Despite the rapid ascension of Linux into the world of mainstream enterprise, LinuxCon remains an intimate, technical event—something that will need to change as Linux rises into the mainstream. Jeff Frick, GM of theCUBE, caught up with SiliconANGLE’s founder John Furrier at LinuxCon 2015 to talk about his experiences at the event.

“This is the show that a lot gets done with not a lot of fanfare,” Furrier said. “All the money goes into technical sessions and networking. So, big heavy hitters here. Solomon Hykes is here from Docker, I saw Ping Li from Accel Partners …. This is where the change is happening. Linux is the innovation engine of the future, certainly [for] cloud, and obviously developers.”

No frills – LinuxCon needs to go mainstream

There’s not a lot of money put into frills or marketing, Furrier said. “The challenge of the show right now is that they’ve got to go mainstream. It’s always been a boutique little cottage industry, the Linux market …. Linux is now mainstream, and what they have to do is they’ve got to up their game. They’ve got to get bigger budgets, they’ve got to take it on the road. This show is too cottage-industry. It needs to get bigger. It needs to spread the word.”

This is especially important as Linux’s platform becomes a staple of global enterprise – and as demand among developers increases. More people are going to want the insight and connection of a Linux-core show.

“There is a huge global population of developers out there that want to tap into this innovation, from internet of things, to security …. Big Data–so much is going on with Linux as a tier-one software platform and first class citizen of the enterprise and service providers, it has to get bigger,” noted Furrier.

See the entire discussion below.

Photo by SiliconANGLE