About LBW
From LBW2007
The "nitty gritty"
Each year since 1999 around 80 people have attended the Linuxbierwanderung and set up a computer network in a local hall which becomes the base for the week's activities. Members of the group give talks and presentations on topics such as Open Source Software on Lego Mindstorm Robots, the features of Mobile IP, and the internals of the Netfilter/IPtables firewall built into Linux, among many others.
Besides the technical activity, the group organises walks and excursions in the local area -- previous events have included a visit to a radio telescope, a three-country walk in the region of Schengen, tours of a local cave system, and for the more active members of the group, climbs in the hills and mountains nearby.
In the evenings, the group enjoys visits to local restaurants and bars, as well as holding an International Potluck evening, where groups from different countries prepare examples of national dishes and unusual foods, for the diverse international visitors to the event to sample.
LBW is an entirely volunteer-run event, funded from donations from the attendees towards the cost of the hall and internet access etc and some sponsorship from companies who are keen to promote the international meeting of Open Source users and developers, in an environment of open access to expertise, good food, and the local countryside.
Visitors to each year's LBW arrange their own accommodation and travel to the event (although the website provides plenty of assistance with both of these, and transport is often shared by people travelling from the same areas), and there is no set fee for attendance. This enables students on a low budget to join in just as easily as Open Source consultants, although the latter generally contribute a little extra to the costs of running the week-long event.
