Re: LISA...how good

[Elizabeth Zwicky <crash.neu.sgi.com">zwicky]

I am, in some sense, a USENIX executive, or at least a SAGE board
member (executive does tend to imply that they actually *pay* you,
which is far from being the case). Since my opinion is therefore
terribly biased, I wouldn't bother to provide it, except that somebody
just said that LISA is the only system administration conference.
It's my personal favorite; it's certainly the largest, and the
longest-running; but it's not the only one. Most years there are
three, and last year there were four. In addition to LISA, there is
SANS in the US; LISA tends to aim at the cutting edge, while SANS
leans more towards current best practice. (LISA is also about 1,500
people to SANS' 300, which you may regard as either more variety or
too big a crowd.) In Australia, there is SAGE-AU's annual conference,
and last year SAGE-UK also had a conference. 

If you've never had the experience of being in the same space with
dozens, hundreds, or thousands of other system administrators, you owe
it to yourself to try it; even if the tutorials and the talks don't
help you, the discussion at coffee breaks is an education in itself. 
I go to LISA every year, even if I have to pay out of my own pocket.

	Elizabeth D. Zwicky
	zwickycorp.sgi.com
	(Sender may be farther away than she appears.)