It was once a time-consuming and exhaustive process to find computer hardware that would work well with Linux. With the launch of the Phoronix Test Suite 3.0 project and OpenBenchmarking.org, this process can be streamlined and made easy while ensuring more informed purchasing decisions by providing an open and collaborative testing platform.

The kind of apps we build have evolved. Mobile apps. Facebook apps. Responses are needed in milliseconds. Techniques for storing and getting data are starting to evolve too. The category even has a name: NoSQL. Which one should you choose though? This session will cover Membase, the memcached-protocol-compatible database behind several games at Zynga and the Open Source project at membase.org.

Four years ago I needed a new four-line phone system for my home business and the choices were astonishingly limited. After finding that the only reasonable four-line cordless phone system cost over $2000,I discovered Asterisk, a Linux based open source PBX and decided to risk that path. Along the way I've learned a few things I think are worth knowing before jumping in.

Linux has always been able to run Windows apps using Wine with varying degrees of success, but it often required heavy reading and trying lots of workarounds. This presentation will show how easy it is to install and run games on Linux using package managers like Wine and Winetricks, and show how to contribute a new game script to Winetricks.