Among the other industry-specific additions at LinuxWorld Expo will be the Telecommunications track, and the CIO Agenda. This Agenda is a series of seminars on topics including how to convince the skeptical members of the board in the final steps toward adopting a Linux solution, Total Cost of Ownership profiles and data, getting Linux into mission critical areas like the data center, mapping out migration plans, risk/benefit profiles, and more. There's also the Unbreakable Linux Forum on August 5 by Oracle, a company that rarely presents outside of their own events.

Not all of the new material is for heads of companies and specific sectors. One welcome addition is that of hands-on labs. Rather than providing computers, these three-hour workshops will offer room for participants to set up their own laptops and go along for the ride. Along with this, LinuxWorld Expo had focused on bringing in high level keynote presenters. You won't find marketing professionals telling you what other people have said. Instead, you hear from top executives at top level vendors about what their companies are doing and where they see things going.

Word of mouth and registration for both attendees and exhibitors shows that this conference is definitely meeting many people's needs. Between the show floor and the educational sessions, the LinuxWorld Expo organizers are not expecting lackluster performance: proof that the IT industry is not quite as dead as many people have feared. From top vendors to one-person operations, you'll find a fascinating combination of booths, networking opportunities, educational opportunities, and maybe even the sense that Linux isn't just going places. In some ways, it's already there.

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