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View a complete list of OSCON 2008 Contacts
OSCON 2008 Schedule
Below are the confirmed and scheduled talks at OSCON (schedule subject to change).
Topics
Portland 251
Portland 252
Room: Portland 252
State of the Onion Address & Perl Foundation Auction
Portland 255
Portland 256
D135
D133
D136
D137
D138
D139/140
11:35am
TBC
4:30pm
TBC
E141
E142
E143/144
E145
E146
F150
5:20pm
TBC
F151
Room: Portland Ballroom
Open Invention Network and Its Role in Open Source and Linux Keith Bergelt (Open Invention Network)
Room: Portland Ballroom
Why Whinging Doesn't Work Danese Cooper (Open Source Initiative and Intel Corporation)
7:30am
Breakfast
Room: Expo Hall
Room: Expo Hall
10:15am
AM Break
Room: Expo Hall
Room: Expo Hall
12:20pm
Lunch
Room: Expo Hall
Room: Expo Hall
3:20pm
Break
Room: Expo Hall
Room: Expo Hall
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Programming
Skimmable Code: Fast to Read, Safe to Change
Michael Schwern
(Schwerniverse)
Much of the practical reason for "best coding practices" is not to make code "pretty" but to allow code to be skimmed. We rarely read and understand an entire project, instead we read just enough to get something done. It allows one to work very efficiently on unfamiliar code.
You will learn the art of skimming and the role of best practices in writing skimmable code.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Programming
Just Enough C for Open Source Projects
Andy Lester
(Perlbuzz.com)
Many open source projects work at a low-level in C to take advantage of the power and speed of working close to the machine. Whether it's Perl, Postgres, or Linux, C is what makes these and other projects run. If you're experience in a high-level language like Perl, Ruby, or Java, you'll need to learn about the intricacies of C.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Ruby
Ruby 1.9: What to Expect
Sam Ruby
(IBM)
Ruby 1.9.0 came out in December, but it will be a while before it is stable and major packages have been ported to it. In addition to new features, there are a number of small backwards incompatible changes that have been made, but it generally is possible to create code that works on both 1.8 and 1.9. This talk will cover the changes that are most likely to impact you.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
PHP
Top 10 Scalability Mistakes
John Coggeshall
(Automotive Computer Services)
One thing is for certain -- there are a lot of developers, managers, and architects out there who are making the same mistakes as everyone else. From growing your development team from 5 to 50, or your code base from 10,000 to a million, there are clear patterns and mistakes. Join Coggeshall as he investigates some of his favorites and how to both avoid and learn from the mistakes of others.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Ruby
IronRuby: The Road to 1.0
John Lam
(Microsoft)
A year ago, we shipped the first drop of the IronRuby source code at OSCON. In September, we released our project on RubyForge and began accepting contributions. A few months after that, the OSI certified the Microsoft Public License as an official open source license. Come to this talk to get an update on where we are today, and what we have to do to get to 1.0.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Ruby
Commanding Your SSH Universe with Capistrano
Ryan Briones
(The Edgecase)
Using Capistrano to automate SSH tasks such as server administration and application deployment.
10:45am–12:20pm
(1h 35m)
Programming
State of Lightning Talks
Josh Berkus
(PostgreSQL Project)
Want a snapshot of the state of open source worldwide? Fourteen open source luminaries will very briefly update you on some of their projects. Fast, fun, furious and full of information, the State of Lightning Talks have been a hit at OSCON since 2005.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
General Lightning Talks
Anthony Baxter
(Google/Python Software Foundation)
General lightning talk session. Got some new nifty project you want to promote? Some small piece of technology that makes your life easier? Just a general rant and rave? Here's your chance at 5 minutes of fame.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Art of Community Lightning Talks
Dawn Foster
(Fast Wonder Consulting) et al
Given the open source movement, the popularity of social networks, and new tools for collaboration, more people are looking for ways to build community. The Art of Community came about because we wanted to write a book about community using a wiki so that a community could grow around the book. A different author leads each chapter, and you will hear from many of them during these lightning talks.
4:30pm–6:05pm
(1h 35m)
Perl
Perl Lightning Talks
R Geoffrey Avery
(Voicestar)
A series of 5-minute talks on anything related to Perl or people who use it. A chance to get one-third of your 15 minutes of fame.
6:15pm–8:00pm
(1h 45m)
Event
State of the Onion Address & Perl Foundation Auction
The OSCON tradition continues as Larry Wall delivers the annual State of the Onion Address, followed by Jim Brandt's Perl Foundation report, and an auction to benefit the Perl Foundation. The State of the Onion starts at 6:15pm in Portland 252, immediately after the Perl Lightning Talks.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Administration, Emerging Topics, Linux, Programming
The Evolution of Community
Joe Brockmeier
(Novell) et al
Over the past ten years nothing has impacted business more than community. Whether through the openness of software development spurred by Linux or the dismantling of media empires through blogging, the rise of communities has been the driving force in how we work and live today.
For open source developers, what has to happen to maintain and grow the communities they've built?
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Open Source / Open World
Danese Cooper
(Open Source Initiative and Intel Corporation) et al
It's been 10 years since the term open source was coined in the U.S., and in that time transparent commons-based software development has changed the face of the U.S. software industry. But what impact has open source had outside of the U.S.? This panel will introduce you to five people who report on the reach and impact of open source worldwide. Learn how we're changing the world!!
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
People
Do You Believe in the Users?
Ben Collins-Sussman
(Google Inc.) et al
All software has users, though most developers have forgotten how to respect them, trust them, or "sell" their software to them in an exciting (but honest!) manner. This talk will focus on anecdotes and strategies for keeping software design uncomplicated, making software fast, and putting usability above programming convenience.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Open Source as Liberal Art
Robert "r0ml" Lefkowitz
(Asurion)
Before open source, software was technology. Open source changed that. Now, software is a liberal art. That's the real revolution. A talk on the place of open source software in the 2500 year history of the liberal arts.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Machine Learning for Knowledge Extraction from Wikipedia & Other Semantically Weak Sources
Jamie Taylor
(Metaweb) et al
Wikipedia is a significant source of raw material for the machine learning and knowledge extraction community, but working with Wikipedia's export and markup structures is a cumbersome task everyone who wants to work with this data must endure. This session introduces the open data community to WEX, a pre-parsed, annotated, relational data set that facilitates easy-access to Wikipedia data.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
People
Code is Easy, People are Hard: Developing Meebo’s Interview Process
Elaine Wherry
(meebo)
From our recruiter moving to Mexico, to hitting a candidate in the eye with a fingerblaster rocket, Meebo has encountered every imaginable hiring obstacle. From Meebo's hiring history, you will learn our best interview techniques, how we evaluate candidates, and how our engineering team developed a hiring process that allows us to maintain a high bar while still allowing time to write code.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
People
The Effects of Stress on Programmers' and Groups' Performance
Alan Carter
(Consultant)
Open source projects have much lower management and process overhead than commercial efforts. When commercial teams "gell" they can achieve huge productivity gains across the product lifecycle. Recent neuroscience shows that stress impairs cognition in ways that fit precisely with practical experience. By reducing stress and building self-confidence we can improve productivity.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Python
Software Delivery & Continuous Integration in Python Using Eggs and zc.buildout
Tarek Ziadé
(Ingeniweb)
zc.buildout provides an environment and a framework to test, build, and deploy any egg-based Python software. This presentation shows the life cycle of a Plone application, based on zc.buildout, and demonstrates how the software is continuously integrated, built, and delivered with it.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Web Applications
CSS for High Performance JavaScript UI
Gavin Doughtie
(Google)
Programmers like to program, but sometimes executing JavaScript code to create user interface is far less efficient than having the browser render what you want at native speeds via CSS declarations.
This session shows CSS techniques that every Javascript developer should be aware of, including browser limitations and cutting-edge features like WebKit animations.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Web Applications
Even Faster Web Sites
Steve Souders
(Google)
Steve Souders' book "High Performance Web Sites" describes the 14 best practices he developed while working as the Chief Performance Yahoo!. YSlow, the Firebug extension he created, codified those best practices. Now working at Google, Souders discusses the next set of best practices he's discovered, including the impact of iframes and where to place (and where not to place) inline script blocks.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Python
Effective Software Development with Python, C++, and SWIG
Robin Dunn
(wxPROs/UNMC)
Different programming languages have different strengths and weaknesses. This presentation will help programmers understand how to combine the strengths of C++ and Python, and minimize their weaknesses at the same time, using a tool called SWIG.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Python
(The Lack of) Design Patterns in Python
Joe Gregorio
(Google)
In many dynamic language communities such as Python, there is a distinct lack of Design Patterns. Are the communities ignorant of Design Patterns or is there something else going on here?
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Desktop Applications, Ubuntu
Ubuntu Desktop Technologies
Ted Gould
(Canonical)
A tour of the technologies that provide the foundation for the Ubuntu Desktop. What's in; what's out; and why each technology is important to providing an incredible desktop experience.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Programming, Ubuntu
Practical Open Source Collaboration with Launchpad
Kiko Reis
(Canonical Ltd) et al
Launchpad is often referred to as Ubuntu's "secret sauce." Learn how it can add flavor to your development efforts.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Desktop Applications, Ubuntu
Exhibiting Software
Hunter Cross
(Ponticlaro Inc.)
An overview of experiences and best practices for how to use Ubuntu as an economically viable platform for installation art, collaborative art projects, and art exhibition kiosks and for the presentation of software-based art project proposals in contemporary art spaces.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Linux, Ubuntu
Ubuntu on the Go: Subnotebook and MID Technologies
Peter Goodall
(Canonical Ltd.)
See the latest Ubuntu on ultra-mobile devices such as subnotebooks and MIDs.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
People, Ubuntu
Teenbuntu: Reaching Out to Teens
Andrew Harris
(Teens on Linux.org)
A talk given by Andrew "Tuna" Harris, the 15-year-old founder of TeensOnLinux.org, and Samuel Baldwin, a 15-year-old hacker from Boston. This is not a suggestion on creating yet another Ubuntu-based distribution, but rather an insight on marketing Ubuntu and FOSS in general to teens.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Administration, Ubuntu
Bulletproof Ubuntu for Remote Installations, like Timbuktu
Jeffrey L. Wishnie
(Inveneo, Inc.)
Students get their first introduction to life-changing technology tapping on your keyboard. Your systems track patient health for an entire district. Relief workers coordinate their efforts on your terminals.
Your offices are 10,000 miles away, your technicians 8hrs by bus, your network: 16kpbs on a good day. How do keep it running?
Zero-maintenance bullet-proof Ubuntu.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Databases
PLUTO: PL/SQL Unit Testing for Oracle
Josh McAdams
(Google)
More and more enterprise code is being created inside the database. Often this code slips by with few if any automated tests. It is as if there is some exception for database code that frees it from having to be properly wrapped in tests. The PL/SQL Unit Testing for Oracle (PLUTO) framework was built to provide a JUnit-like interface for PL/SQL programmers to properly test their code.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Databases
This is Your PostgreSQL on Drugs
Aaron Thul
(Electronic Medical Office Logistics)
Do you have a large amount of data that needs to be searchable, aggregated, and extremely secure at the same time? See many of the creative solutions that have been deployed to help facilitate how we put PostgreSQL to the task of drugs.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Databases
Architecture of Maria, the New Transactional Storage Engine for MySQL
Michael Widenius
(MySQL)
The talk will describe the goals and design of Maria, the new transactional storage engine for MySQL.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Databases
MySQL Proxy: from Architecture to Implementation
Ronald Bradford
(42SQL) et al
MySQL Proxy is a new exciting product offering from MySQL AB that solves classical server and application problems without changing your server or your application code. Features include connection management, load balancing, failover, and better instrumentation.
The presentation will include an overview of the architecture of
features, and actual customer implementations with MySQL Proxy.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Databases
Wonderful World of MySQL Storage Engines
Peter Zaitsev
(MySQL Performance Blog)
With plugable storage engines as of MySQL 5.1 there are numerous open source storage both by MySQL and third parties. In this talk we're comparing properties of open source storage engines to see what kind of application they would suit as well as benchmark them.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Business
Organizing & Collecting Donations the Right Way: Corporate Structure for FOSS Projects
Karen Sandler
(Software Freedom Law Center)
The discussion will provide a background in nonprofit corporate and tax information, streamlined for helping developers evaluate how best to form and manage their organizations and activities. Different forms of organization will be discussed, including incorporated nonprofits, umbrella organizations, and developers acting without legal form.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Administration
MondoRescue: the GPL Disaster Recovery Solution
Bruno Cornec
(Hewlett-Packard)
MondoRescue is a GPL Disaster Recovery Solution. It exists since 2000. and has now matured to a global solution used both to restore systems in case of emergency as well as to deploy dozens of systems having the same or nearly the same configuration. The main web site is at http://www.mondorescue.org where all the detailed information is contained.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Web Applications
Prophet, your path out of the cloud
Jesse Vincent
(Best Practical)
Prophet is a new peer to peer distributed database designed to help ease the transition to post-web-2.0 applications.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Administration
Pushmi: Subversion Replication System
Chia-liang Kao
(Best Practical Solutions)
Pushmi allows you to create slave replicas of a master Subversion repository. The slaves are writable by regular Subversion clients, making the replication mostly seamless to the users. Come learn how Pushmi can help developers, especially when there's an earthquake and no network.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Administration
Using Puppet: Real World Configuration Management
James Turnbull
(National Australia Bank) et al
Configuration management is the oft-misunderstood (and possibly black) art of managing your IT environment. Puppet is part of the bright future of configuration management for heterogeneous Unix systems. This session explains how to combine the practice and the tool to reduce errors, outages, and operational costs.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Administration
Supervisor as a Platform
Mike Naberezny
(Maintainable Software, LLC.)
Supervisor is a tool for managing Unix server processes. Other programs exist that do this, but what sets Supervisor apart is that it is built with extension points that can be leveraged by developers. In this talk, we'll look at Supervisor as a platform, and how programs written to run under Supervisor can use its unique capabilities.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Administration
NetDB: Stanford's Network Administration Tool
Sunia Yang
(Stanford University) et al
As the key network management tool at Stanford University, NetDB enables 900+ users to manage DNS names/aliases/MXes, DHCP (static, dynamic, options), make/model, location, and administrators of 100,000+ hosts through Web, CLI, Whois, and Java RMI Interfaces. Networking staff use NetDB for address space management (600+ networks, 1500+ address spaces), reporting, and configuration.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Business
Automating Open Source Governance Using Free Tools and Data
Ragavan Srinivasan
(VMware Inc.)
Open source governance is an emerging discipline that refers to the policies, processes, and tools that help organizations manage their use and contribution to FOSS. This talk will concentrate on the tools that can make open source governance easier and more automated and the data implications.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Business
Maximizing the Double Bottom Line: Open Source for Microfinance
George Conard
(Mifos Initiative at Grameen Foundation)
As microfinance seeks to grow and better serve the poor, the Mifos open source technology platform will enable greater efficiency and effectiveness and will remove serious current barriers to microfinance’s growth. We will explore the challenges in implementing a business model that drives our global ecosystem in the development and delivery of a standard solution for the industry.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Business
Open Source’s (VoIP) Call for Change
Mark Spencer
(Digium)
Asterisk founder Mark Spencer discusses open source's role in creating VoIP and unified communications solutions that are changing the way we live and do business.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Programming, Ubuntu
Beyond Agile: Enabling the Next Wave of Software Development Methods
Mark R. Shuttleworth
(Canonical Ltd.)
Development methodologies are morphing from "pure" Agile to
incorporate best practices from Lean and the open source world.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Business
OSS Census: Make Open Source Count!
Stormy Peters
(OpenLogic)
The Open Source Census is a global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data on the use of open source software in the enterprise. In short that means we want to count how many enterprise installations there are in the world for each open source software package in order to encourage its use.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Print Your Own Hardware
Vik Olliver
(The RepRap Project)
The RepRap Project has developed an open source design for a 3D fabricator that can print all its own custom components as well as utilitarian objects. It is cross-platform and uses a completely open source toolchain. It wants to evolve into an even more useful device, but needs to acquire a vital component -- you.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Open Source Microblogging
Evan Prodromou
(Control Yourself, Inc.)
Identi.ca is an open source microblogging platform built to embrace open standards. It's a Twitter you can fix. Hear the story from its creator and find out how Identi.ca changed the microblogging game overnight.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Perl
Perl for Political Campaigns
Chris Nandor
(Slashdot)
When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to use advanced technology to manage the Political Campaigns that are waged to win elections, they should declare the methods used. We hold these Truths to be self-evident: that not all tools are created equal, that we are endowed with certain useful tools, that among these are Perl, MySQL, and Mac OS X.
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Open Source in China
J Aaron Farr
(JadeTower)
Learn about open source efforts in China. Every culture and economy provides unique opportunities and challenges to open source software adoption and China is no exception. In this session we'll investigate what particular progress has been made, what difficulties remain, and what may lie ahead. A short overview of the China software industry will also be presented.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
Emerging Topics
Open Source and the Education Community: A Report, and Some Suggestions
James Stanger
(VCampus Corporation )
Although many universities support open source projects, few actually teach them as primary business and IT tools. Why?
This report discusses why schools from Beijing to Glasgow still consider open source a (lesser) alternative. We'll also consider steps the open source community can take to convert universities—the primary recruiting ground for web and software developers—to open source.
4:30pm–5:15pm
(45m)
Business, Emerging Topics
Legal Rules for the New Open Source Project
Van Lindberg
(Haynes and Boone)
New open source projects are starting each day. Maybe your code will redefine computing—if you can avoid a few simple mistakes that would keep your project on the sidelines. This session will cover ten simple things that you should do every time you start a new open source project and help you avoid a mountain of trouble later.
5:20pm–6:05pm
(45m)
Web Applications
NPR: API and Open Source
Daniel Jacobson
(National Public Radio)
NPR has built a comprehensive, robust and flexible API using open source technologies. The API has been driving NPR.org since December 2007 and allows for great flexibility in working with partners, member stations and other users of the API. Come learn more about the API, the frameworks and technologies that drive it, and what NPR plans to do with it in the future.
10:45am–11:30am
(45m)
Programming
mod_parrot: One Apache Module for Many Languages
Jeff Horwitz
(Petfinder)
mod_parrot embeds the Parrot VM in the Apache web server, giving Parrot and its languages access to the Apache API without the overhead of writing a module for each language. This talk will explore the goals of mod_parrot, its architecture, why it is important at this point in time, and the ease with which new languages can be integrated.
11:35am–12:20pm
(45m)
Session
To be confirmed
1:45pm–2:30pm
(45m)
Desktop Applications
Making Ubuntu Happen: Community Under The Microscope
Jono Bacon
(Canonical UK Ltd)
In this brand new presentation, Jono Bacon, Ubuntu Community Manager at Canonical, talks about the history of the Ubuntu community, the challenges it has faced, and where it is moving forward in his dream to build the "reference implementation of Free Software community, done right," all wrapped up in the amusing, anecdotal style he is known for.
2:35pm–3:20pm
(45m)
People
Hacking Wetware for Fun and Profit
Paul Fenwick
(Perl Training Australia)
As technical professionals we excel at understanding protocols, standards, file-formats, and APIs. Whenever there is a doubt, one merely needs to read the fine manual or source code. Unfortunately the reference manual f