From: kolstad@BSDI.COM (Rob Kolstad)
Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix
Subject: Results from San Antonio `Topic Box'
Date: 11 Sep 1992 17:46:54 -0400
Organization: Berkeley Software Design
Distribution: comp
NNTP-Posting-Host: bsdi.com
Keywords: Idea for papers, topics


The Board of Directors met at the San Antonio USENIX meeting (June 7,
1992) at their regular pre-conference day-long session.  Among the items
discussed was the topics of papers at conferences.  There was some notion
that papers any more just didn't know how to address the mainstream topics
that people wanted to hear about.

It was then suggested that maybe USENIX audiences had a relatively wide
spectrum of interests and that a small set of papers would never satisfy
the majority of the participants, since each one had a different set of
topics they most enjoyed.  One board member suggested that each person in
the meeting write down five of the topics that interested them most.  The
results were fascinating:  with a minimum of 5 different topics and a
maximum of 70 different possible, over 44 topics were represented.

That seemed like not too much overlap of interests to me.

So, it was proposed that we have a `Topics' box at the conference so that
attendees could put their interests in the box and we'd know that the
overlap was, in fact, much greater.

This note includes the results.  Some people had more than 5 topics; a few
had fewer than 5.  Of the 126 votes cast, 89 separate topics (as merged by
Greg Rose and myself) were chosen.  Again, not much overlap.  Very
interesting.

The results are below.  If you wanted to submit a selection, but didn't,
please e-mail it to kolstad@bsdi.com -- before you read the list.  I have
reason to believe tainting makes a big difference.

If your submission isn't here, somehow I have lost it.  Please send it to
kolstad@bsdi.com.  Two people wrote notes -- they have been forwarded to
the Board of Directors.  I can not explain all the topics; some of their
meanings are mysterious to me.


6 Mobile Computers
5 Gigabit networking
5 Distributed applications (w/high availability)
4 Supercomputing/visualization
4 Distributed Unix single system image
3 Telecommuting
2 Very large network/system administration
2 VLDB/Distributed information management
2 TCL
2 System tools/tips
2 Real time & Unix
2 Object oriented database/persistent stores
2 O/S level fault tolerance & fault tolerant systems
2 New network services & futures
2 Network resource allocation
2 Multimedia (including mail)
2 Massively parallel software & operating system
2 Integrated sysadmin
2 Case study:  intellectual property & s/w patents
2 Admin/Architectural issues for Large-Scale CAD/CAM & VLSI design
2 AIX oriented topics (LVM, SMIT, ODM)
2 "Tiny" interpreted languages
1 WAN Information Navigation (WAIS, Gopher, etc.)
1 Video/Audio/Teleconf on internet
1 Van Jacobsen Dartnet report
1 User interface tools
1 User friendly interfaces
1 Usenet news
1 UNIX in the K-12 environment
1 UNIPLEX
1 The Real World:  UNIX applications for the common man
1 Testing & exercising O/S and applications
1 Students
1 Stackable filesystems
1 Special purpose clusters:  design & support
1 Secure networking
1 Scheduling algorithms for multiprocessors
1 Scalable tools (>100x)
1 Realtime/Embedded systems
1 Protecting critical applications
1 Programming language rut/Death by C++
1 Programming for X
1 Portable embedded systems
1 Perl extensions
1 Perl cum X
1 Perils w/BSD 4.4
1 Performance enhancement
1 POSIX progress
1 Online services available
1 One hour tutorials on various utilities
1 OSF update
1 Nontechnical side of system administration
1 More parallel topics:  Like DECUS
1 Measures of quality or competence in networked UNIX sites
1 Mailbox management
1 Low cost Internet
1 Logging file systems
1 Language Design
1 Kernel subsystem performance papers which focus on the numbers & improvements
1 Justifying USENIX conference attendance
1 Invited talk like the ML talk for Scheme
1 Invited talk like the ML talk for Modula-3
1 Interpreted GUIs
1 IP address space restrictions
1 How to setup support facilities
1 How to integrate vendor's supplied systems -- setting reasonable expectations
1 Heterogeneous environments
1 Gigabit workstations
1 Frame relay, ATM
1 FDDI, HIPPI
1 Extinction of disks
1 Ethics:  personal data
1 Electronic Data Interchange/Business Objects
1 Disconnected operation
1 Dealing with the customer
1 DS1 (64K digitized voice) multiplex
1 Computers for your person
1 Computer Music
1 Cheap typesetting
1 Case study:  security breach
1 Cache strategies for file pages
1 Basic, intermediate, & advanced general topics (sys mgt, net mgt)
1 BOF:  Things I did wrong
1 Algorithms
1 Advances in OS/Platform Architecture (particularly I/O system advances)
1 Abbreviated presentations of training courses
1 ATM prototypes and products
1 AFS -> UNIX
1 64-bit
-- 
         /\      Rob Kolstad           Berkeley Software Design, Inc. 
      /\/  \     kolstad@bsdi.com      7759 Delmonico Drive
     / /    \    719-593-9445          Colorado Springs, CO  80919
Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix