Editing Linux.conf.au

{{Short description|Linux and open source conference}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
[[File:Linux Conf - 2003.jpg|thumb|Last day of Linux.conf.au 2003]]
[[File:Rusty Russell speaking at Linux.conf.au 2011 Day 4 (5391554111).jpg|thumb|Rusty Russell speaking at Linux.conf.au 2011]]
{{lowercase|title=linux.conf.au}}
'''linux.conf.au''' (often abbreviated as '''lca''' or '''LCA''') is [[Australasia]]'s regional [[Linux]] and [[open source]] conference.  It is a roaming conference, held in a different Australian or New Zealand city every year, coordinated by [[Linux Australia]] and organised by local volunteers.

The conference is a non-profit event, with any surplus funds being used to seed the following year's conference and to support the Australian [[Linux]] and [[open source communities]]. The name is the conference's [[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]], using the uncommon [[second-level domain]] [[.au#Historic second-level domains|.conf.au]].

Although several online events were ran post-COVID, since 2023 Linux Australia has instead auspiced [https://everythingopen.au/ Everything Open]. This is a shorter three-day conference that follows a similar format - but without the additional two days of Miniconfs.

==Conference history==
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. 

{| class="wikitable" 
! Event !! Date !! Venue and host city !! Keynote Speakers !! Resources
|- 
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20070218023317/http://www.linux.org.au/conf/1999/ CALU 1999] || Jul 9 – Jul 11 1999 || [[Monash University]]<br />{{flagicon|Victoria}} [[Melbourne]]<br />[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] || [[Jon Hall (programmer)|Jon 'maddog' Hall]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/1999/ 1999]
|- 
| [http://www.linux.org.au/conf/2001/ linux.conf.au 2001] || Jan 17 – Jan 20 2001 || [[University of New South Wales]]<br />{{flagicon|New South Wales}} [[Sydney]]<br />[[New South Wales]] || [[Alan Cox (computer programmer)|Alan Cox]],<br />[[David S. Miller|David Miller]],<br />[[Andrew Tridgell]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2001/ 2001]
|- 
| [http://www.linux.org.au/conf/2002/ linux.conf.au 2002] || Feb 6 – Feb 9 2002 || [[University of Queensland]]<br />{{flagicon|Queensland}}  [[Brisbane]]<br />[[Queensland]] || [[Andrew Tridgell]],<br />[[Jeremy Allison]],<br />Michi Henning,<br />[[Theodore Tso]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2002/ 2002]
|- 
| [http://www.linux.org.au/conf/2003/ linux.conf.au 2003] || Jan 20 – Jan 25 2003 || [[University of Western Australia]]<br />{{flagicon|Western Australia}} [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]<br />[[Western Australia]] || [[Rusty Russell]],<br />[[Bdale Garbee]],<br />[[Andrew Tridgell]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2003/ 2003]
|- 
| [http://www.linux.org.au/conf/2004/ linux.conf.au 2004] || Jan 12 – Jan 17 2004 || [[University of Adelaide]]<br />{{flagicon|South Australia}} [[Adelaide]]<br />[[South Australia]] || [[Bdale Garbee]],<br />[[Jon Hall (programmer)|Jon 'maddog' Hall]],<br />[[Havoc Pennington]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2004/programme.html 2004]
|- 
| [http://lca2005.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2005] || Apr 18 – Apr 23 2005 || [[Australian National University]]<br />{{flagicon|Australian Capital Territory}} [[Canberra]]<br />[[Australian Capital Territory]] || [[Andrew Tridgell]],<br />[[Andrew Morton (computer programmer)|Andrew Morton]],<br />[[Eben Moglen]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2005/ 2005]
|- 
| [http://lca2006.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2006] || Jan 23 – Jan 28 2006 || [[University of Otago]]<br />{{flagicon|NZ}} [[Dunedin]]<br />[[New Zealand]] || [[Mark Shuttleworth]],<br />[[Damian Conway]],<br />[[David S. Miller|David Miller]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2006/ 2006]
|- 
| [http://lca2007.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2007] || Jan 15 – Jan 20 2007 || [[University of New South Wales]]<br />{{flagicon|New South Wales}} [[Sydney]]<br />[[New South Wales]] || [[Kathy Sierra]],<br />[[Andrew S. Tanenbaum]],<br />[[Christopher Blizzard|Chris Blizzard]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2007/ 2007]
|- 
| [http://lca2008.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2008] || Jan 28 – Feb 2 2008 || [[University of Melbourne]]<br />{{flagicon|Victoria}} [[Melbourne]]<br />[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] || Anthony Baxter,<br />[[Bruce Schneier]],<br />[[Stormy Peters]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2008/ 2008]
|- 
| [http://lca2009.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2009] || Jan 19 – Jan 24 2009 || [[University of Tasmania]]<br />{{flagicon|Tasmania}} [[Hobart]]<br />[[Tasmania]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16418/1090/|title=Hobart to host 2009 Linux conference|publisher=ITWire|date=2008-02-01|accessdate=2008-02-01|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201215657/http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16418/1090/|archivedate=2008-02-01}}</ref> || [[Tom Limoncelli]],<br />Angela Beesley,<br />[[Simon Phipps (programmer)|Simon Phipps]] ||  [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2009/ 2009]
|- 
| [https://archive.today/20121220133717/http://www.lca2010.org.nz/ linux.conf.au 2010] || Jan 18 – Jan 23 2010 || [[Wellington Town Hall|Wellington Convention Centre]]<br />{{flagicon|NZ}} [[Wellington]]<br />[[New Zealand]] || [[Benjamin Mako Hill]],<br />[[Gabriella Coleman]],<br />Nathan Torkington,<br />[[Glyn Moody]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2010/ 2010]
|- 
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20100717122935/http://lca2011.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2011] || Jan 24 – Jan 29 2011 || [[Queensland University of Technology]],<br />{{flagicon|Queensland}} [[Brisbane]]<br />[[Queensland]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16418/1090/|title=LCA2011 – Follow The Flow!|date=2010-01-22|accessdate=2010-01-22|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201215657/http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16418/1090/|archivedate=2008-02-01}}</ref> || [[Mark Pesce]],<br />[[Eric Allman]],<br />Geoff Huston,<br />[[Vint Cerf|Vinton Cerf]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2011/ 2011]
|- 
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20110129095958/http://lcaunderthestars.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2012] || Jan 16 – Jan 21 2012 || [[University of Ballarat]],<br />{{flagicon|Victoria}} [[Ballarat]]<br />[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://delimiter.com.au/2011/01/28/ballarat-wins-linux-conf-au-2012-bid/|title=Ballarat wins Linux.conf.au 2012 bid|date=2011-01-28|accessdate=2011-01-29}}</ref> || [[Karen Sandler]],<br />[[Bruce Perens]],<br />Paul Fenwick,<br />[[Jacob Appelbaum]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2012/ 2012]
|-
| [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130114003817/http://lca2013.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2013] || Jan 28 – Feb 2 2013 || [[Australian National University]]<br />{{flagicon|Australian Capital Territory}} [[Canberra]]<br />[[Australian Capital Territory]] || [[Andrew Huang (hacker)|Andrew Huang]],<br />[[Radia Perlman]],<br />[[Bdale Garbee]],<br />[[Tim Berners-Lee]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2013/ 2013]
|-
| [https://archive.today/20130627223413/http://lca2014.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2014] || Jan 6 – Jan 10 2014 || [[University of Western Australia]]<br />{{flagicon|Western Australia}} [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]<br />[[Western Australia]] || [[Suelette Dreyfus]],<br />Kate Chapman,<br />[[Matthew Garrett]],<br />[[Jonathan Oxer]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2014/ 2014]
|-
| [https://lca2015.linux.org.au/index.html linux.conf.au 2015] || Jan 12 – Jan 16 2015 || [[University of Auckland]]<br />{{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Auckland]]<br />[[New Zealand]] || [[Bob Young (businessman)|Bob Young]],<br />[[Linus Torvalds]],<br />[[Eben Moglen]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2015/ 2015]
|-
| [http://lcabythebay.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2016] || Feb 1 – Feb 5 2016 || [[Deakin University]]<br />{{flagicon|Victoria}} [[Geelong]]<br />[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] || [[Genevieve Bell]],<br />Catarina Mota,<br />[[Jono Bacon]],<br />George Fong || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2016/ 2016]
|-
| [http://lca2017.linux.org.au linux.conf.au 2017] || Jan 16 – Jan 20 2017 || [[Wrest Point Hotel Casino|Wrest Point Convention Centre]]<br />{{flagicon|Tasmania}} [[Hobart]]<br />[[Tasmania]] || Robert M. "r0ml" Lefkowitz,<br />Nadia Eghbal,<br />[[Pia Waugh]],<br />Dan Callahan || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2017/ 2017]
|-
| [http://lca2018.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2018] || Jan 22 – Jan 26 2018 || [[University of Technology Sydney]]<br />{{flagicon|New South Wales}} [[Sydney]]<br />[[New South Wales]] || [[Karen Sandler]],<br />Jess Frazelle,<br />[[Matthew H. Todd]],<br />Hugh Blemings<ref name ="news">{{cite web |url=http://lca2018.linux.org.au/news/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127143316/http://lca2018.linux.org.au/news/ |archive-date=27 January 2018 |title=linux.conf.au 2018 {{!}} News}}</ref> || [https://web.archive.org/web/20180129101902/http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2018/ 2018]
|-
| [http://lca2019.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2019] || Jan 21 – Jan 25 2019 || [[University of Canterbury]]<br />{{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Christchurch]]<br />[[New Zealand]] || Rory Aronson CEO [[FarmBot]],<br />Dana Lewis [[OpenAPS]],<br />Shannon Morse,<br />[[Rusty Russell]] || [http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2019/ 2019]
|-
|[https://lca2020.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2020]|| Jan 13 – Jan 17 2020 || [[Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre]]<br />{{flagicon|Queensland}} [[Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast]]<br />[[Queensland]]||Dr Sean Brady,<br />[[Donna Benjamin]],<br />A/Prof Vanessa Teague,<br />Lizzie O’Shea
|[http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2020/ 2020]
|-
|[https://lca2021.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2021]
|Jan 23- Jan 25 2021<ref name="2021-postpone">{{cite web|first = Sae Ra|last=Germaine|title=Linux Australia Community Update & LCA2021 Information|url=https://linux.org.au/linux-australia-community-update-lca2021-information/|date=2020-05-06|accessdate=2020-05-10|publisher=Linux Australia}}</ref>
|Virtual event ||[[Limor Fried]],<br />Omoju Miller,<br />[[Cory Doctorow]]
|[http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2021/ 2021]
|-
|[https://lca2022.linux.org.au/ linux.conf.au 2022]
|Jan 14 – Jan 16 2022<ref name="2021-postpone"/>
|Virtual event||[[Liz Fong-Jones]],<br />[[Jono Bacon]],<br />Kathy Reid,<br />[[Brian Kernighan]]
|[http://mirror.linux.org.au/pub/linux.conf.au/2022/ 2022]
|}

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 (hobbyist)|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

* 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 XO|OLPC machines]] were distributed to random attendees to encourage development.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lwn.net/Articles/267113/|title=A moment from LCA2008|work=LWN.net|date=30 January 2008|first=Jonathan|last=Corbet}}</ref> 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.<ref>[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</ref>

* 2010: over $33,000 raised for Wellington Lifeflight Helicopter Ambulance service.<ref>[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</ref>

* 2011: the event was almost washed out by [[2010–11 Queensland floods|the floods]] that devastated southern Queensland.<ref>{{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}}</ref>  

* 2016: preparations almost derailed by a massive storm just before the conference opened.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

*2020: $24,342 raised and donated to Red Cross for [[2019–20 Australian bushfire season|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.<ref name="2021-postpone"/>

== Miniconfs ==
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 [[Debian Conference|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 Conference#Miniconf|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]].

==See also==
*[[Open Source Developers' Conference]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Linux.conf.au}}
* [https://linux.org.au/LCA linux.conf.au]

{{Linux}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linux.Conf.Au}}
[[Category:Linux conferences]]
[[Category:Free-software conferences]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1999]]