If you happen to microblog (and you should!) you probably will want to sign up for the !opensuse group on Identi.ca.

Note that the bang (!) indicates a group (like @user and #subject) and not “not opensuse” as it might seem. (I’m thinking that the bang may not have been the best symbol to indicate a group, but that’s just me.)

This is the first sign I’ve seen of Identi.ca features really pulling ahead of Twitter. For the most part, I’ve been gravitating towards Twitter because 1) it has the most people, and 2) the tools for using Twitter are more advanced and easier to get hold of. (Like Power Twitter for Firefox.)

If you’ve already signed up, spread the word!

I have the good fortune to be doing a talk on openSUSE at FOSDEM the weekend after next.

If you were in front of a room full of a few hundred FOSS folks, what would you want to say about openSUSE?

Or, if you were one of the few hundred people in the room, what would you want to know about openSUSE, the openSUSE Build Service, and so forth?

Will be posting some slides and ideas as I get closer to the talk. Suggestions welcome.

Thoughtful post from Aaron Seigo on the progress of KDE 4 over the last year, and the news that Linus made the switch to GNOME.

I don’t agree with everything Aaron says, but I think it’s well worth reading and thinking about. In particular, I think what Aaron says here is worth thinking about:

Nobody and no project is perfect. Mistakes will be made, sometimes even in the process of producing success. Punishing each other unreasonably for it is stupid, learning from it is smart. I know we’ve learned a lot from it and made various changes to improve. We’ve worked really hard with downstreams to help improve coordination; we’ve worked really hard on improving external communication; we’ve worked really hard on making the community robust against divisiveness; we’ve been working on how to improve the development process with things like “always Summer in trunk” (which has evolved into “always Autumn in trunk” such that we can more effectively chase innovation with less risk.

I’ve seen a lot of heat over the KDE discussions, both within openSUSE and outside. It’s not unreasonable to have strong opinions about your desktop — but as Aaron says “punishing each other unreasonably for it is stupid, learning from it is smart.” It’d be a good idea if we embrace this idea going into 2009 and focus more on learning, less on getting angry about decisions that we disagree with.

I’m looking forward to the 4.2 release, and I’m optimistic that it will be worth the wait.

First day of Linux.conf.au has been a lot of fun. Monday was all “miniconfs,” which is topics that aren’t part of the “main” LCA programme, but pretty good stuff nonetheless. I attended the open source in business miniconf and gave my talk on promoting open source projects. Seems to have gone over OK, though I probably need to re-re-work it and add more funny.

As usual, the LCA volunteers have done a bang-up job of organizing the conference. Really impressed by the stuffed “Tuz” that I got with registration — it’s a 3D implementation of this cute fella. Knowing what goes into getting plush toys made, I’m deeply impressed they pushed this through design, production, and delivery in the space of a year or so. (It might sound like a lot of time, but it really is a time-consuming process, and remembering that the folks doing it are volunteers… well, I’m impressed.)

Had a great time last night going to dinner with other LCA attendees at The Drunken Admiral restaurant in Hobart. (Highly recommended if you find yourself in Hobart, Tasmania…)

Will be catching up on email today, hopefully.

Heading off to Australia this morning to attend and speak at Linux.conf.au. If you send any mail my way, I’ll be offline through Sunday afternoon. Will try to catch up on email once I get settled in Hobart.

See you in Hobart!

At the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) to give a keynote and talk about openSUSE / work the openSUSE Booth.

At Linux.conf.au and speaking at the open source in business mini-conf.

At FOSDEM and speaking about openSUSE.

Michael Lessard was kind enough to send me a link to photos from the openSUSE 11.1 Launch Party in Quebec City from December. Looks like a good time was had by all! If you had a launch party, and have some photos, please drop me a line — would love to link to them.

The secret is out!

(I think we have awesome themes, but you have to admit it’s funny…)