I just returned from the ALS in Atlanta. What began as the Atlanta Linux Showcase is now the Annual Linux Showcase. Created by the ALE (Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts) in 1997, the show is now run by Usenix. (See Resources for links to both.) Sadly for the Atlanta-area Linux community, next year's ALS will be held in Oakland, Calif.

The ALS is not the biggest or most hyped Linux show, but it is the best one I've attended. Unlike LinuxWorld Expo -- the biggest and gaudiest show -- ALS is about Linux, not the companies scrambling to make money from Linux. And because Linux is about community as much as software, the ALS is definitely a people show (albeit geeky people).

The crowd seemed almost evenly split between the exhibit hall floor and the technical presentations. As with most Linux shows, all the big names were present: VA Linux, Red Hat, SuSE, IBM, Sun, HP, and so forth. But they didn't dominate the show.

On the floor

One exhibitor caught me by surprise: AOL was there. Why? To recruit Linux talent. AOL has a deal with Gateway to put a Linux-based network appliance (running a slimmed-down version of the AOL client) on the market by the end of the year, and is looking for Linux programmers to help meet that goal. I asked a guy in the booth if a full Linux version of the AOL client would come later. He shifted his gaze, hemmed and hawed, and finally left it as a maybe. It seems to be far more difficul to correctly set up a modem via software under Linux than under Windows or Mac. And as you may know, the classic first question from AOL tech support, regardless of what your problem is, is "What is your modem init string?"

Another interesting booth belonged to Geekcorps. (See Resources for a link.) I spent a few minutes chatting with cofounder Ethan Zuckerman, who was manning the booth. Geekcorps is modeled after the Peace Corps; its mission is "expanding the Internet revolution internationally by pairing skilled volunteers from the high-tech world with small businesses in emerging nations." There are already Geekcorps volunteers working in Ghana, West Africa, for example.

Zuckerman said Geekcorps is completely OS-agnostic; it provides training in the software that best meets each customer's needs. Sometimes that is Windows -- sometimes not. For example, if a client wants to run Windows 2000, IIS, and Exchange, but doesn't have the hardware horsepower for the job, Geekcorps will suggest more efficient software from the wonderful world of open source.

I also stopped by the Borland/Inprise booth to beg for a beta copy of the Kylix RAD tool. (See Resources for a link.)

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