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From The Australian LinuxExpo 108

Posted by CmdrTaco from the still-haven't-seen-a-kangaroo dept.
So I'm at Linux Expo Australia, enjoying the conference. You can hit the link below to read assorted random relevant (and irrelevant) notes from the show floor. No, I haven't seen a kangaroo.

After more than 24 hours of airport/airplane limbo and uncountable time-zone changes, we arrived in Sydney. After 20 hours of sleep, I was almost ready to face the world outside of my hotel room.

The Australian LinuxExpo is held in Darling Harbor in Sydney, which is apparently the epicenter of all Australian tourist activity. The exchange rate is nice tho, so if I wanted to to buy boomerangs or didgeridoos or something, it'd be easy. You can't walk 20 feet without stumbling into a tourist-trap store.

The show itself is fairly typical for a Linux conference. Of course, without a Slashdot booth to hide out in, I'm spending time at either the Debian Booth (hooray! Debian is international!) or at the LinuxCare booth: this sucker is two stories. The ground floor is a little stage where Tridge and others preach their word, and upstairs is a PC graveyard with boxes ranging from iBooks, G4s and Ultra 5s to various laptops, all plugged in to the Net. This is of course where I write this.

Many of the usual suspects are here: SGI, Red Hat, Corel, LinuxCare, Pick, Debian. Absent are VA and Andover (both are represented, although in much smaller numbers than other shows and without the overhead of a booth).

The advantage of not having a booth is that I'm not obligated to spend the whole show trapped in a 20x20 square answering FAQs all day ... instead I get to see talks. Raster did his usual show on Enlightenment, and Rusty did a great job on Netfilter (including revealing that I could use perl to write my own packet filters if I was either clinically insane, or just bored).

I also sat on a panel along with several other much more interesting folks (Tridge, Raster, Terpestra, and hosted by Chris DiBona) on 'Preserving the Linux Community.' Spent a lot of time discussing who is the Linux community (answers ranging from "Anyone who boots Linux" to "Anyone who cares about their operating system and runs Linux.") Eventually the discussion turned to the future of Linux, DeCSS, the MPAA, and what the new corporate influences can do to help. Not a bad panel, although not exactly the busiest of auditoriums.

Maddog gave a good speech last night on his predictions for Linux. Lots of good stuff there, too ... he had some interesting comments about Linux's growth and third world countries. People who are waiting for "Permission" that obviously will never arrive to extend Linux to do what they want it and need it to do. Not so sure about all his talk of "Linux Camps." The average hacker don't look so hot in Swim Trunks ;)

So with the conference portion of the show wrapping up, Raster, Hormes, Rusty and other Aussies are gonna take us to an "Authentic Australian Pub" this evening. I suspect that I won't have a solid memory of the evening: if there is one thing I know for sure it's that these Australians like their lager in great quantities ... I'm not sure if my liver can keep up.

I'll be back in the States next week, after what amounts to my first real vacation since starting Slashdot 2.5 years ago. See ya then.
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From The Australian LinuxExpo More

From The Australian LinuxExpo

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  • Re:Rumour mongering... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I cracked up when i read that. Strangely (?) I came up with the same conclusion, Microsoft was nowhere to be seen and I was expecting to be assaulted by microsoft trying to flog their new OS left right and centre. My only conclusion was because of the linux section.

    A couple of observations, the people in the linux section seemed to be more personable. Maybe becasue it didn't feel like they were just trying to flog their wares and were more willing just to chat and present some useful/interesting information. (The PHP3 mini reference/flyer form Everything Linux seemed to get snatched up real quick) ;)

    Even though some of the big boys (IBM/Compaq/Intel) came to the linux expo rather than the IT expo, in their presentations linux seemed to be only mentioned in passing, as if inserted into their usual jingle at the last minute. But the presentations at the linuxcare stand more than made up for it, made it propbably the most interesting computer related expo i ever attended.

    PS Did anybody else experience a hassle with the ticketing? Whoever was responsible for the ticket database should be shot.

  • work in OZ ? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Off topic, but since there will be many aussies reading this topic...

    I'm toying with the idea of travelling in Oz for a year or so (NOT immigrating there !!) and I wondered if I can count on getting jobs along the way.. I'm a web developer with pretty good experience (ASP, PHP, SQL etc.) but I dont have a college degree and I'm not from commonwealth/US/europe. Do you reckon I stand a chance of getting a work visa or just work without it ? (again, I'm NOT immigrating)

  • Re:work in OZ ? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    try going here...

    http://www.seek.com.au/ [seek.com.au]

  • Maybe he should ask about Dropbears - a relative of the koala bear.....
  • Too right :)

    Funny thing is that I didn't hear about an Oz LE until this post, and it's not like I don't hang out in places where I wouldn't be told.

    Taco, if you want, there's a spare bed here for a couple of days holiday if you can make it over to Sandgroper territory. Just email the address above !

  • Look around Singapore and count the number of Starbucks and Coffeebeans shops. Not to mention Kenny Rogers, Pizza Huts, McDonalds ...

    Sydney thankfully has no chain coffee stores yet - and hopefully will not have any for a long while!

  • The George IV hotel's microbrewery's beer is sold at their Sydney pub, The Australia Hotel.

    It's in "The Rocks", another tourist precinct, but nicer than bland and boring Darling Harbour. The Rocks has nice old sandstone buildings; it's the site of some of the earliest settlement. It's almost underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

    MUCH easier to get to than Picton, especially if you are staying in the city and have limited time.
  • You're not from Victoria are you?

    Yep, I'm from Victoria... though thats not relevant here.

    The point I was making wasn't that VB was good/bad/indifferent, but that for a real fair dinkum aussie drink-fest, your choices would have to be VB or Carlton Draught...

    sure there are other beers (I agree Coopers ain't half bad, and Boags is even better), but if you want to go with the masses down under then a vb has to be your first stop...

  • Actually the one thing you didn't find in Sydney was Starbucks. Explanation: Australia received an enormous number of Italian immigrants in the 1950s and 1960s. With them they brought good quality coffee, so one can get an excellent and inexpensive latte on virtually any street corner in Sydney. Starbucks have done very well selling good but a bit overpriced coffee in countries where the coffee was previously terrible. (The US, Britain, Japan, even New Zealand). They have been more reluctant to enter markets with sophisticated coffee cultures already. I believe they are planning on entering the Australian market later this year, but they haven't yet done so.
  • Agree 100% on those _bad_ beers (cat piss). Coopers is good, but for a real meal, go for a Tooheys OLD !
  • Well, I'd completely forgotten about the Linux Expo that was on this week...even the "I got a free ticket offered to me two months ago" bit.

    Thank god Rob's reminded me...now I've got to find some way to convince myself to stay awake after finishing work at 7AM, and then drive from the Northern Beaches into into the city to visit the expo.

    However, as far as I can ascertain from some of the previous postings, it doesn't sound too big || spectacular?

    Anyone?

    Are they selling any funky wearable propaganda?

    -- Matt.
  • ill be at the debian stall :) popped in today and most people at the debian stall were sitting round on their bums with their laptops and bags and clothes all over the place, unlike most of the other stands. half the showroom isnt linuxexpo but i found this out to be fact only when i was leaving today. i was wondering why there were so many stands with windows as i moved away from the obviously linux area, and got lots of wierd looks when i hastily went to the dragon dictate stand excitedly asking about their linux release, except they didnt have one :( but those penthouse chicks were sexy says my gf cept i missed them. tomorrow ill make sure i dont wonder into the non-linux area asking about all the linux hardware support they have, or then again maybe i will :)
  • I wouldn't say NZ has lower crime rates

    I think BIgTed is comparing to the US. For a variety of reasons which are beyond the scope of this discussion, the US crime figures are currently much higher than practically anywhere in the so-called 'industrialized' world. Probably higher than a lot of places in the not-so-industrialized world, too, but I don't know off the top of my head.

  • nuh-uh ... The crap weather was for Barbra Streisand....

    "Don't rain on my parade" indeed!
  • An excellent idea. If you ever wondered why Tux looks the way he does, just see some fairy penguins....

    --
  • All that I wanna know is, have you met the Crocidile Hunter yet?
  • I don't know whether this is true for all Fosters in the US, but I looked at a 6 pack of it in a liquor store in Massachusetts once and saw that it was actually brewed in Canada! (!!!!!)

    So technically, it was imported, sorta.

  • all we need is all the techheads to migrate here and we'll have a force to take over and give this country the wiring it needs. think of all the converts we could make ! it would be absolute purity - an island of beer guzzling techies. Slastralia - no blue screens here :)
  • work visa's can be costly.
    can't work in australia unless you have one.

    I'm not sure when it comes to holidays if you are allowed to work at all.. if so.. it would more than likely be limited to 28 hours a week (usually for international students)

    there is demand for this sort of thing in Australia, (in almost every city)

    Eastern states would probably be easier to get work because there would be more of it there.. but WA is probably one of the better spots to lax out and enjoy - guess it depends on what your looking for :)

    either way.. some people in this country still like the idea of handing over cach and not telling the taxman.
  • Perhaps more of us would have come to the panal had we known you were there!!!! I certainly would have said hello if I'd known which one you were :(
  • How bout a dingo? have you seen one? And if so, has he eaten your baby?

  • Bah, VB is evil!

    Bottled Hahn or Coldies, New from a tap, and imported german beers from a can. :)
  • We're.... goin' ta Bonny Doon!
    We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
    We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
    We're goin' ta Bonny Doon!
  • Shit, there was a kangaroo in inner Melbourne
    the other day. Melbourne has a population
    of close to 3 million. Someone must be giving
    them lifts into town.

  • I wonder if CmdrTaco's seen a koala. That 'roo line sounds like an evasion.

    (No, this isn't a first post.. Maybe 3rd or 4th)

    ------
  • yeah, and he's keeping pretty weird hours too! ;)

    It sounds like the Linux community in Oz is pretty healthy. Of the two Aussies I work with here (Florida), one is a hard-core Linux user.
  • Fosters -- Canadian for beer!
    The Fosters brothers were two Americans who set up shop in Melbourne after beer was made illegal in the US. Once they could start selling beer back in the US they went back or they ended up in Canada.

    So I guess we must Blame Canada.

    Some how I don't think Rob will have any shortage of people to show him how and what to drink here. Too bad I can't find the picture of speakers table at CALU to link here...

    CmrdTaco should find his way to the southern cost to see the Pengiuns in the wild. It could be great PR and lots of fun too and it would be easy to get a huge group of /.'ers rounded up.
  • No, go to Adelaide, we have Magic Mountain!
  • Why oh why does everybody drink VB - the only Australian beer that tastes worse is Fosters and we get rid of most of that by exporting it.
  • I thought it was:
    ....a Japanese wife, Chinese food and a T-1 line.
  • Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "going out for a little Chinese", doesn't it?
  • The *REAL* Australian experience is a pub crawl in Kuta Beach, Bali.....and there they all drink Bintang (yum, yum)!
  • That's OK, CmdrTaco, I was recently on vacation in Australia for three weeks on the edge of the rainforest, and I didn't see any roos until the last three days at a distance. [earthlink.net]
  • Many years ago, closer to the discovery of .au by Capt. Cook, the Aboriginals of Cape York (right up the top) rather had a penchant for Chinese food. Err, rather, they had a taste for the Chinese that ran the washing business', etc amongst the gold rushes. :) Pitty they did'tn have a bottle of chiantee (?) back then. ;)

  • Hopefully he won't see a bunyip!
  • I'm an ex-Perthite recently of Paris, now of London. I live right near the Tottenham Court Road tube: there's a Subway and Starbuck's within 100m - but would you say London is being Americanized? Australia always was quite similar to America. Get the chip off your shoulder.
  • This method works in most countries (worked for me in the States for instance). It's actually legal.
  • Well it's good to see this part of the hemisphere get some international coverage. In New Zealand Linux is certainly becoming popular - for example it's the main OS on the servers in the Electrical Engineering Dept at Auckland University (where I am a student.) Yes we still have Windows installed - gotta play Minesweeper on something :-) Hopefully this exposure will waken the world to the IT going's on downunder. Films like the Matrix have helped to the extent that the gov'ts here are realising the potential. Many in New Zealand are wanting to promote NZ as an IT rich country, to try and get mainstream IT companies down here as a lifestyle choice. Better weather, lower crime rates etc... I for one would like to see that.
  • Haven't seen a 'roo yet? Pick any highway out of sydney. Go for a drive. You'll see your desired roadkill soon enough : )

    But seriously, catch a ferry across the harbour & got to Taronga Zoo. Not only lots of kangaroos (live ones!) but also funky things like playtypus' which are really hard to see in the wild. Enjoy.
  • but would you say London is being Americanized

    I would indeed say that.
  • hopefully the beer is better than the (cough) language :)
  • Don't worry!!! They'll do the same thing with IT2000 down here in october/november (I hope).
  • shhhh, dont make them come here! :)

    Seriously, Perth misses out on alot... it is *the* most isolated city in the world. The closest city is actually in South Africa I believe :)

    We actually have had KISS visit here 3 times (1980,1995,1998) so I think its about time one of those Linux conference thingies happened here. We have the best beer (do *not* drink Victorian stuff, its camel piss) and the best women...

    Besides, I couldnt make it to the Sydney one... and Id like to take some of my co-workers (VMS and NT zealots) to show them that Linux *is* supported and its not 'just a hackers OS full of hype'...

  • I rather enjoyed the VB I had in Copenhagen.
    (How are things, Jon and Colin?)
  • FWIW, I read in the Economist a few years ago that Sydney was about as crime-ridden as New York. In fact, you were more likely to be the victim of crime in Sydney than in New York. The difference is, in New York you are more likely to be the victim of violent crime - ie being stabbed, beaten, shot and so on. I'd take Sydney over that any day. And since I'm a Melbournian, that's saying something!
  • I'll need a water proof laptop before i hit the water slides.

  • CmdrTaco better still be willing to partee on Friday.
  • Forget koalas, kangaroos, and even penguins. I'm curious whether those wonderful folks at LinuxOne showed up...
  • It's true- the Fosters in America is imported from Canada.
  • I like the b-b-q koala on a stick with a cold, frosty Foster's!

    EEEEEWWWWWWW! I find that thought disgusting and increadibly insensitive to our Australian way of life. I, for one, would never touch a Fosters - Give me VB anytime.
  • think the Northern Territory police shot him a couple of months ago when he pulled a gun on them. I could be mistaken, but it was definately one of the blokes who do the outback show

    The guy you're thinking of didn't have a tv show. He was in a "Women's day" article about twenty years ago that got him the tag of the first crocodile hunter type guy. Ultimately he was just a big nutjob who eventually pushed his luck too far and they had to shoot him.
  • Geez this shits me:

    a: No one told me about a Linux Expo in Sydney this week. I could fly up there now, but I've missed the mardi gras, the expos half finished and it's apparently raining cats and dogs.

    b: Melbourne is the techie city in this country. While other places have been spending big time on Olympics construction we've been investing in the future. Though the new govt. hasn't even acknowledged the internet yet, the previous one basically "wired" the state and set us up as one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world.`
  • Is it just me or does it seem that all Aussie linux users are from WA. I'm Perth as well...
  • What is Australia, you ask? Well, if you took the collective populations of Arkansas and Kentucky, sent them on a trip to the beach, and gave them almost-cockney accents, you'd have an approximation of Australia.

    Ummm...That sounds like heaven to me. Not jealous are you at all?
  • Isn't he dead?

    I think the Northern Territory police shot him a couple of months ago when he pulled a gun on them. I could be mistaken, but it was definately one of the blokes who do the outback shows - I didn't pay too much attention at the time because I was busy packing up and moving to the UK.
    --

  • *smirk*

    I've lived in South Australia since I was born, and I've never eaten koala. Or kangaroo. Or emu. If you want a real Australian-specific meal, try a pie floater. They're a meat pie in pea soup, covered in sauce. When I first heard about them my instant reaction was "Oh, god, another tourist trap.", but I've actually found them to be quite nice :)

    Although, I guess I had drunken quite a bit of beer before having one...

    And as for the beer, the most common drink here is Victorian Bitter, or VB. IMHO, it tastes like crap. Try Cooper's Draught, or Sparkling Ale. Yum :)

  • Australia? Exotic? The capital cities sure aren't. However, if you travel inland quite a bit, or visit one of those touristy island type places (Kangaroo Island is rather nice, if a bit boring), you'll find exotic.
  • But thanks anyway.
  • Actually Rob, If I knew you where there, I would have bought you a REAL Beer (not the water you guys drink).

    I was supprise to see Rob Young giving a speach on the expo floor (Rob, thats wat flunkies are for). He was extreamly personable for a mult billionare, and Mad Dog was easy to talk too , and for all the trips he does here, he might as well be an Aussie.

    After all, these guys are URL's in a ./ story, it is nice to see that they are human (well Americans dont realy count :-)

  • Checkout http://www.dropbear.trav.net/ the official drop bear site.
  • I heard (about two years ago) that there was a pretty big loop-hole in getting sponsored work visas.

    Turns out you can/could get a recruitment agency to sponsor you. They then contract you out, erm, as a contractor, but technically you're working for the agency, etc., etc.

    Seemed to work for a guy I used to work with in the UK, anyway. Also gave him time to have lots of long breaks between contracts and go travelling around Australia.

    Not sure if the government has wised up to this yet...

    ...j
  • Linux Expo 2000 [itevents.co.uk] in London 1st/2nd June. I don't know what it's like (I couldn't make it last year), but it's there.
  • From what I've heard, London has metamorphosed into a sort of Cool Britannia theme park, a themed city owned and operated by multinational corporations, with the main market being tourists looking for that "authentic" London experience, as seen in the latest Working Title comedy.

    London is rapidly becoming Disneyland, replete with 97% surveillance camera coverage and conveniently-placed international-standard fast-food franchises; any sort of genuine grass-roots culture is being replaced by themed simulacra. (For example, go to Carnaby Street and witness all the superficial elements of the "swinging sixties" out in force.)
  • The best Australian beer I've tried is probably Boag's. It's a small Tasmanian brewery, costs a bit more than the mass-market swill, though has more flavour.

    I'm no expert on beer, mind you; though I won't buy the regular stuff these days.
  • Rob, as a former resident (now living in sandgroper territory), I'd like to suggest you get the time to visit a few places around Sydney. I'm sure your aussie hosts will show you the way, but here's my list for foreigners visiting Oz:

    • Blue Mountains/Katoomba area. Fantastic scenery and some really nice walks with real history.
    • King George IV pub, Picton. Make the finest microbrew stuff and have been doing it for decades, before it became trendy. Try the Dogboulter. I promise that you'll need to use one of the bedrooms there after two or three of these.
    • Any boat or ferry trip on the Harbour.
    • Royal National Park - Some place like Bundeena on the beach or the quieter Maainbar. If you can ride a motorbike, or opentop car, do the entire trip and stop off at Stanwell tops. Do this on the weekend because you'll get a heap of hang gliders, R/C types and occasionally a _big_ glider.
    There are many other places (like any of the beaches!) but these will give you a real taste of some of the variety offered by the NSW region and get you out of the city. Feel free to email me for more places to see :)
  • Talk about the biggest Dummy Spit! I heard they had tried to force the organisers into giving them the space for free, in return for launching Win2k there.. Looks like they told them were to go.. Tee hee..
    The Expo is open till 9pm for Thursday, so come along..
    Oh, and get a "Screw you guys, I'm running Linux" mug :)
  • Vacation in Austraila... and you get to do it on company time. Cool. :)

  • >Any boat or ferry trip on the Harbour.

    I'll agree there! Last June, when I was in Sydney, we took the ferry over to Manly Beach (just 'cause we liked the name), and it was well worth the trip. Some good pubs over in that area too.

    One thing I recommend is going sailing in the harbor. We went out on a sailboat for a few hours, got utterly plastered, and generally had one hell of a good time. Immediately after we got back, we stumbled into the casino across the street and I won $200 AU in 10 minutes on a video poker machine. It was a good time.


    ---
  • ... is an American salary, an Australian lifestyle, and Asian taxes (15% in HK!)

    Guess what hell would be :-). Least the yanks feel too superior, the Brisbanites (where ol' McArthur McArthur had his Pacific headquarters during WW2 which coincidentally I hear has been refurnished and is planning a reopening) had this rather wry observation about the Americans .... "overpaid, oversexed, and over here" :-).

    Actually, does anyone notice how Linux is slowly turning into a real profession like medical doctors with salaries and conventions in exotic locations to match. Maybe one day we'll have over-heart virtual surgery on the kernel :-).

    LL
  • I still find it kind of odd that Linux people are really getting into the convention thing like every other area of computing. Does Linux, being almost entirely developed by people working seperately and communicating instantaneously still make it seem useful to all get together in some warehouse for a couple days and get free pamphlets?

    I do not doubt the social reasons for these things, it's great to meet the people you yell at on Usenet, I just wonder as to what some groups are now touting as the business usefulness of these conferences.

    Hotnutz.com [hotnutz.com] - Funny
  • Hope you're having a good time!
  • hmm.. I may just have to visit.. ;)
  • I went on Wednesday at around midday, and was quite pleased to see such a large-ish Linux presence. The tying of Linuxexpo to IT2000 (big Aussie computer show) was a great idea, as I saw quite a few non-linux users wandering in from IT2000 and getting enlightened - "What?! You're just giving me your operating system for free?!?!" :)

    Personally, I thought the Compaq presentation was mainly fluff. Filled with buzzwords and little substance beneath the big flashy screens. That rotating Xeon light thing at the Intel stand really got on my nerves too. The Intel display was a bit boring though.. Watching the 1Ghz Athlon over in IT2000, running 3Dmark 99 was very sweet! Playing Q3 on those beefy SGI boxen was damn cool too.

    The guys I talked to at SuSE and Turbolinux were generally nice and friendly - I especially liked the giving away of the 1-CD distros. I think you could probably tell the Debian guys apart, even if they didn't have debian stuff everywhere - stereotypical messy geeks?

    The free stuff was cool... Donuts, coffee, ice cream, stress balls, and those rackspace.com t-shirts (wearing mine now :P). Hehe... I got some strange looks at uni that afternoon, with that Turbolinux tattoo on my face.

    Personally, I thought the Compaq presentation was mainly fluff. Filled with buzzwords and little substance beneath the big flashy screens. That rotating Xeon light thing at the Intel stand really got on my nerves too. The Intel stand was a bit boring though.. Watching the 1Ghz Athlon over in IT2000, running 3Dmark 99, was very sweet! Q3 on those SGI boxen was damn cool too.

    The guys I talked to at SuSE and Turbolinux were generally nice and friendly - I especially liked the giving away of the 1-CD distros. I think you could probably tell the Debian guys apart, even if they didn't have debian stuff everywhere - stereotypical messy geeks?

    The free stuff was cool... Donuts, coffee, ice cream, stress balls, and those rackspace.com t-shirts (wearing mine now :P). Hehe... I got some strange looks at uni that afternoon, with that Turbolinux tattoo on my face. Those guys in the penguin suits were a pain though (but I still put my name in the draw for the Turbolinux scooter! :P)

    Anyway, I had a great time, and I hope it continues to grow exponentially. Looking forward to next year!
  • Anyone know if there is a UK Linux expo or anything like it?
    If so please post details.

    Thanks
  • You're not from Victoria are you? Real people don't drink VB. It tastes like crap too. There are three really bad beers in Australia - Fosters, XXXX, VB. (in that order). For a real beer, try Coopers. (Or Full Sail if it's your thing) However Hahn is quite good, and Tooheys will do in a pinch. (A New beats VB any day)

  • Fairy Penguins (Score:3)

    by M@T ( 10268 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2000 @02:19AM (#1218942)
    Rob, on the off chance you have the time and inclination, head down to Phillip Island in Victoria to see the inspiration for Tux... its worth the trip...

    As an added bonus, you'll get to see some of the real Australia in the people of Cowes and its surrounding countryside.

    Further, if you let the rangers down there know you're coming and I'm sure they'll roll out the red carpet. They surely won't have forgotten the huge influx of support and donations received from slashdotters when we had a massive oil spill a few months back.

    Tell the newspapers (partic. The Age [theage.com.au]) you're heading down there and you'd have a nice PR story for Linux to go with it.

    just a thought ;)

    M@T

  • When Will there be a Westralian Linuxcon? (Score:3)

    by andrewmuck ( 89322 ) on Tuesday March 07, 2000 @11:10PM (#1218943) Homepage
    Sydney is just like the US for the real Oz experience you need to see Perth.
    I think Linux get togethers are good as its an OS that gets used in many diverse ways and it always insightfull to see what others are up to.

    cya, Andrew...

  • No kidding. I'm originally from Perth (live in Los Angeles now) and when I went back to Australia a few years ago (96), I stopped by Sydney to recover from jet lag before heading home to see the folks. I'd lived in Sydney for a year before I came to the US, and was horrified to find out just *how* American Sydney had become.

    It could practically be excused for a typical US city - in fact, its annexation into America, while certainly not officially sanctioned by the US/Australian governments, has effectively taken place on an economic/corporate scale.

    Subway Sandwich shops everywhere, Starbucks, all the standard US pickin's for a commercial franchises.

    And, horror of horrors, it would appear that Sydney-ites have permitted the development of that depraved icon of American commercial culture, the strip mall!

    So, if you're an American looking for an Australian vacation, don't go to Sydney expecting to see much in the way of Australian culture. Go to Darwin or Perth - no, better yet. Stay the hell away from Perth, go to Brisbane. You'll love it so much, you'll want to stay there - which is why you shouldn't go to Perth!

  • Statistics and information for the caring! (Score:4)

    by cybermike ( 49255 ) on Wednesday March 08, 2000 @02:11AM (#1218945) Homepage
    Just thought I'd throw some stats about the show as people were asking above - great to see guys like Rob coming over to Sydney (even if it is a holiday) to support us. (Maybe I'll even grab him when he walks past next time 'n say "G'day").

    Last year at IT2000 (the parent show of LinuxExpo) there were 36m^2 (from 3 stands) for Linux, this year there is an entire sub-show (sp?) called LinuxExpo [linuxexpo.com.au] that has over 800m^2 (from 30 stands). That's not a bad increase in one year IMHO.

    The unfortunate thing is noone seems to be selling anything? (Apart from Everything Linux [everythinglinux.com.au]) We've had lots of frustrated customers trying to BUY our sample CD's from LinuxCentral [linuxcentral.com] because Mandrake / Corel etc. stalls aren't actually selling product - just large fake boxes? What gives distributors?

    Saw Raster talking on Enlightenment (great to see UNSW alumni doing so well), Rasmus on PHP and more - all good! Would have loved to have seen Rob give a talk on building web communities or somesuch. But probably not under the guise of the 'Linux' show - next time.

    Other interesting things of note
    • Quake 3 running on stinking big SGI machines (always fun to watch - but get a network boys!)
    • Intel stand - big signs saying "Intel supports RedHat, Mandrake, Corel Linux, etc etc" - shouldn't that be the OTHER way around AndyG?!
    • TurboLinux ice creams and tattoo's - a perpetual supply throughout the day to exhibitors, mucho gratias
    • The plethora of American accents - maybe not interesting, or even different - a taste of things to come during the Olympics?
    • IBM? Hello Lou Gerstner?! IBM have a small (3x3 metre) stand in the far corner, not their usual huge whopping glowing bright red 'e-everywhere' - and IBM is fully behind Linux now?
    • The great guys at the australia.internet.com [internet.com] stand - ok, slightly biased.
    Did I miss anything?

    If you're wanting to come along but are to cheap to pay $20 to get in, give me a call 0413 310 107 tomorrow or Friday and we'll scoot out with a free pass for ya (if you don't already have one). Only catch being you have to come visit our booth - australia.internet.com [internet.com] - right in front of the door - below the LinuxCare guru lounge - can't miss it.

    Any other show reports from attendees? Exhibitors?

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