What Open Source Projects Need to Know About Interacting with the Press

Esther Schindler has been writing about technology since 1992. She has a tropism for techie topics that make other people’s eyes glaze over—particularly software development, operating systems and open source. You’ve seen her byline in lots of places.

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Steven Vaughan-Nichols has been hanging around the open source community since its inception. He’s been writing about the subject for more than ten years, and has been a pro tech journalist for twenty. You’ve probably cursed his articles at least a few times—and cheered them even more often.

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My name is Joe Brockmeier, though most of my friends and colleagues call me Zonker. I’m a Linux geek, and have been using Linux since 1996 when I discovered Slackware Linux, and have been working with Linux and writing about it since about 1999.

I’ve written for Linux Magazine, Sys Admin, IBM developerWorks, Linux Weekly News, Enterprise Linux Magazine, NewsFactor, ComputorEdge, Corante, ZDNet, Unix Review, NewsForge.com, Linux.com, and a few other publications that slip my mind at the moment. I’ve also written and contributed to books about Slackware Linux, DocBook, Linux Networking, and other open source topics.

After covering Linux and open source for nine years as a tech journalist, I was pleased to have the opportunity to join Novell as openSUSE Community Manager. My job here will be to serve as an advocate for the openSUSE community to Novell, to make sure the openSUSE community has the tools it needs to function and grow, to put the word out about openSUSE and what’s going on within the project, and to promote openSUSE.

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James Turner, contributing editor for oreilly.com, is a freelance journalist who has written for publications as diverse as the Christian Science Monitor, Processor, Linuxworld Magazine, Developer.com and WIRED Magazine. In addition to his shorter writing, he has also written two books on Java Web Development (“MySQL & JSP Web Applications” and “Struts: Kick Start”). He is the former Senior Editor of LinuxWorld Magazine and Senior Contributing Editor for Linux Today. He has also spent more than 25 years as a software engineer and system administrator, and currently works as a Senior Software Engineer for Kronos Incorporated. His past employers have included the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Xerox AI Systems, Solbourne Computer, Interleaf, the Christian Science Monitor and contracting positions at BBN and Fidelity Investments. He is a committer on the Apache Jakarta Struts project and served as the Struts 1.1B3 release manager. He lives in a 200 year old Colonial farmhouse in Derry, NH along with his wife and son. He is an open water diver and instrument-rated private pilot, as well as an avid science fiction fan.

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Jennifer has spent her career helping companies, organizations and people promote what’s most important to them. If there is such a thing as a PR nerd, she is it.

Jennifer has spent more than four years at Page One PR where she runs the public relations program for The Linux Foundation, formerly known as the Open Source Development Labs. She also managed the launches of the nonprofit Software Freedom Law Center and the Open Solutions Alliance, and heads the public relations programs for open source software companies Funambol and Jaspersoft. Recent projects have included work with Google’s I/O Developer Conference, Novell and Zend Technologies. Prior to joining Page One PR, Cloer was at The Metropolitan Group where she worked on media relations programs for sustainable businesses such as gDiapers and green-builder Gerding Edlen. Jennifer also spent a number of years working as a PR manager at Tektronix, where she led communications for the mobile test business lines.

Jennifer has volunteered with her PR services for the HIV Alliance and the National Association for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), among others. A former legislative aide, she holds a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon.

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