50°48′48″N 12°55′45″E / 50.81333°N 12.92917°E / 50.81333; 12.92917

Sign for Chemnitz Linux Days

The Chemnitz Linux Days (German: Chemnitzer Linux-Tage), are an annual event focusing on Linux and free (libre) software in general.[1][2] It takes place in the auditory and seminar building of Chemnitz University of Technology[3] (German: Technische Universität Chemnitz / TU Chemnitz) in the federal state of Saxony, in the south-east of Germany. 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 desks (Doctor Tux office).[4] 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

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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.[5][6]

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; public relations 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, information service, catering, childcare, security.

Specific features

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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. Accordingly, the whole program of the Chemnitz Linux Days is compiled in a heterogeneous manner, offering a wide variety of topics.[7]

Since 2005, most of the lectures have been streamed (audio, since 2009 also video) to the Internet for a remote audience. The local university's Radio UNiCC and the professorship of media informatics (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

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No. Year Date Visitors Lectures Workshops Link
1. 1999 March 6 700 20 none but install party 1999
2. 2000 March 11–12 1000 23 1 (see Saturday / installation) 2000
3. 2001 March 10–11 1200 40 1 (see Saturday afternoon) 2001
4. 2002 March 9–10 1500 51 7 2002
5. 2003 March 1–2 1800 52 8 2003
6. 2004 March 6–7 2500 57 10 2004
7. 2005 March 5–6 2500 80 12 2005
8. 2006 March 4–5 2500 81 12 2006
9. 2007 March 3–4 2700 95 15 2007
10. 2008 March 1–2 2400 87 13 2008
11. 2009 March 14–15 2600 95 14 2009
12. 2010 March 13–14 2600 91 15 2010
13. 2011 March 19–20 2400 88 15 2011
14. 2012 March 17–18 2400 89 15 2012
15. 2013 March 16–17 2300 92 13 2013
16. 2014 March 15–16 2600 90 14 2014
17. 2015 March 21–22 3160 90 14 (+5 CLT Junior (German)) 2015
18. 2016 March 19–20 3100 88 (+12 Lightning-Talks) 9 (+7 CLT Junior (German)) 2016
19. 2017 March 11–12 3200 88 (+15 Lightning-Talks) 12 (+8 CLT Junior (German)) 2017
20. 2018 March 10–11 3400 ~100 Archived 2019-03-06 at the Wayback Machine (+7 Lightning-Talks) 12 (+7 CLT junior (German)) 2018
21. 2019 March 16–17 3600 86 (+11 Lightning-Talks) 29 (+8 CLT junior (German)) 2019
(2020 [1])
22. 2021 (online) March 13–14 2900 [2] ~80 ([3]) 13 (+3 CLT junior (German)) 2021

[1] 2020 did not take place (canceled on short notice due to COVID 19 reaching Germany / lockdown)
[2] 2021: attendees estimated, not comparable to prev. years (online vs. real-world, different methods of counting)
[3] 2021: additionally some smaller onlive events around, work adventure,...

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Leemhuis, Thorsten (16 February 2013). ""Es ist Dein Projekt" – Programm der Chemnitzer Linux-Tage veröffentlicht". Heise Open Source (in German). Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  2. ^ Kißling, Kristian (23 March 2015). "Spielerisch: Chemnitzer Linuxtage legen zu". Linux Magazin (in German). Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Das sind die beliebtesten Feste in Chemnitz". Focus.de (in German). 15 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. ^ Thommes, Ferdinand (17 March 2016). "Chemnitzer Linux-Tage mit großem Vortragsprogramm". Computer Base (in German). Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Chemnitzer LINUX-Tage übernehmen Pinguin-Patenschaft". Sachsen Fernsehen (in German). Fernsehen in Dresden. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Chemnitzer Linux-Tage erwarten 3000 Fans der freien Software". Dresdner Neuste Nachrichten (in German). 10 March 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  7. ^ Lindner, Mirko (8 February 2017). "Programm der Chemnitzer Linux-Tage 2017 vorgestellt". Pro-Linux.de (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2017.
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