Open-Source Conference Adds Keynote Speaker, Sponsor

CEO Rob Glaser of RealNetworks has been added as a keynote speaker at the Desktop Summit Linux conference. Further, conference organizers reported that Advanced Micro Devices has signed up as a sponsor of the open-source conference.

The conference is aimed at filling a perceived gap in Linux and open-source events, which have tended to focus on mainframe, server, and networking open-source issues. Open-source software, however, has recently begun to support desktop applications. The show is scheduled for San Diego, from February 9-11.

The keynote by Glaser, founder of RealNetworks, will be titled, "Digital Media on the Desktop: Where We Are and What Is Next." Another keynote, announced earlier, will be delivered by Mitch Kapor, creator of Lotus 1-2-3 and founder of the Mozilla Foundation.

Additional keynotes will be given by Michael Robertson, CEO of Linspire Inc., and Doc Searls, an editor at Linux Journal. Desktop computers with open-source software have begun to reach major consumer markets in recent weeks. For instance, Wal-Mart and Linspire are marketing a laptop with Linux-based software for under $500.

AMD has been utilizing open-source software for its new families of 64-bit processors, as it waits for Microsoft to introduce a new 64-bit operating system.