Linux POS market space. Come hear how Novell plans to grow its Linux presence 30% in 2006 and increase acceptance of Linux for server and desktop usage.

Brian's Presentation: PDF

Speakers Bio:

Brian Six is a Category Specialist with Novell since 1996.    Brian transferred to San Diego in 1999 where he was a Systems Engineer for Novell in the Herndon Virginia office.  Prior to Novell Brian worked with a systems integrator for 4.5 years building medium to large scale networks.  Just out of college Brian spent 4.5 years with a software developer focusing on Legal Time and Billing applications.  Brian's degree was a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

12/07/05 6:30pm Selecting a Data Base Solution, Is Open-Source right for you?

Some user may need the power of Oracle or a SQL Server, however many organizations will do fine with a much more modest and less expensive alternative. Find out where your organization fits, and what is right for you.

• Universal components of software-purchase decision-making:
  • ROI
  • Risk
  • Schedule/time to market/window of opportunity
    
• Everything is a spectrum--understand your capabilities so you can select the right position for you!
  
• One important spectrum: buy-make-build
  • Buy: the fallacy of off-the-shelf
  • Make: how much customization will you need to do, can you afford to do, and when does it make sense to just build your own?
  • Build
    
• Remember: never automate a mess--it just gets messier faster
• Spectrum of databases (discuss "breakover points")
  
  • Oracle, DB2 (infrastructure)
  • IBM Informix, Sybase
  • Ingres, Postgres, MySQL
  • SQL Server, Access
  • FileMaker
    
• Case study: Lender Recovery Systems (was using ACT, considered SQL Server and the whole Microsoft package, was convinced of the appropriateness of MySQL)

Link to Jon's Presentation

Speakers Bio:

Jon Gallagher has managed people, products, and technologies for networks, network software groups,  and network products in  companies ranging from Pacific Bell (now SBC), AirTouch (now Verizon Wireless) and Qualcomm to startups at the cutting edge of free space gigabit speed (AirFiber), wireless networking (Mobile Digital) and software development (ProCase). He is currently a principal with M & M Consultants specializing in deploying systems and networks developed using Open Source Software Systems.

Jon graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and received his MBA from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, graduating second in his class. He has published in the Thunderbird Journal, the Thunderbird Case Series in International Finance, Wireless Systems Design, and on-line wireless sites.

11/02/05 6:30pm Open-Source Solutions in Government

Government like all enterprises need to take a critical look at their IT budgets. Proprietary solutions may have benefits, but at what costs? The City Of Garden Grove has adopted Open-Source Solutions for some of their current needs. And are evaluating Open-Source solutions for additional future applications. Perhaps your enterprise, or Government Organization could benefit from their example!

Slides from the Presentation Condensed.

Speakers Bio:

Charles Kalil is the IS Manager for the City of Garden Grove. He has worked with Municipal Information Systems for 16 years; beginning his career at the City of Buena Park. He began working in Garden Grove in 1993 as a Sr. Systems Analyst and was promoted to his current Position in February of 2000. Charles was part of the IS team that evaluated and implemented Linux there in 1995. He currently manages a staff of 8 employees that services a network of over 400 PC’s.

10/05/05 6:30pm Intellectual Property Extremism, it affects us all!

We are in the middle of the Intellectual Property Wars. This is sort of the Civil Rights Movement of the 21st century.

• Did you know that criminal charges were brought against a Linux user just for trying to do the good deed of giving away software to play DVDs?
  
•  Did you know that if you design a Linux e-commerce application that requires too few mouse clicks that you may be committing a crime?
  
• Did you know that Linspire, a Linux company, is reconsidering a decision to distribute software over peer-to-peer networks because of the fear of legal retribution if they do?
  
• Did you know that Senator Berman of California recently proposed a bill that in some cases would make it legal for others to hack into your Linux PC without fear of liability? You'd almost think the US government had declared war on Linux and open source! I framed these points to emphasize their impact on the Linux community. Unfortunately, this war is wider than just some odd discrimination against geeks.
  
• Did you know that the Girl Scouts were sued for singing songs around camp fires because they wouldn't pay up? 

I could go on and on with many more examples but you get the point. 

This extremism is sometimes justified today with references to the sanctity of "property". Those who disagree are labeled as: "anti-property", "un-American" and "pirates". Such rhetoric is a ridiculous distortion of our history, the Constitution and common sense. 

One severe handicap in fighting this war is that it is not quick and easy to understand the counter-arguments we need to make against such charges. 

We'd all rather be talking about interesting Linux software and hardware. If you can spare a short amount of your valuable time, I'll try my best to give you a worthwhile overview to enable you to talk intelligently about such matters and to prevent yourself and others from becoming casualties. 

Most of this discussion will be "pirated" from Professor Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture .

Chris' Presentation 
Don't be put off by the 'K-Plug' on each slide, he did the presentation for us as well!

Speakers bio:

Christian Seberino has been programmer for many years. He is currently an independent software consultant who is always on the lookout for interesting and challenging work. He has worked with numerous languages on personal computers and supercomputers. He earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California, San Diego in 2000. As part of his dissertation, he built a parallel supercomputer to run a parallel magnetic recording simulator he designed. This software utilized then recently developed algorithms and is still in use today. He has developed many other scientific and engineering applications including cryptographic libraries for the National Security Agency (NSA) and stochastic simulation software for the United States Navy.

09/07/05 6:30pm Distance Learning, going to school without leaving your home!

The meaning of going to school is changing. Many Universities, Companies, and Organizations offer ongoing education via the Internet. Find out if the experience of San Diego State University can be applied to your organization!

Michelle Warn will compare features of three Course Management Systems used for Distance and Blended Learning. Pedagogical strengths and weaknesses of each tool will be examined as well as technical capabilities.  She will also discuss accessibility issues considered when offering courses online.

Blackboard, Moodle, and a proprietary system developed at San Diego State University will be compared. There will also be demonstrations using video multimedia.

We have a special demonstration Moodle site the Interwork Institute has provided for us to try out: http://interwork.sdsu.edu/moodle/
To have administrative access, log in as: ID: sdoss      Password: sdoss

Speakers Bio:

Michelle's leap into technology began with Apple Computer, Inc. in 1984, the year the Macintosh was released. During her years with Apple, Michelle explored the use of technology to empower individuals and workgroups, both in California and in Asia.

Michelle directs the Interwork Institute Center for Distance Learning at San Diego State. The Distance Learning program currently offers Master's degrees, certificates and training via distance and distributed learning to students nationally and internationally. The program supports over 400 students internationally.

06/01/05 6:30pm LAMP Hosting, The Open-Source Internet Services Alternative

LAMP, Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP are the basis for many web service applications. How does LAMP compare with the proprietary completion such as Microsoft Exchange Server. What are the cost-benefit tradeoffs? What services are the same, what are the differences? How does your choice affect your data and application security? Is it possible to move from one to the other, and what are the difficulties?

These topics will be explored with interaction from the audience. This presentation should be special interest to CIO's, business managers, and people interested in the ongoing Open-Source vs. Proprietary software debate.

Steve's Presentation

Speakers Bio:

Steve Wallace is president of Complex Drive a full service San Diego Internet service provider with three colocation facilities under management.

Mr. Wallace has extensive leadership and technical experience in the telecommunications and Internet industries. Prior successes include being founder of American Digital Network, where he was the principal architect of San Diego's first commercial all-digital dialup network. He also worked with the Naval Ordnance Center (US Navy), where he lead the execution of several national automation initiatives and installed a secure Pacific Rim network.

Mr. Wallace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from California State University.

05/04/05 6:30pm Open Enterprise Server and other BrainShare topics

Novell has released its long awaited Open Enterprise Server (OES).  OES is the combination of its robust commercial and open-source networking technologies.  Services like iPrint, iFolder, and Linux User Manager (LUM) are just a few of the items provided by OES.  Also an additional file system, Novell Storage Services (NSS). OES is so stable is the product that it will be the server platform for the annual Novell BrainShare conference.  Novell will provide migration tools and consolidation tools to make the transition to OES as easy as possible. 

There will also be many other announcements and demonstrations at the BrainShare event.  Come get an update as to what is planned and what will be released in 2005. 

Speakers Bio:
 

Brian Six is a Category Specialist with Novell since 1996.    Brian transferred to San Diego in 1999 where he was a Systems Engineer for Novell in the Herndon Virginia office.  Prior to Novell Brian worked with a systems integrator for 4.5 years building medium to large scale networks.  Just out of college Brian spent 4.5 years with a software developer focusing on Legal Time and Billing applications.  Brian's degree was a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University.

04/06/05 6:30pm  VoIP, Powered by Open-Source and Open-Standards

Voice over IP is a hot topic in tech circles these days. At it's most basic form, VoIP enables phone calls to be routed over the internet. Why is this new way of making phone calls grabbing all of the headlines? Come find out what VoIP is, and how it has combined with open standards and open source software to take plain old telephone calls to the next level. 

The presentation will explore the differences between current digital telephone networks, and VoIP; and the similarities and their respective strengths and weaknesses. We will also cover how one deploys a VoIP solution. What services are needed and who provides them? Where are the cost tradeoffs, and who is a candidate for deployment for VoIP. 

Brian's Presentation PDF

Speakers bio:

Brian Degenhardt's experience in the hi-tech industry includes work in such diverse areas as network engineering, on-line media delivery and console game development. Currently he serves as CTO of Four Loop Technologies, the makers of the Switchvox PBX. Brian has contributed to numerous Open Source Projects including the Apache HTTP Server Project and the Squid Web Proxy Cache. Before Four Loop Technologies, Brian worked at Sony Computer Entertainment America developing the online component of many Playststion 2 video games. As a senior software engineer at MP3.com, Brian designed and developed the serving infrastructure necessary to maintain the hundreds of MP3.com's content servers, serving more than 60 million users with over 5 million downloads a day.

03/02/05 6:30pm  The Full Service Linux Desktop Solution- Linspire!

Linspire Linux, the "world's easiest desktop Linux," provides computer users of all levels with a full-featured, very usable operating system for desktops and laptop computers.  Linspire combines easy-to-navigate menus, beautiful graphics, an intuitive interface, and one-click software downloads from the CNR Warehouse, an online digital library of over 2,000 software titles.  Brand new version Five-0 will be shown at this months meeting.


Speakers bio:

Kevin La Rue, VP of Marketing at Linspire, has been involved with the consumer software industry for nearly two decades, beginning with the innovative San Diego Macintosh software start-up Silicon Beach Software in the late-80's. La Rue later co-founded Allegiant Technologies to capitalize on graphics & interactive multimedia authoring technology, where the firm's flagship product "SuperCard" became MacUser's 1995 "Authoring Tool of the Year" and MacUser UK's 1997 "Multimedia Product of the Year" competing head-to-head with such tools as Macromedia Director and Apple's own HyperCard.  After holding marketing management positions at SAIC and SONY, La Rue joined Linspire in late 2002.  La Rue graduated with a BSBA in Marketing, along with honors in the inaugural program at the Karl Eller Center for Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

02/02/05 6:30pm  A Supercomputer in every garage with - OSCAR!

The Open Source Cluster Application Resources (OSCAR) is a cluster software stack providing a complete infrastructure for cluster computing. The OSCAR project started in April 2000 with its first public release a year later as a self-installing compilation of "best practices" for high-performance classic Beowulf cluster computing. Since its inception over 4-years ago, OSCAR has matured to include cluster installation, maintenance, and operation capabilities and as a result, with over 135,000 downloads to date, has become one of the most popular cluster computing packages worldwide. A recent development is OSCAR's expanding into other cluster paradigms including: diskless clusters (Thin-OSCAR), high-availability clusters (HA-OSCAR), scalable systems software (SSS-OSCAR), and single system image clusters (SSI-OSCAR).

01/05/05 6:30pm  Using Virtual Machines and Open Source software to build secure infrastructures

Learn how the NSA and the US Navy are using Virtual Machines and Open Source software to build secure infrastructures (based in Linux), which allow programs to run securely at multiple classification levels on a single platform.

A discussion of how virtual machines can be used for server consolidation and system level security will be discussed.  Additionally, the NSA’s NetTop product will be demonstrated.  The NetTop product is an environment that the NSA endorses to provide multiple level of security on a single secure platform.  

This topic should be of interest to people looking to work with future DoD and Government system as well as people generally interested in overall computer security.  Additionally individuals who are attempting to consolidate infrastructures should  also be interested in this topic.

Speaker bio:

Brian Hedges is the lead systems engineer for Delphi Research and currently serves as the engineering lead for the Multi-National Virtual Operation Concept (MNVOC) program for SPAWAR and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).   He has over 15 years of Engineering/Programming experience with DoD system and security related products.  Additionally, Brian was the past President of the San Diego Linux Users Group (SDLUG).  Brian earned a BS in Computer Science at San Diego State University.
 

12/01/04 6:30pm Red Hat  Enterprise Linux

Red Hat offers a total enterprise solution from the Server to the Desktop. Don Langley will outline Red Hats current offering, and the future plans. Topics will include:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Fedora Project
• Red Hat Desktop
• Features and Strategy
• Corporate Lock down and Security
• Manageability and Red Hat Network
• Desktop Futures

Link to presentation

Speaker bio:

Don Langley has served as Red Hat's Director of Western Region Sales since June 2001. Before that Don was the Vice President of North American Sales for Red Hat from January 2000. Prior to joining Red Hat, Don was the Vice President of North American Sales for Cygnus Solutions. Before joining Cygnus, he served as Director of North American Sales for C-Cube Microsystems. Prior to that he was Director and General Manager of the Mainstream and Removable Products Group at Adaptec and Managing Director of the Data Storage Business Unit for ST Microelectronics. Previously he also held various sales and marketing management positions with Motorola. Don earned an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BSE in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering from Arizona State University.

Richard Freund is the CTO and a founder of Grid IQ , a provider of innovative grid computing solutions beyond load-balancing. His "other" current career is as the principal of RFF Consulting Services, a provider of open source solutions. Prior to these activities, Dr. Freund has had distinguished careers as a mathematician at the National Security Agency and a computer scientist for the Navy.
 

03/03/04 6:30pm  Grid Computing; The power in Numbers

02/04/04  6:30pm   Open-Source Software and the San Diego Bio-Tech Industry.

From molecular modeling through clinical trials, the Bio-Tech industry depends on Bioinfomatics (Bio-Tech Information Technology). Open-Standards and Open-Source based solutions open the way for faster progress and enhance collaboration.

A robust, scalable and expandable Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is the crucial backbone of any biotech company. Although there are many commercial products available, this presentation will focus on the decision making process that often leads to Open-Source based, internally implemented solutions. Dr. Weissig will discuss the current LIMS development at ActivX Biosciences using a Turbine/Torque/MySQL based system. The presentation will emphasize the evaluation process involving suitability, cost, resources, and development time.

Additinal links:
Presentation: http://www.grajagan.org/OpenSourceLIMS.pdf
Velocity: http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity/
Turbine: http://jakarta.apache.org/turbine/
Torque: http://db.apache.org/torque/


Speaker Bio:

Helge Weissig, is a Project Leader for Bioinformatics at ActivX Biosciences. Previously he spent five years at the San Diego Supercomputer Center as a Project Manager in Structural Bioinformatics. His primary role was the project management and technical development concerning the data dissemination efforts for the Protein Data Bank (PDB) within the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB). In his current role at ActivX, Dr. Weissig focuses on both computational infrastructure development as well as detailed structural bioinformatics analysis and modeling work.

Dr. Wessig also teaches a course in BioInfomatics through the U.C.S.D. Extension
For more information:
http://www.bioinformaticscourses.com/
http://extension.ucsd.edu

01/07/04 6:30pm  San Diego Businesses ASK for Open-Source based Ecommerce Solutions

12/03/03 6:30pm  Novell/Ximian/SuSE: Building the Collaborative Open Source Desktop

Novell is the leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management, web application development and cross-platform networking services. Ximian is a major contributor to the Open-Source community with such projects as Gnome. SuSE is the leading player in Enterprise Linux distributions and developement. With the purchase of Ximian and SuSE, Novell has dedicated its resources to Open- Source Standards and the Open-Source platform Linux. In the future, Novell will make all its products available on the Linux Platform.  Melinda Mariano and two local CIO's will identify why Open Standards and Open Platforms makes good business sense; and more importantly, why it makes good business sense for users to consider the benefits.

Matt Assay will talk about open source as a disruption and as delivering choice.   Seth Shaw will discuss how the  Novell/Ximian desktop provides choice in an area where few choices are available.    Finally, Greg Davidson, principle member of NGender Consulting Group, will show how the alternative Linux desktop works in the commercial environment.
 

Speakers Bio:

Melinda Mariano has been with Novell since 1994 and began her IT career in 1973 working for the Coast Guard.   She received a BA from Indiana University and a MPA from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Matt Asay has spent most of his professional life developing novel ways to monetize open source software.  Asay was GM of embedded Linux startup Lineo's Network & Communications business, and moved from Lineo to Novell, where he is Director within Novell's Linux Business Office.  Asay holds a juris doctorate from Stanford, where he worked with Larry Lessig on analyzing the GPL. 

Seth Shaw comes to Novell from Ximian and has dedicated the last four years to educating large enterprise customers on the virtues of Linux.   He holds a BA from the University of California Santa Barbara.

J. Greg Davidson is a lecturer, consultant, and the author of several books and short courses on software development, UNIX and Linux. He has taught GNU/Linux to thousands worldwide and is a founder of NGender Consulting Group , a technical services provider specializing in Free Software training and solutions. He has a BA is Computer Science from UCSD and completed four years of graduate work in cognitive and computer science.

Matt Asay Presentation
Seth Shaw Presentation
Gregg Davidson Presentation (waiting for link)

10/01/03 6:30pm   SuSE Produtivity Distributions for the Desktop, Office, Server , JUST LOAD and GO!!!

11/06/03  6:30pm  Spam, its sources, and the various ways to filter/report/hate it... 

The SDLUG welcomes Clint Byrum. Clint will be presenting on the Spam and how using Open-Source applications you can effectively stop, block, report SPAM.

LINK TO PRESENTATION

12/04/02  6:30pm  Open-Office with Danese Cooper 

Join the SDLUG for a presentation by Danese Cooper Open- Source Diva of Sun Microsystems on Open-Office. 

Sun Microsystems has released Star-Office to the open-source community as Open-Office. The suite runs on all popular operating system including Windows. The Suite is full featured; Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Web-site development; Slide Shows, etc. All applications are compatible with programs available on Windows. 

This program may be of special interest to Students and small businesses that can't afford to pay $600+ per user for a commercial productivity suite because it is Open-Source and FREE!    http://www.openoffice.org/ 

9/04/02  6:30pm  Linux Personal Server 

Tim Lee-Thorp of PointServer.org will be joining the SDLUG to talk about the latest in Linux Servers. A Personal Applications Server in your pocket. Technology will allow you to carry a complete wireless enabled LINUX server in your pocket! 

The presentation will discuss a current MIT research project exploring how a Personal Server might be used. The basic concept is a device that ties together all your other electronic devices, perhaps your Laptop, your Cell-Phone, your PDA or your toaster. http://www.pointservers.org/ 

8/07/02  6:30pm  ODBC 

Peter Harvey will be joining the SDLUG in the month of August to discuss Databases including ODBC for Linux and UNIX operating systems.  His talk will cover the what's, where's and how's of Databases. 

3/06/02  6:30pm  Apache Web Server 

Austin Hill of Anonymizer.com will discuss the Apache Web server, and the modules that can be added to Apache. Apache is popular as a web server, and Austin will discuss how to take advantage of the SSL module for electronic commerce, the MP3 module and other interesting modules that Anonymizer.com has implemented. 

4/04/01 6:30pm  IBM is investing Three Billion Dollars in LINUX, find out where the money is going!

Mary Ann Fisher, Linux Program Director, IBM Worldwide Government Services (Washington, DC)

Mary Ann Fisher, IBM's Worldwide Director, will discuss IBM's $1.3 Billion commitments to Linux development in 2001. Mary Ann arrives from Washington, D.C. to show some of the latest Linux developments and to discuss IBM's plans for Linux. IBM will have on site technical employees to show and answer questions about its Linux Domino server. 

Reporter Kathryn Balint of the Union Tribune is coming to cover this event, and the popularity of Linux.

6/05/01 6:30pm  SDSC and SDLUG present: Linux International Director Jon "Maddog" Hall at UCSD 

Jon "Maddog" Hall of Linux International will speak at UCSD on "Linux and Open Source Software in the New Millennium" under the auspices of SDSC and the San Diego Linux Users Group (SDLUG). The event will be held. at UCSD's Price Center. 

Linux is an open-source operating system that runs on a variety of computers, from handheld devices to supercomputers, and is gaining popularity in both academic and commercial settings. Since meeting Linux pioneer Linus Torvalds in 1994, Hall has become one of the strongest, most effective, and most vocal supporters of Linux. 

Hall currently is executive director of Linux International, the non-profit association of user groups, corporations, and other interested parties that promotes the development of Linux. He lectures and teaches widely on Linux and also is one of the most prolific and popular authors of Linux-related books, including Linux For Dummies, second edition, from IDG Books. Hall has held senior technical, software development, and marketing jobs at Digital Equipment Corporation, Bell Labs, and Compaq, and has more than 25 years of experience in the computer industry. 

SDSC's hosting of the event was arranged by Phil Papadopoulos, group leader for Distributed Computing Development at SDSC and adjunct associate research professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego. The Distributed Computing Development group has just released version 2.0.1 of NPACI Rocks, a collection of open-source software tools, software, management techniques, monitoring infrastructure, and other useful items for building and maintaining Linux-based cluster computers. NPACI Rocks builds with a standard RedHat Linux distribution, and has been released under the GNU Public License. 

6/02/02 6:30pm  An Evening with Michael Robinson 

The San Diego Linux Users Group (SDLUG) presents An Evening with Michael Robertson Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lindows.com. Come and hear Michael talk about Lindows.com.  In an effort to get all the questions you have answered; please submit them prior to the meeting. Send questions to questions@sdlug.org, they will be forwarded to Lindows.com for inclusion into his presentation. We expect a large crowd, please s