Linux.conf.au

In 1999, Linux kernel hacker Rusty Russell organised the Conference of Australian Linux Users in Melbourne. The first conference held under the linux.conf.au name was held two years later in

Sydney. The conference is generally held in a different Australian city each time; although from 2006 onward, New Zealand cities have also been hosts.

Highlights from past conferences include:

• 1999: CALU (Conference of Australian Linux Users) was conceived, bankrolled (via his personal credit card) and executed by Linux kernel hacker Rusty Russell. It laid the foundation for a successful, strongly technical, eclectic and fun conference series.

• 2001: the first conference held under the linux.conf.au name.

• 2004: a major highlight was the dunking of Linus Torvalds for charity.{{cite news |first=Jonathan|last=Corbet|title=The great dunking |url=https://lwn.net/Articles/66665/ |accessdate=22 December 2018 |work=LWN.net |date=17 January 2004}}

• 2006: the first conference to be held outside Australia, recognising the importance of the New Zealand Linux community.

• 2007: a new feature was an Open Day for non-conference attendees, in which community groups, interest groups and Linux businesses held stands and demonstrations.

• 2008: the second time the conference was held in Melbourne. 100 OLPC machines were distributed to random attendees to encourage development.{{cite news|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/267113/|title=A moment from LCA2008|work=LWN.net|date=30 January 2008|first=Jonathan|last=Corbet}} The Speakers dinner was held at St Paul's Cathedral Chapter House, and the Penguin Dinner was held in conjunction with Melbourne's Night Market, playing on the title of Eric Raymond's book, The Cathedral and the Bazaar.

• 2009: during the Penguin Dinner, a substantial sum of money was raised for the Save Tasmanian Devils fund – and a pledge made to replace the Tux Logo with the conference mascot, Tuz, to help raise awareness.[http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/blogs/browse/2009/03/kernel-gets-new-mascot Kernel gets a new mascot] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220073530/http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/blogs/browse/2009/03/kernel-gets-new-mascot |date=2014-12-20 }} – Linux Foundation – 19 March 2009

• 2010: over $33,000 raised for Wellington Lifeflight Helicopter Ambulance service.[http://www.lifeflight.org.nz/linux_enthusiasts_raise_over_33000_to_help_save_lives.php Linux Enthusiasts raises over $33,000 to help save lives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521225804/http://www.lifeflight.org.nz/linux_enthusiasts_raise_over_33000_to_help_save_lives.php |date=2010-05-21 }} – Life Flight Trust – 8 February 2010

• 2011: the event was almost washed out by the floods that devastated southern Queensland.{{cite news|url=http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/01/lca-2011-replanning-shows-the-importance-of-backup-plans-and-flexibility/|first=Angus|last=Kidman|title=LCA 2011 Replanning shows importance of backup plans|work=Lifehacker|date=24 January 2011}}

• 2016: preparations almost derailed by a massive storm just before the conference opened.{{cite web|url=http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/news/geelong/torquay-anglesea-beaches-as-lightning-strikes-the-coast/news-story/4f75954c4f5b26c9d758c6efb5ccf7c7|work=Geelong Advertiser|title=Flash floods, hail and damage as wild weather batters Geelong|first=Courtney|last=Crane|date=27 January 2016}}

• 2020: $24,342 raised and donated to Red Cross for Australian Bush-fire relief{{cn|date=December 2023}}

• 2021: in May 2020 Linux Australia announced that the planned 2021 conference in Canberra was postponed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lightweight virtual conference would be held in 2021 instead.

Since 2002, a key feature of the conference are the associated "miniconfs". These are half – 2 days streamed gatherings run before the main conference. They have their own programme, but are open for any conference attendee to participate in.

The first event to have a miniconf was in 2002, with the Debian Miniconf, organised by James Bromberger. This was based upon the idea that DebConf 1 in Bordeaux was a "mini-conf" of the French Libre Software Meeting. The concept grew in 2004, with the Open-Source in Government (ossig) miniconf, EducationaLinux, Debian Miniconf and GNOME.conf.au. In 2010 the Arduino Miniconf was introduced by Jonathan Oxer, the author of Practical Arduino.

Miniconfs have included those devoted to computer programming, education, security, multimedia, arduino and system administration.

• Open Source Developers' Conference

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• [https://linux.org.au/LCA linux.conf.au]

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Category:Linux conferences

Category:Free-software conferences

Category:Recurring events established in 1999