Sun @ FOSS.IN 2008

We are glad to have Josh Berkus,  PostgreSQL expert attending FOSS.IN next week.

More about Josh:

Josh Berkus is primarily known as one of the Core Team of the world-spanning open source database project PostgreSQL.  He has been involved with various open source projects since 1998, including OpenOffice.org, LedgerSMB, Bricolage and OpenBRR, and currently sits on the board of Software in the Public Interest, Inc.  Sun Microsystems employs Josh in its Database Technolgy Group as the strategic lead for Sun's PostgreSQL for Solaris product offering. Contact: josh@postgresql.org. Josh regularly blogs here: blogs.ittoolbox.com/database/soup.

Josh is speaking on PostgreSQL 8.3: A story of many patches:

PostgreSQL 8.3 is out.  Learn how it was developed, including how the biggest feature of the new version was developed by an Indian programmer, Pavan Deloasse, and how you can contribute to the new version.  Also, find out about some of the features in the new version.

Why is Josh excited to be in FOSS.IN?

In his own words...

It's the first chance a member of our core team has been able to speak at a major conference in India.  Since India and China are in all probability the future leading countries in software, it's very important that PostgreSQL build up our Indian community. I hope to get started on that at FOSS.In.

We are glad to have Dr. Frank Peters, Information Products Manager coming to Bangalore next week for FOSS.IN. Frank will speak on "OpenOffice.org Documentation Project".

More about Dr. Frank Peters:

Frank Peters is a manager in the Information Products Group of Sun Microsystems working on Desktop documentation from Hamburg, Germany. He is co-leading Sun's documentation efforts for open source software inside IPG enabling technical writer groups to adapt easily to the open source mindset and allow efficient work in open source communities. Frank has been working on OpenOffice.org and StarOffice documentation since 2001 and co-leads the OpenOffice.org documentation project. Frank has 10+ years working experience in hardware and software technical documentation and holds a degree in Chemistry.

Summary of Frank's talk: OpenOffice Documentation Project:

The talk will introduce the OpenOffice.org Documentation project and describe its importance as part of the OpenOffice.org community effort. The roles of the existing publication and collaboration channels, like Web, Wiki, Online Help and User Forum, as well as aspects of connecting the process of generating and maintaining user and developer documentation for OpenOffice.org with software development, release management, and localization will be described in detail.  A view on the future of documentation collaboration and knowledge management will outline perspectives for working with documentation. The audience will be able to understand how documentation interacts with software development and release processes, and will be given hints for how to participate in the documentation community.

Why is Frank excited to be attending FOSS.IN?

In his own words...

There are a lot of open source enthusiasts in India. I want to enthuse some of them to be part of the growing documentation community and help users and developers to adopt OpenOffice.org around the globe.

Are you interested to contribute to OpenSolaris?

Hear Jim Grisanzio, Senior Program Manager, Open Solaris Engineering speak on "Contributing to OpenSolaris" next week.

More about Jim:

In his own words...

I've been at Sun for more than seven years in a variety of project management positions. I've worked on several Corporate Communications teams for the Java organization, and I've also worked with the tools and standards groups and many of Sun's open source development projects. I also did a year as an executive speech writer for a couple of Sun's executive vice presidents. Overall, I've logged nine years in communications at five companies (Sun, 3Com, Network World, Tufts University, Animals Magazine) in three industries (high tech, publishing, medical sciences).

Four years ago, I moved from corporate communications to the OpenSolaris project in Solaris Engineering. As a Senior Program Manager, my job is to run projects that encourage open development and help an engineering community grow at multiple levels of the OpenSolaris project. I'm especially interested in how engineers work across cultural, language, and distance barriers and how organizations participate in open source software development.

Click here for more information. Besides, Jim is a top Sun blogger. Read his blog here: http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/.

Why is Jim excited to be in FOSS.IN?

In his own words...

This will be my first trip to India and my first FOSS. I'm thrilled because I've heard so much about the Indian development community, and I want to meet the guys first hand. For OpenSolaris to be successful, the community has to grow internationally, and we need a community that contributes directly and actively. Will India lead the way in that international growth? We'll see. But I'd like to get involved and learn as much as possible along the way.

Arun Gupta, Technology Evangelist for Web Services and Web 2.0 Apps is speaking on "Packaging Java Applications for Ubuntu".

Arun Gupta is currently a Technology Evangelist for Web Services and Web 2.0 Apps at Sun. He was the spec lead for several APIs in the Java platform, committer in multiple Open Source projects, participated in standard bodies and contributed to Java EE and SE releases.

He is a prolific blogger. Check out this blog: http://blogs.sun.com/arungupta.

Why is Arun Gupta excited to be in FOSS.IN?

In his own words...Meeting Indian developers and eating Sambar/Dosa  :) Anyway, read his blog entry for more information: http://blogs.sun.com/arungupta/entry/glassfish_foss_in_2007.

Simon Phipps will deliver a talk on "The Virtuous Cycle: Sun's FOSS Philosophy and Strategy”.

Simon Phipps is the Chief Open Source Officer at Sun Microsystems, co-ordinating Sun's extensive participation in free and open source software communities, promoting consistency and best practice and actively participating in the global conversation they express. Prior to this appointment he co-founded Sun's pioneering staff weblog facility at blogs.sun.com. Simon joined Sun in mid-2000. Click here for more information. He maintains a personal and official blog.

From today, we are starting the "Featured Speaker" and "Featured Demo" series. Follow this series to discover more about your speakers, the topics they will speak on, and the demos you can see at the event.