SCaLE 22x: Community, Reflection, and Second Chances
The Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE) has always been more than just another tech conference—it was originally where old-school UNIX greybeards and fresh-faced Linux hackers came together to swap war stories, raise a mug, and geek out over free and open source software. In a world dominated by corporate-driven tech conferences, SCaLE remains a grassroots, community-run event that has managed to grow without losing its soul.
I’d first heard about SCaLE from some early Linuxcare employees. Back in the day, I had founded the Silicon Valley and Bay Area Linux Users Groups, and while I wouldn’t say I had my finger on the pulse of everything, keeping tabs on interesting California based community-driven events was both a personal passion and a professional necessity. SCaLE stood out because it felt like the perfect crossover camp—where veteran UNIX folks and the new wave of Linux enthusiasts could meet, collaborate, and share ideas.
SCaLE started in 2002 as a passion project by Ilan Rabinovitch, Orv Beach, Gareth Greenaway, and some members of the USENIX Los Angeles chapter. What began as a single-day event with a handful of speakers quickly exploded into one of the largest open-source conferences in North America. Over the years, it expanded into a four-day event packed with keynotes, hands-on workshops, and specialized tracks, covering everything from kernel development to DevOps and cloud computing. Now, in its 22nd year, it’s still entirely volunteer-run and remains a must-attend gathering for the open source community. I fondly recall past conversations with Linuxcare employees about who was there, who they spotted, who was working for whom, and, of course, Rick Moen was there. That was enough to convince me. Fast forward to 2023—I was working at CIQ, the primary sponsor, supporter, and all-around champion of Rocky Linux, the rightful successor to CentOS (and yes, I will fight you on this). CIQ was cool enough to let me sponsor a booth, so off I went. Mutual friends of Ilan told me I had to introduce myself, so I did. When I finally met him—and the rest of the SCaLE organizers—I was struck by the kind of grace that only comes from running community events for over 20 years, and at, well… massive scale (pun absolutely intended). As someone who once led the first and largest Linux Users Group in the country, I immediately felt a deep respect and camaraderie with him. That respect only grew as I watched him dash off to handle something important—because at SCaLE, there’s always something important to handle.
The CIQ booth was sandwiched between the Debian team and the IEEE—you couldn’t ask for better neighbors. Swapping chocolate and coffee with the Debian team was inspiring, catching up with the IEEE folks was an incredible learning experience, and every visitor to our booth was a reminder that, above all, humans make the world a better place.
Processing the Past, Embracing the Present
The next four days were incredibly therapeutic. As the founder and original CEO of Linuxcare—the first company to offer enterprise-class support for Linux during the wild early days of the dot-com boom—I had to face a lot of old wounds from crushed dreams. We had big ambitions, wanting to be the go-to support network, the 1-800 number for Linux, and we pulled in some of the best open source talent around, like Rasmus Lerdorf (creator of PHP), Rusty Russel (IPchains/IPmasq), Greg Lehey (FreeBSD), Andrew Tridgell (behind Samba and rsync), Alessandro Rubini—too many to name.
But like so many startups, we made rookie mistakes. We hired some wrong people, listened to advice when we should’ve trusted our instincts, and, honestly, I was completely unprepared to be a CEO. It was my first time at the helm, and I was in way over my head and instead of surrounding me with people who knew how to navigate the trials of startups, I was replaced by our investors. We got caught up in the startup hype, rushed into growth without a solid foundation, and relied too heavily on a few big clients—many of whom were other startups. Then, just as we were gearing up for an IPO, everything unraveled. Our CEO was airlocked (thank god), the dot-com bubble burst, most of our customers went broke, layoffs and consolidation followed, and everything came crashing down.
When you truly love your employees and the community, watching that happen to something I helped create is devastating. The guilt can be crushing. Looking back, it was a brutal but valuable lesson in leadership, business, and trust. At the time, it felt like failure, but in reality, it was one of those experiences that reshapes you. And during those four days at SCaLE, I finally had the chance to process it all.
Finding Redemption in the Community
That processing happened in two ways. First—and most importantly—through the people. I ran into old friends and former colleagues, like Jim Dennis, the legendary Linux Answer Guy, and Rick Moen. The meme at the time was that any event of importance in the open source community could be gauged by “Rick Moen was there!” Rick has been deeply involved in the Bay Area Linux scene for decades, attending just about every gathering, contributing to discussions, and helping people new to Linux navigate the complexities. And indeed, Rick was there along with Heather Stern, Jon “Maddog” Hall, Ken Thompson, Silona Bonewald - and so many others, seeing them again was truly incredible.
Reconnecting with everyone reminded me that, for a time, we really were at the forefront of something amazing. I broke down in tears after multiple hugs and catch-up sessions, and in that moment, I realized something profound: we had become the greybeards. And with that realization, and much forgiveness came a profound sense of redemption. Those of us who tried to make a difference hadn’t failed—we had simply lived through the cycles of success and struggle that define both business and life. Second chances are real, but only if you learn from your mistakes.
Paying It Forward
Which is how I landed my job at CIQ.
It’s rare to find a job where the core requirement is, “You’ve made all these mistakes before. What did you learn from them, and can you do it better this time?” Maybe, in my case, having spent 20 years in the enterprise world after leaving open source helped me develop a much deeper understanding of customers and their needs. I’ve come to see that what was once radical and cutting-edge in open source has now become best practice. People know, understand, and generally embrace open source.
So in that sense—mission accomplished.
And now, we’re continuing that mission at SCaLE 22x, taking place on March 6-9, 2025, at the Pasadena Convention Center. CIQ will be at Booth #124, alongside Rocky Linux at Booth #304, and we couldn’t be more excited to connect with the incredible open source community once again. We’re here to support, to listen, and to share ideas—whether it’s about Linux, infrastructure, cloud computing, or just the future of open-source innovation.
SCaLE has always been a place where passion meets purpose, where conversations turn into collaborations, and where a simple hallway chat can spark the next big idea. For us at CIQ, being here isn’t just about showcasing our work; it’s about reinforcing our commitment to doing the right thing—supporting the projects and people that make open source thrive. We’re also hiring, and we know that the best minds in open source are the ones who truly understand the power of community. If you’re passionate about open source, about building something that matters, or just want to swap stories about where Linux has been and where it’s going—come find us. Let’s talk, collaborate, and shape the future together.
