OStatic

There are very few reasons I'd sign on for YACC (not that YACC -- I'm talking about Yet Another Credit Card ). The Linux Foundation is making my unwavering resolve on this front feel a little less resolute today.

The Linux Foundation is rolling out its Tux-adorned Visa Platinum Card. Through a partnership with CardPartner, Inc. and UMB Bank, the Foundation will receive $50 for each activated card and a percentage from every purchase made with the card. All of the proceeds from these cards will be used to create community technical events, as well as provide travel grants to open source innovators. Because no one wants a Tux-carrying card holder to rack up huge amounts of credit card debt in order to support these services, these proceeds will be combined with the funds raised from membership dues, Linux.com advertising, and event revenues.

When it comes to getting a good turnout at a FOSS event, half the battle is getting yourself noticed above behemoth get-togethers like OSCON and SCALE. Sponsors like O'Reilly and IBM have little trouble getting press about their upcoming events but LUGs and regional conferences have a tougher time.

The team at the Peer-Directed Projects Center (best known for its work running the freenode IRC network) feels your pain. They've launched a new site called fossevents.org to help smaller events keep from getting lost in the din, and prevent I-wish-I'd-known-about-this-sooner syndrome in community members who find out about local conferences a little too late to attend.

Heeding the call to March South Together, FOSS enthusiasts from all over the world descended on Hobart, Australia this week to take part in Linux.conf.au. Although the conference proper doesn't officially get underway until Wednesday, there were plenty of speakers to check out during the mini-conf.

Few will argue that engaged, active outreach isn't a crucial element that Linux User Groups (LUGs) and open source projects need to attract new users, supporters and contributors. The formula itself is simple. Trying to puzzle out what engaged, active outreach is in a perfect world, versus what a LUG can realistically deliver, is where things can become volatile.

The LUGs behind the Ohio LinuxFest (OLF) have spent the last few years working out the precise ingredients to make their formula work. The sixth annual OLF takes place October 10th and 11th in Columbus, Ohio. Though some ingredients may not work for every LUG planning an event, it's an interesting recipe to follow.