Presenting at COMMON : an overview of Linux & System i

COMMON again is fast approaching (March 30 -April 2) and I wanted to take a moment to give you a really quick overview as to what I am presenting at COMMON and why you should think about attending one or all of my sessions.

You can find the COMMON Online Session Guide here, and this is the place where you can schedule your entire week all in one spot. I would highly recommend that you use this to at least plan out your days at COMMON and then place them in your calendar. We have been asking for a way to import them into either Lotus Notes or Outlook but seems like the more we ask the less it gets done. I have heard the system is changing. Keep your fingers crossed. You don’t have to be registered for the conference in order to use it.

Background about me

David Vasta - I am the newest Subject Matter Expert (SME) on the team that presents Linux on System i & the new Open Source Products for System i. My main focus is getting you started with Linux and then exposing you to Linux on System i or as I call it “Linux & i”.

My Sessions —-> LINK

LINUX: Linux for Beginners - We are going to start with a ground zero approach here. I don’t care if you think you know UNIX of LINUX we are going to get into it as the most basic level. This will be a fun class and make sure you bring your laptops. I will tell you why near the end of this post.

LINUX: Administration - In this session your going to get a quick Administration training. There will be plenty of information to take home with you and try at your pace. We will cover setting up users, advance LINUX commands and build on that base from the session above.

LINUX: Intro to Shell Scripting - Now in this session we are going to take all that we have learned in the two other classes and put it to use in shell scripts. It’s going to be a quick and dirty overview so that you know what you need to do when you get back to the office. I will not be doing any kind of deep dive shell scripting but it will be fun I promise.

LINUX: Do You Ubuntu? - If you don’t already UBUNTU then you need to and I am going to tell you why. I did this session last year for the first time and had about 20 people in there. 20 super excited people about UBUNTU. I also had shirts, stickers and CDs. So make sure you show up to find out more about the most popular LINUX Desktop right now.

OPEN LAB: Linux on System i - I love an Open Lab! I will be in there with my hero, Erwin L. Early from IBM, and will be assisting you all with getting your first or maybe not your first Linux Server running on System i. I also think we are going to have the latest release of i5/OS too. It will run for a good 4 hours so bring a lunch, or I can run and get you something…..just kidding. This Open Lab was fun last year when I did it and it should be great this year too.

System i Bloggers Session - Lastly and most important is this this little session. While you read this post you then know why I am being asked to lead this session. I in fact have a blog (2 if your counting) and have the ability to follow my favorite System i blogger, Trevor Perry, so I should be OK. This session should be a blast and I hope Trevor and I can work up some funny bit of nonsense before we show up to entertain you all.

Why bring your laptop? - So I told you why I would explain this at the end and it appears we are there. I am assuming most of you run Windows but in case you don’t have no fear I will accommodate you all too. I run a Mac and will also support Linux too. I want give you all plenty of ways to say “David empowered me to do more with less” and in order to do that I am trying as hard a s I can to create a Virtual Machine for VMWare Player(FREE) and I hope Innotek’s VirtualBox(FREE). I can’t decide which but it will be Open and Free to you all. I want to put out three or four items per session. The Presentation, Companion Hand out with Worksheets, Samples (if possible), and the VM with all of my sessions on it for you to take with you and run on your PC on your time.

That way you can take it with you, play with it and if you mess it up, just start over. I think that will be nice if I can get it together. I will be using Ubuntu Server 7.10 & Ubuntu Desktop 7.10. If you can bring a Linux laptop with you that would be great. If you need to purchase one call these guys: System76 or DELL

REGISTRATION - Please take this warning/begging the right way. You need to go now and register for the convention. I think this years is going to be great. I also think it’s going to fill up fast. The System i is on the rise again and people are starting to get into COMMON again. Also make sure you fill out your grid early so COMMON has an idea as to where you are going to go during the day so they get the room size right along with other things like handouts and facilities. They let us presenters know a few weeks in advance how many people are going to be in the session and I kind of change the session content around and make changes based on those numbers. Let your presenters know you are wanting their sessions.