As it turns out, Mark Twain has long been wrongly credited for saying “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Nonetheless, with each visit I marvel at the accuracy of this statement, and even moreso at my ability to completely disregard it every time I pack my suitcase and head this way. Accordingly, more than a few calories were shed quivering this morning while en route to the opening of the LinuxWorld San Francisco 2006 conference, held at the downtown Moscone Center.

This morning’s frosty feeling was soon replaced with a shiver of excitement once entering the facility, as it was absolutely jam-packed with attendees both fresh out of Lawrence Lessig’s opening keynote on the Free Culture movement and those ready to break down the gates of the exposition hall. With over 200 exhibitors present, this was one of the largest turnouts I’ve seen in the more than 10 LinuxWorld events I’ve attended over the past several years. One of the more interesting booths included a mammoth Motorola presence, highlighted by its rather slick “Dance, Dance” arcade game, where contestants attempt to dance in sync in conjunction with a rapidly passing series of steps. Other noted organizations included Ubuntu, the increasingly popular Wiki-solutions provider Splunk, and even Garmin.

While the technology discussion is great, I’d be sorely remiss to not touch upon the more important aspects of any conference: food and refreshments. If you’re attending the show and are looking for a great place to eat lunch, I highly recommend the A.G. Ferrari deli, located at 688 Mission Street, just a short walk from the Moscone. After the show, head over to the Thirsty Bear located at 661 Howard Street. Avoid their so-called authentic Spanish tapas, but definitely indulge in the great in-house brewed beer.

If you’re in the Bay Area and can spare a morning or afternoon, put off cleaning the desk for another day, as this is clearly one of the premier technical networking events in the country.

Jason