The show was very busy and there wasn't one person there that I spoke to who regretted coming, although many commented on the size. We all agreed that the show was much smaller than we had expected (see Figure 1).

It also wasn't a show that had a lot of people wondering what all the fuss was about. Having been at another show two years ago--this time a general computer, not a Linux-specific show--it was remarkable to find so many people who didn't even know what Linux was. At this show, everybody I spoke to (attendees and exhibitors alike) were either already avid users or were seriously investigating products that would enable them to migrate to the Linux platform.

I spent much of my time talking to people who were nothing but enthusiastic about Linux. The gentleman on the Novell stand, from Capgemini, talked for over an hour about his experiences with MythTV, his home migration from an Apple environment to Linux, and his exploits in trying to find suitable replacements for his Apple favorites such as iTunes (he suggested Amarok). For other stands, it was a generalized discussion on the general state of the Linux and open source market. For example, I spent a long time talking to the Sun people about the recent StarOffice release, their collaboration with Google, and the future of OpenSolaris. Despite their Solaris roots, they were excited about the open source community.

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