The Chemnitz Linux Days (german: Chemnitzer Linux-Tage), are an annual event focusing on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

and free (libre) software in general. It takes place in the auditory and seminar building of

Chemnitz University of Technology Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

(german: Technische Universität Chemnitz / TU Chemnitz) in the federal state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, in the south-east of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. There are talks, project booths (both by community projects and by enterprises in the FOSS market), workshops, install parties, child care and playful educational lectures for the younger visitors, as well as technical

help desk A help desk is a department or person that provides assistance and information usually for electronic or computer problems. In the mid-1990s, research by Iain Middleton of Robert Gordon University studied the value of an organization's help desks ...

s (Doctor Tux office). Both talks and workshops are held in German; some are also held in English, and they cover a broad variety of topics for professionals as well as entry-level visitors.

History

The first CLT took place in 1999 - a single-day event with several talks and an install party. It was attended by about 700 visitors. Since 2000 the CLT have been established as a weekend event in the first two weeks of March. The event is organized mainly by (former) students and employees of Chemnitz University of Technology, especially members of the faculty of mathematics and informatics / computer studies. Furthermore, members of Chemnitz LUG (Linux user group, part of IN Chemnitz e.V.), on whose initiative the CLT were founded, take an active part in the process, as well as external members from all around Europe. In 2017, CLT decided to sponsor two Humboldt penguins. The structure of organization is relatively casual and is characterized by low hierarchy levels - as typical of many FOSS community projects. The cast of people for certain tasks is in a flow, and tasks themselves are changing in the course of time. The core team consists of about eight members who are concerned with and preparing the annual event. Between September and March the staff count rises to about 30 members, and different teams are formed for dealing with the variety of topics (such as call for papers and lectures; catering; security; tech behind the scenes;

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

;

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

and more). During the event itself the whole staff is composed of core and preparation team, as well as freelance helpers and lecturers, and it counts from about 300 to 350 people. Besides all those presentations, workshops and booth areas there is a big majority of assistants, busily dealing with

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, information service,

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

, childcare,

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

Specific features

The CLT offer a diversified program for a broad audience. In addition to talks / lectures and workshops for beginners, advanced users and experts, there are workshops for practical experience and experiments. In the booth area, community projects as well as enterprises present themselves and invite visitors to talks and discussion. Furthermore, "Doctor Tux’ office" provides all sorts of service around Linux installation and answers questions concerning technical problems with systems and portable devices people have brought with them. The target group is quite heterogeneous: Pupils and students are represented as well as home users with an interest in Linux and free-as-in-freedom software, all of them at various levels of age and experience. Besides, you will meet representatives of enterprises or

public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

. Accordingly, the whole program of the Chemnitz Linux Days is compiled in a heterogeneous manner, offering a wide variety of topics. Since 2005, most of the lectures have been

streamed Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

(audio, since 2009 also video) to the Internet for a remote audience. The local university's Radio UNiCC and the professorship of media

informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...

(Medieninformatik) have come to support the event. Most talks, if given permission by the speakers, may be downloaded afterwards for later viewing (usually CC license). With a couple of workshops that are targeted specifically towards children and adolescent people, the organizers inspire curiosity and joy in terms of do-it-yourself tinkering and all kinds of creative doing.

Statistics

2020 did not take place (canceled on short notice due to COVID 19 reaching Germany / lockdown)
2021: attendees estimated, not comparable to prev. years (online vs. real-world, different methods of counting)
2021: additionally some smaller onlive events around, work adventure,...

References

External links

Official website (English version for 2018)
{{Commons, Linux-Tage Chemnitz, Chemnitz Linux Days Free-software events Chemnitz Linux conferences Events in Saxony Science and technology in Germany Annual events in Germany 1999 establishments in Germany Recurring events established in 1999

History

Specific features

Statistics

See also

References

External links