Microsoft's Linux developer Bill Hilf pulled out of the conference. There has been some press suggesting that this may be because Microsoft does not want to let Hilf in front of the media. Do you agree?

I have no idea why Hilf pulled out of the conference. I can, however, imagine how I would feel coming to a conference that (for the most part) was openly hostile to me. I would rather spend my time at a conference where I might have a few friends, although in his case I can not imagine where that would be.

I, on the other hand, would love to go to a Microsoft conference and do a keynote to tell people how well Linux interoperates with Microsoft products. But Microsoft never invites me!

I did participate in a panel in Portugal with a Microsoft manager regarding "Entrepreneurship and Management". He told what a great company Microsoft was. I told people how to make and save money.

Tell me a little more about the John Lions' auction that you are planning to hold at the conference and how much you hope to raise from it. (John Lions was an Australian-born computer scientist and is best known for his book, Lion's Commentary on Unix 6th edition, with Source Code. He was the founding president of the Australian Unix Users' Group 1984-86.)