Will Debian have a booth at linuxworldexpo? A BoF?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Hereon (hereon2003@yahoo.com):

> (I emailed to svlug list asking if anyone wanted to move the Aug svlug
> meeting (1st wednesday) to LWE, but got no responses.)

You'd probably want to post that to the officers' list, rather than the
main discussion list.  But half the things SVLUG does and doesn't do
will probably remain permanently inscrutable.

> I'm wondering if it might be a fun idea to have a Debian  BOF at
> someplace like at the top of one of the Twin Peaks in SF.  I'm told it
> might be just a simple public transportation ride up Market street to
> get to twin peaks. 

The San Francisco Muni (the erstwhile Municipal Railway) Route 37 Corbett 
bus runs partway up the east side of Twin Peaks.  You'd get off
somewhere on Crestline Drive, and hoof it up the rest of the way.  See:
http://transitinfo.org/Muni/

> The advantage is it could be a fun place to have a meeting - nice
> scenery, so I'm told.

There are three logical spots on Twin Peaks to gather.  Picture the area
in your mind as a figure-eight road looping around two small hills,
maybe 50 metres from the top.  Access roads wind up from the south (from
Market) and from the northwest (from 17th Street and other places).

Near the north-east side of the loop road is a traffic pullout, parking
area, and viewpoint with a sort of parapet and walking area.  I don't
remember there being any tables or other facilities.  On a good day, the
area might not be strewn with broken glass, and so you mostly encounter,
there, asphault, concrete, occasional car exhaust, and (of course) a
good view directly down Market and across the Bay Bridge.  

Then, of course, there are the two hills, themselves.  Dirt paths run up
from the loop road, which anyone in reasonably good physical shape can
negotiate.  During the summer, very strong winds blow across there about
half the time.  Afternoons can bring fog, which bury the peaks and can
turn you into a windblown icicle, instead of merely windblown.

The view might be very slightly better than at the traffic pullout, but
not so you'd notice.  The difference is mostly that of ambiance.

No "facilities" in the urbanite sense, just scrub and rock.  Wear a
windbreaker, if not a parka.  Some parts of the hill _below_ the loop
road have wild blackberry bushes, which are in season and quite
delicious.


> And summer is the best time of year to hope for good weather outside
> for a meeting in SF.

Hah, hah!  New to this area, right?  For about 70% of the land area of
the city of San Francisco, most days in summer are windy and cold,
especially in the afternoons and evenings.  It's a matter of California
geography.  Let me explain:

Running down the middle of the state is the valley of the San Joaquin
and Sacramento Rivers (the "Central Valley"), about 100 km wide and 1000
km long, surrounded on both sides by mountains.  During the summer, that
valley becomes really, really hot -- 35 degrees C and more.  As it heats
up, that air tries to rise -- which requires sucking in air under it
from the sides.  Problem:  There are mountains.  Solution:  There's _one_ 
hole in the mountains, the outlet of the two rivers, the Sacramento
River Delta (locally, "the Delta"), which in pre-human times forced an 
exit to the Pacific Ocean through the Coast Range. 

That river outlet is called the Golden Gate, and just south of it is the
city of San Francisco, forming (for all its hills) a relatively low
spot, which cool, moisture-laden air comes blasting over from the ocean,
as it's sucked up through the narrow pipe of the Delta to the Central
Valley.  As the ocean air hits the San Francisco coast, it forms fog,
especially in the afternoons.  Thus, up on top of Twin Peaks, on days
when this syndrome has set in, you get either a minor hurricane blowing
over you from the west, or a minor hurricane _with fog_.

When a big mass of that cool air, moving inland, reaches the Central
Valley and settles in, the hot air starts rising and the Central Valley
enjoys a several-day respite from the preceding heat wave.  For the next
several days, with no air being drawn up the Delta, San Francisco gets
a few days of no wind, and consequently what for San Francisco is hot
summer weather (25-30 degrees C).  At that point, hot air starts rising
in the Central Valley, again, and the cycle repeats.

Anyhow, scheduling an outdoor summer event in San Francisco can
consequently be a bit of a gamble:  Your weather might be balmy, or you
might face an arctic western wind blast laden with fog.  The areas least
prone to that problem include the Mission District and other areas in
the south-east part of the city, partially shielded by city hills.  The
areas _most_ affected include Twin Peaks, the Sunset and Richmond
districts (in the west of the city), and various districts along the
northern shore.

> The disadvantages would be transit time, which might add 30-60 min each
> way to get to and from the meeting.  Also, no chairs, no meeting "room"
> (and hence perhaps colder and noiser.)

Getting there from Moscone Convention Center in the South of Market
district is a bit non-trivial.  You could walk north to Market, board
Muni light rail westbound ("outbound") to Castro Street Station, go up
to street level, and catch the 37 Corbett bus, exiting on Crestline or
somewhere near there and hoofing it the rest of the way.

> But who knows?  It could turn out to be a warm San Francisco night.  :)

In the summer?  Don't bet on it.

-- 
Cheers,           find / -user your -name base -print | xargs chown us:us
Rick Moen
rick@linuxmafia.com