competitions

Ten ways to win or lose

Entry is free with your registration and you can enter as many as you like. Every description below says what actually happens and who can enter, because half of these have names that explain nothing.

returning eventstudent and open divisions

Ethernet Speed Wire Competition

You are handed a length of network cable and two connectors, and you wire both ends correctly as fast as you can. A tester confirms the cable actually works. A wrong cable is a wrong cable no matter how fast it was made.

No experience needed. Someone shows you the wiring order first, and plenty of people enter having never held a crimping tool.

formatTimed, three attempts maximum per entrant, best time counts.

entryOpen to anyone. Student division for currently enrolled students, open division for everyone else.

spectatorsYes. This one draws a crowd.

prize Named on the leaderboard, plus a prize per division. confirm

[embed slot reserved]live leaderboard

The leaderboard is a separate application, not part of this site. This block is the reserved slot it renders into on the day, sized 16 by 9 with a fixed height so the page does not shift when it loads.

[confirm: leaderboard url]

Open the live leaderboard

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Arch Install Speedrun

Arch is a version of Linux with no installer wizard. You type every step yourself. Entrants install it on a spare machine using the command line only, and the finish line is the first successful login after a reboot.

format Timed, one attempt, machines provided entry You should have installed Linux before watching Yes, screen mirrored for the room

Linux Ricing Competition

Ricing means customising how your desktop looks and behaves: colours, fonts, panels, the lot. Bring a screenshot of yours, or rice a machine here on the day. The room votes.

format Submit by 14:00, voting at 16:00 entry Anyone running Linux, any experience watching Yes, and you vote

Vim Golf and Editor Throwdown

Vim is a text editor driven entirely by the keyboard. Golf means making a given edit in the fewest keystrokes. You get a starting file, a target file, and a keystroke count. Other editors welcome in the open round.

format Three puzzles, lowest total keystrokes entry Beginner round uses two keys and a cheat sheet watching Yes, keystrokes shown live

Regex Puzzle Race

A regular expression is a short pattern that finds text: every phone number in a file, every line with a date. You get twelve puzzles of rising difficulty and forty minutes. Pen and paper round available for anyone who prefers it.

format 40 minutes, most puzzles solved entry Open. First four puzzles are taught, not tested watching Quietly, please

Name That Distro and Daemon Trivia

A distro is one packaged version of Linux, and there are hundreds. A daemon is a program that runs quietly in the background. Team quiz: identify desktops from a screenshot, match daemons to the job they do. Teams of four, formed on the spot.

format Three rounds, teams of four entry Open, and mixed teams do better watching Yes, join a team instead

Kernel Panic Speed Diagnosis

A kernel panic is what a Linux machine does instead of a blue screen: it stops and prints why. We break a machine in a known way, you read the output and say what is wrong. Fastest correct diagnosis wins.

format Three broken machines, timed entry Comfortable with the terminal watching Yes, and it is a decent way to learn

Bash One Liner Contest

Bash is the language you type into a Linux terminal. Given a small job, such as counting how often each word appears in a file, write the shortest single line that does it correctly. Judged on correctness first, then length, then whether anyone can read it.

format Two jobs, submit on paper or by mail entry Open. Worked examples posted at the table watching Winners read out and explained

Self Hosted Service Bingo

A bingo card of services people run at home: file sync, photo library, media server, password store, home automation, your own email. Tick what you already run, or get a square signed off by setting one up at the clinic during the day.

format Card at the door, runs all day entry Open, including people running nothing yet watching Not really a spectator event

Command Line Kung Fu Challenge

A set of small tasks done entirely in the terminal: find a file, fix a permission, work out what is using all the disk. Two brackets, one for people who learned the terminal this year and one for everyone else.

format Ten tasks, timed, two brackets entry Open. Newcomer bracket allows a cheat sheet watching Yes, terminals mirrored

Prizes, plainly

Recognition on the day, and small prizes where a sponsor has offered one. Nothing here has an entry fee, and nothing needs equipment you do not already own. [confirm: prize list and sponsors]