LinuxCon, the Linux Foundation's brand new conference intended to draw "the best and brightest...including core developers, administrators, end users, community managers and industry experts," is still several months away. What isn't several months away, however, is the deadline for Early Bird registration — if you want to catch that worm, you'll have to get to running.

The first annual LinuxCon, to be held in Portland, Oregon, will run from September 21 - 23, immediately before the second annual Linux Plumber's Conference, to be held September 23 - 25. The conference is one of, if not the, first Linux Foundation conferences to feature an open invitation to all Linux users — most of the foundation's events are by invitation only.

Speakers and panel presenters at the event will include Linus Torvalds, our fearless leader, the now beardless (or at least, less-bearded) Bdale Garbee, Hewlett-Packard's Linux CTO, Mark Shuttleworth, founder and Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life of Ubuntu, among others. Presentations range from Transforming Your Company with Open Source to GRO: Surviving 10Gbp/s with Cycles to Spare and on through Virtually Impossible: Successfully Managing the Virtual Data Center and Using SCST to Developer SCSI Storage Systems on Linux.

In addition, there are events focused on connecting with other users, which include developer lounges, technology showcases, and "evening events," among others. Of course, there is the colocated Linux Plumber's Conference as well as FOSS DevCamp, LDAPCon, and openSUSE Workshop.

The registration fee for the event is $399, but — at the risk of sounding like a Ronco commercial — those who register today receive the Early Bird rate of $299. Students — who must be enrolled in an accredited college or university at least part time — score the best deal, however, at $199. Even if you're not mid-matriculation, do not despair — various discounts are available, including 30% off for (individual) Linux Foundation members, and 15% off if three or more people from your company register.

Regardless, the place to do the deed is on the Linux Foundation's LinuxCon site.