Bdale Garbee - HP
Open Source & Linux Chief Technologist
Speaking Topic: Who ya gonna call?

As HP's Open Source & Linux Chief Technologist, Bdale Garbee advises the lead technologists in other HP business units and other HP decision makers on technology and community aspects of Linux and Open Source applications. He mentors internal communities on how to productively participate in the Open Source development process, and encourages the adoption of Open Source software and principles across the company.

A contributor to the Free Software community for more than 25 years, Bdale's background also includes many years of hardware design, Unix internals, and embedded systems work. He was an early participant in the Debian project, helped port Debian GNU/Linux to 5 architectures, served as Debian Project Leader, is chairman of the Debian Technical Committee, and remains active in the Debian community.

Bdale serves as President of Software in the Public Interest, is on the board of directors of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum, and is a member of the Linux Journal Editorial Advisory Board. He is a frequent speaker at Linux and Open Source conferences, and works closely with various projects in the Open Source community.

Beyond his work at HP, Bdale engages in a variety of personal activities. His most significant hobby is amateur radio, where he is widely known for his contributions to packet radio, weak-signal communications, software defined radio, and building amateur satellites.

A persistent issue is what happens when someone new tries to engage in the community surrounding an open-source project. If they pick the wrong place to initiate contact, the experience can be very off-putting. This was highlighted by some EU-sponsored research I helped review in Cambridge last year, and highlighted for me again recently by reference to some research about failures modes in electronic communications. This talk will address the question of how to get involved in open source projects with emphasis on the kinds of communication channels used by various projects and how they may work or fail.

Bdale Garbee will be speaking at the Women in Open Source mini conference

Listen Now! [.mp3]