SCALE 24x

Considering a talk proposal for SCALE 24x and could use a little guidance? Join the SCALE Program Committee this Thursday, October 8 at noon Pacific time for a live Speaker Q and A session.

I'm Justin Garrison, a long time open source community member and part of the SCaLE organizing teams. I'm a maintainer for Talos Linux, I host the Fork Around and Find Out podcast, and share videos about infrastructure and software on my YouTube channel. I learned about the Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE) in 2009 and since tickets were only $30 for students, and I lived in Southern California, I decided to brave the 10 freeway and check it out.

If you have been thinking about submitting and have not yet, this is for you. SCaLE is one of the friendlier conferences to submit to. We are volunteer-run, we actively want new speakers, and every year a good share of our program comes from people who have never presented at a conference before.

The SCaLE 24x Call for Presentations is open through November 1, 2026. If you have submitted to SCaLE before, a few things have changed this year. Here is what is different and why.

We are proud to announce that the 24th Annual Southern California Linux Expo – SCaLE 24X will return to Pasadena on April 1-4, 2027 at the Pasadena Convention Center. We invite you to share your work on FOSS programs and open hardware projects with the rest of the community, as well as exchange ideas with some leading experts in these fields. The CFP will close on November 1, 2026.

Ham radio was this magical thing to me growing up. I'd heard fantastical things like astronauts using it from space, the King of Jordan being an active ham, and even a couple of guys using it to transmit information during the first gulf war, in…