The Open Source Conference in Portland
In recent years there was only one Open Source conference and it was in Portland. But OSCON has grown beyond the means of our humble conference center and as such has choosen to move on to a bigger venue. OSCON has been the conference I have most wanted to attend for about the last 6 years. I love Open Source software and I love the ecosystem around it. But I usually don’t end up at OSCON, because it is wicked expensive and at any given time there are 15 sessions going on (3-5 of which I really want to see). So between the cost of the ticket and the cost added on to travel to San Jose, OSCON is not on my conference destination this year.
The fact that OSCON left Portland may actually be the best news I have heard all year. Because in its wake it left a void just begging to be filled. That void has been filled by Open Source Bridge. Open Source Bridge is a conference that I feel embodies all of the heart and intention of Open Source software, without all the commercial junk that has overridden OSCON. OSB stands to be a 3 day event of gigantic proportions, with sessions, bug squash events, code sprints and hackathons.
If you are looking for an Open Source Conference and are having problems stomaching the bill incurred in trying to attend OSCON, or the dissappointment associated with missing half the sessions you want to see, then perhaps you need to check out the real Open Source Conference – Open Source Bridge.
Thanks Sim. I was just wowing some people last night at Beer and Blog talking about how Flex is open source. That message isn’t out in the world, and hopefully, you and the Flex community can get it out there at the conference in June.