LinuxAsia 2005 Conference Report

LinuxAsia 2005 Conference & Expo
February 9-11, 2005
India Habitat Center
New Delhi, India

For developers, CEOs and top government officials alike, LinuxAsia 2005 provided an unparalleled chance to meet, network with and listen to those most passionate about Linux and open source software. The world’s leading Linux evangelists were there and the crowds loved it.

The theme of the conference, ‘Linux Rocks’ drove home the fact that Linux and open source are a pervasive force in the emerging Asian market. And the three day event, from February 9th to 11th 2005, held in New Delhi, underscored the point. It had it all — from brainstorming sessions, live demonstrations in workshops, expositions, to the CEO Lunch and the Penguin party. So the theme did rock!

The CEO Lunch

The LinuxAsia CEO Lunch intermingled the who’s who in the Linux and Open Source world together with IT decision makers from the Indian subcontinent. Customers, vendors, academic and technology gurus, industry leaders and government policy makers met, networked and enjoyed a crisp Indian winter day with a gourmet lunch by the pool.

Attendees at the CEO lunch included Dr. Deepak Phatak of IIT Mumbai, R. Dhamodaran, IBM India, Matthew Szulik, CEO, Red Hat, Juergen Geck, CTO, Novell SuSE, David Axmark, CTO, MySQL, Louis Suarez-Potts, Community Manager, OpenOffice.org, Barry Duplantis, VP, Red Hat, Javed Tapia, Managing Director, Red Hat India, Kate Johnson, VP, Red Hat, Sachin Dabir, Head Sales, Red Hat India, Amit Bhoraskar, Red Hat India, Ashit Panjwani, Head Marketing, Onward Novell India, Shrikant Patil, Country Manager, Intel, Rajeev Borah, Country Manager, HPC, Intel India, Valsa Williams, Country Manager, E-Government Initiatives, Intel India, N. Seetharama Krishna, CDAC Pune, N. Mohan Ram, CDAC Pune, R.K. Verma, CDAC Noida, Danese Cooper, Board Member, OSI and many more from the industry.

VIP customers and guests included Mr. Sen, Air Vice Marshal, Directorate of IT, Indian Air Force, Mr. Harikrishnan, Dy. DG, Directorate of Shipping, Mumbai, Mr. Kumar, Addl Director, Dept of Information Technology, Ms. Lata, Addl. Director, Dept of Information Technology, Muthu Kumar, GM IT, Moser Baer India, Mr. Agarwal, Election Commissioner, Mr. Lubal, Dy. GM, MSRTC, Mumbai, Mr. Uppal, GM IT, Maruti Udyog Ltd, Mr. Lalithmuana, Dy. Secretary, Govt. of Mizoram, Matt Szulik, Red Hat CEO, Dinesh Kumar, GM, NTPC, P.C. Jose, GM, NHPC, Dr. K. Subramanium, Deputy DG, NIC, S.K. Sharma, GM IT, Oriental Bank, Alex Santo, CTO, Paprikaas Animation Studios, Sri Lanka, Yugal Sharma, Country Manager, Polycom (UK) Ltd., Rahul Goswami, CIO, Ranbaxy Labs Ltd, Alok Gupta, IT, Punjab National Bank, S. Narasimhan, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Sudip Neogi, IT Head, Sahara India, Sharad Srivastav, Country Head, Seagate Distribution Singapore, Megha Chaitanya, Project Manager, ST Microelectronics, Sudhir Saxena, CEO, TCIL BellSouth Ltd., Rakesh Tirath, GM, Tata Infotech Ltd, Mr. Anand, TERI, H.R. Mohan, Chief Systems Manager, The Hindu, K.G. Agarwal, Chief IT, Triveni Glass Ltd, Vijay Wadhawan, Regional Sales Manager, Tyco Electronics Corp. India Ltd., Dr. Sanath Jayasena, Dean, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, Mr. Mukhopadhyay, CM Computerization Dept, Union Bank of India, Mr. Ashok, Sq Leader, Western Air Command, S.K. Singh, Western Air Command and many others.

The Penguin Party

The Penguin Party held on the first day of LinuxAsia was an occasion to network with peers and leaders from industry, government and academia. The party blended business with fun and good food for all and was the platform for presenting the LFY Readers’ Choice Awards.

LFY Readers’ Choice Awards

The biggest attraction of the Penguin Party was LFY Readers’ Choice Awards. The nominees for LFY Readers’ Choice Awards 2005 were suggested by the readers of LINUX For You, the extended Linux community from industry, government and academia and was vetted by a panel of Linux and OSS industry experts. LFY was not a part of this panel.

Industry Awards

The winners in the Linux and Open Source Industry awards categories were:

• Most Popular Linux Training Initiative in India: Red Hat
• Most Popular Indian Linux Distribution: Fedora Core/Red Hat
• Most Popular Linux/OSS Services Company: Red Hat
• Most Popular OSS Web Browser: Firefox
• Most Popular Linux/OSS Database: MySQL
• Most Popular Linux Desktop Brand: HP
• Most Popular Linux Server: IBM
• Most Popular Linux-friendly Laptop: IBM
• Most Popular Linux-friendly Laser Printer: HP
• Most Popular Linux-friendly Inkjet Printer: HP
• Most Popular Linux-friendly Scanner: HP
• Most Popular Linux-friendly Digital Camera: Sony

Honorary Awards

• Most Popular Linux Supporter: CDAC
• Most Popular Indian Linux/OSS Employer: Red Hat
• Most Popular Indian OSS Project: Anjuta & IndLinux
• Most Popular Indian Linux User Group: Bangalore LUG

Workshops

LinuxAsia 2005 held workshops on popular Linux and open source topics. The workshops covered migrating to Linux, using open source development and collaborative tools in a hands on environment, and building a high performance 64-bit computing platform. These workshops provided a classroom setting for collaborative learning and the opportunity to discuss and experience the power of latest Linux based technologies.

The three workshops that were held on each of the three days were:

• Building a 64-bit Echo System, Manoj David, Server Alliance Manager, AMD
• Migrating to Linux Made Easy, Biswajit Banerjee, Director, Tetra
• Subversion: Software Version Control Done Right, V.K. Sameer CollabNet, Chennai

Linux Users Group Day

LinuxAsia 2005 held a Linux Users Group Day on February 11, 2005 where the Delhi Linux Users Group hosted well known community speakers including Kishor Bhargavaa, CEO, Linkaxis, Sudev Barar, VP, Nuchem, Dr. Ajay Shah, Consultant, Ministry of Finance and others who presented talks on a variety of hot topics ranging from software patents to LTSP to a full audience. Linux and OSS demonstrations were presented on localization, LTSP, live CD solutions and more.

The Conference and Star Speakers

R. Dhamodaran, Country Executive, SWG, IBM India — In his inaugural address, Mr. Dhamodaran, welcomed the “august gathering” of like-minded participants and the opportunity for all to learn from one another. Mr. Dhamodaran reinforced IBM’s pledge to help build an open standards ecosystem in India, as well as globally. He noted that IBM was setting up and funding Linux competency and resource centers, and continues to cofund initiatives to support customers and partners build application solutions in OSS. He highlighted IBM’s dedication of 500 patents to the OSS community to foster continued innovation. Mr. Dhamodaran encouraged all conference participants to imagine the unprecedented energy and enthusiasm possible from the diverse cultures represented by open source.

Matthew Szulik, CEO, Red Hat — discussed methods of building up a business model around the GNU Public License (GPL).

Dr. Deepak Phatak, Nilekani Chair Professor, Kanwal Rekhi School of Engineering, IIT Mumbai — His keynote addressed one of the hottest topics in Asia today — the use of open source software in developing economies. Dr. Phatak highlighted the barriers to adoption of open source software in developing countries such as India.

David Axmark, Cofounder, MySQL — talked about how his company grew to its present stature, using the GPL license.

Juergen Geck, CTO, Novell SUSE — discussed how and why open source can be a great business model.

Shrikant Patil, Director - Solutions Group, Intel — talked about how Intel and Linux together provide a stable value proposition and a platform of choice.

Brian Behlendorf, Apache Guru and Co-founder of CollabNet — talked on how a proprietary company can learn from the open source community from the way they build up a particular project.

Jyothi Satyanathan, Country Manager, Power Series, IBM India — was very upbeat on the way Linux business is catching up across the world, especially in the government sector. Citing India, he noted, “the state governments of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi and government agencies like CDAC and National Informatics Centre (NIC) are all embracing Linux in a big way. I think it is only a matter of time when Linux will be the standard operating system in South Asia.”

Danese Cooper, Board Member, Open Source Initiative (OSI) — She talked about how the fundamental features of the open source model at times clash with the interests of proprietary companies. She suggested a midway approach to balance out both models.

V.G. Sundar Ram, Head — Technology Solutions Group, Oracle India — presented Oracle’s vision on grid computing and the important role of Linux in that vision. He stated, “we try to address the issue of grid computing from the software side, and hence open source plays a big role in our strategy.”

The Expo

IT Expos are always a good place to check out the latest technologies and network with industry peers. LinuxAsia’s expo this year pulled in top leaders in the IT industry showcasing their latest Linux oriented products, services and solutions.

Exhibitors

IBM, Intel, Onward Novell, Red Hat, CDAC, Sundyne Technologies, BakBone Software, SNIA India, Oracle (through its partners), Wipro Infotech, Cognizant, HCL Infosystems, Tetra Information Services, Integra Microsystems, Corazio, Mithi, CMC, New Horizons, SlashSupport, Belzabar, Cadence, Path Infotech, Mahan Computer Systems, EFY

Sponsors

• IBM - Diamond Sponsor
• Novell - Platinum Sponsor
• Intel - Platinum Sponsor
• Red Hat - CXO Sponsor
• CDAC - HPC & Grid Computing: Government Sponsor
• Oracle - HPC & Grid Computing: Industry Sponsor
• Virtusa - Information Management: Industry Sponsor
• Sundyne Technologies - Registration Sponsor
• Bakbone Software - Storage: Industry Sponsor
• SNIAIndia - Storage: Industry Association sponsor
• Cadence - Student Sponsor

Patrons

• CollabNet
• MySQL
• OpenOffice.org
• JBoss
• Tetra Information Services
• PriceWaterhouseCoopers
• Delhi Linux Users Group

Visitors and Delegates

Visitor and delegate attendance at LinuxAsia 2005 was 2,245 over 3 days.

Visitor/Delegate Attendance

• Industry Customers: 59%
• Linux/Open Source Community: 41%