Red Hat's Geek World Contest Makes the Real World Stranger than Fiction

Red Hat Software's latest attempt to dissuade anyone from thinking they were dealing with your garden variety techies is Geek World, a contest that will put six techies up in a coastal North Carolina beach house to be taped, touted and tested in a manner the likes of which the world hasn't seen since Puck got kicked out of the Real World.

These fine accommodations are only the beginning of the gifts and distinctions that will be showered upon the winners of Red Hat Software's Geek World contest. That's right, Red Hat is going to pry six Linux geeks away from their altruistic ends to enjoy seven days of idol worship and hedonism in a beach house in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. from May 22 to 29. Of course, because nothing is free in this world (with the exception of Linux source code), the winners will have to create and maintain a GeekWorld Web site for the duration of their stay.

The fun starts on April 26, when Red Hat will begin to post special Gnome footprints on their Web site, www.redhat.com. Contestants will have to go to the Red Hat Web site and find the Gnome footprint at least five of the ten days from April 26 to May 5. The winners will be whisked off to Raleigh, N.C. to be the belles of the bizarre at Linux Expo on Saturday, May 22. After some royal treatment and a grand send-off, the winners live in the lap of Linux-induced luxury in a beach house where their every nasal-nerdy laugh and gawky gaffe will be videotaped, photographed and documented for the world to see.

Further details of the contest are available at the Red Hat Linux portal, www.redhat.com. We'd be thrilled to get you in touch with the kooky folks at Red Hat who dreamed all this up. Just give us a call at (781) 684-0770 or email redhat@schwartz-pr.com.

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