Save Green, Carpool and Room Share for Ohio LinuxFest
The rising cost of living has many people a bit concerned about the cost of traveling to Ohio LinuxFest. Just load up the family truckster and carpool, why?
Top 7 reasons to carpool to Ohio Linuxfest
Having attended Ohio Linuxfest for the past five years now, and having carpooled nearly the entire distance of those trips, I can say it just makes boatloads* of sense for many reasons.
(*I suppose from some locales you could boatpool to Columbus instead...)
7. Split a room
If you are riding together, chances are, you get along well enough with these people to share a room. You won't be hanging out there much beyond the 3-2-1 rule requires.
6. $2.75/gallon gasoline
'Nuff said.
5. Ohio topography
Highways in Ohio tend to be very straight, and very flat. Having a companion takes a bit of the monotony out of driving. Plus, somebody has to look out for the orange barrels.
4. Comparing notes
You can get your carmates' impressions of sessions you weren't able to attend, or talk in more depth about a session multiple people went to.
3. Meet new people, learn new things
One passenger of mine explained the heuristic systems he was working on at Carnegie Mellon University. About half of what he said went over my head, but it was a fascinating topic.
2. Party down!
Obviously this doesn't apply to drivers, but others can stay at the after party into the wee hours without having to worry about being rested and alert for the drive home.
1. Continue the conversation
OLF is a great place to generate ideas about where you can fit Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) into your daily life and learn about projects that coincide with your interests. Riding with a car full of other FOSS users gives you the opportunity to discuss these in more detail and put the enthusiasm that OLF engenders to practical use!
Finding people to carpool with is often just a matter of contacting your local Linux user group or other computing group like the Perl Mongers. You can also try to find someone in your area via the OLF forums or discussion list.
Vance Kochenderfer
Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group
Pittsburgh rides
Didn't get the contact info into the article; if you're in Pittsburgh and want to share a ride or a hotel room, go to the WPLUG web site and follow the link to the mailing list set up for that purpose.
And if you're not in Pittsburgh, check out the linux user groups link to find one local to you.
See you in Columbus!
Think you life too far from Columbus to Carpool - think again
Columbus is 550 miles from the over 50% of the population of the United States. That includes Metro areas were many carpool: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Erie, Chicago, Nashville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Morgantown, New York City.
Outside this circle come in the road warriors:
Matt Frye is carpooling from North Carolina
Richard Weait is carpooling from Ontario, Canada
If Vance's Ideas don't work, try these:
* College students have successfully rented a bus to get everyone to the college club to the Ohio LinuxFest. Some colleges have chipped in toward the cost.
* Ask your colleagues and your boss. Maybe your work place will spring for the travel costs.
* Post your interest on blogs and bulletin boards in your area saying that you want to carpool to the Ohio LinuxFest. Free websites like Craigslist represent may not-so-urban areas.
* If you are living somewhere rural, use Google Maps to see if you are in the driving path of someone in a big city. Post to the mailing list of that city's lug.
Do not leave your neighbors behind. Check around before you hit the road.
ZimRide= Facebook carpool
I have a listing on Facebook for a carpool or ride that I would need to get to OLF. Pretty late for such planning but perhaps I will be ready for next year.
Brotherred
Sean Campbell
Road Trip from East Coast
I know it is late, but...
Astaro employees are headed to two events in Ohio for the 10th and 11th, Ohio Linux Fest and Day-Con II. I am taking an RV from Boston to DC to Dayton (via Columbus) for the Day-Con Hacker/Security con, but the folks headed to OLF are flying due to scheduling issues- that means I have room for one or two people on a road trip from the East Coast. It would be great to have some OLF folks join us for the trip.
Rough itinerary: Leaving Boston area Thursday afternoon headed to DC area, Leaving DC Friday morning headed to Columbus, then on to Dayton Friday evening. Return will be reverse, leaving Dayton on Sunday morning. If you are interested, please email me jdaniel/astaro/com
Watch those dates!
Note that this article was resurrected from last year, so previous comments may contain stale information. Those coming in from Pittsburgh for 2009 can organize their rides, etc. on the WPLUG wiki page set up for just that purpose.
Team Optimal is hitting the road to OLF
My whole team of sysadmins and I will be driving up in a minivan equipped with mobile broadband. Look for Team Optimal at OLF!