Hi all,

It's been a while since I've given an update on the conference situation, so here it is.

We have got some funding. A huge amount of thanks for this situation go out to the FSF, who have once again agreed to be our principal sponsor for the event, and to the many donors who have contributed via paypal over the last couple of weeks. We should be able to pay some expenses of some people. It is unlikely that we will pay all expenses of anybody, but it's a start.

Since there is lots of free housing being offered by the Norwegians, we will not pay any hotel expenses. Slumming it is more fun anyway (unless you have back problems). Expenses will be given in priority to people who *need* the money to get to Norway. So could people who would like to come to Norway, and need assistance to get there, please contact me with the following information -

- the cost of getting to Kristiansand and home - How much of that you think you can pay - whether you need money in advance, or can pay for the full cost of the ticket and get some back afterwards. - Where you're coming from.

Given the relative high costs of getting to Norway from outside Europe, I think it's fair to give priority to Americans who need support, and perhaps a New Zealander living in Australia, if he can make it (?). I know we're cutting it tight with this, but I did not have a confirmation of any real funding until this week. And I don't yet have a lot of money, but there is some. So if people need some money in advance, it can be arranged.

I have also been looking into getting t-shirts printed. We have a generous offer from a new online clothing company (who contacted us a few weeks ago asking for permission to use Wilber on shirts) to print silk-screen on good cotton t-shirts for $5 per shirt (cost price), including the cost of the plates, excluding delivery & duty. I am also looking into sharing t-shirt printing with the GNOME Foundation since they will be printing shirts for the conference as well. Currently, we're aiming for about 40 shirts, most of which will be sold to cover some costs. This will involve a cash outlay beforehand, which might be a problem for me, but we will work something out.

Cheers, Dave.