OSCON 2014 Recap

My experience at OSCon 2014 in Portland, Oregon was nothing short of interesting. It was my first tradeshow experience, but it went surprisingly well on the first day. Upon our arrival, we had a short opening reception that lasted about an hour. Many people actually already knew about FreeBSD. To those who were new to it or were unfamiliar with FreeNAS and PC-BSD, I explained what the operating systems were and made sure they left well-informed. James Nixon and Denise Ebery were also there to help answer questions.
We exhibited for the next two days from morning to afternoon. We showcased FreeNAS and PC-BSD operating systems using a laptop and a VPN displaying the FreeNAS web UI. On my break, I checked out the other companies/organizations that had a presence at the show—such as Google, Rackspace, Twitter, Paypal, Xen (Citrix), as well as many other supporters of open source. The attendees covered a wide range of ages: from teens, kids with their parents, working professionals, to retired tech enthusiasts. Everyone had a positive attitude toward the software and demos we showcased at the FreeBSD Foundation booth. Those who had prior experience with FreeNAS were delighted to see the many changes and improvements, such as the plugin system.
Overall, it was a great experience to discuss and learn about technology and open source surrounded by hundreds of like-minded individuals.
Cao Pham
Marketing Assistant