Martin Bly and I have agreed to lead the Linux BOF at this year's ADASS and wish to invite you to attend. Since the BOF wasn't final until just last week we are still trying to organize a list of speakers willing to give a short (5-7 minute) presentation on work they have done, or some aspect of working with Linux that may be different from the normal workstation environment (e.g. writing device drivers for new instrumen- tation, managing large networks of systems, etc). Anyone willing to give a presentation, or who can suggest a speaker, is encouraged to write back or find us at the meeting to get on the agenda.
We are hoping for a lively discussion on the use of Linux in astronomy as well as the growing popularity of other PC Unix systems such as FreeBSD and Solaris x86. Linux has spread beyond the traditional Intel PC hardware and we would urge anyone using it on workstation hardware such as the Alpha or sparc systems, as well as MkLinux users, to join in and share their experiences. The BOF should be a forum where developers and users can exchange information and perhaps form new collaborations, but it can only succeed if you participate.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Mike Fitzpatrick (fitz@noao.edu)
Martin Bly (bly@star.rl.ac.uk)