I’m in Melbourne this week for the AUUG conference. So far it’s been good fun, although there’s a lot of BSD love going around, which is a bit weird. I’ve been accused of being a “Linux guy” a few times.

Nice city, Melbourne. Although the weather’s been ordinary. I stumbled across the Olympics on a big screen in Federation Square, so I watched the Basketball for a while. Had excellent curry chicken in a restaurant nearby.

Last night I had the pleasure of having a few drinks with about six Liberal staffers, through a friend of mine. It was an eye opening experience.

They’re all nice people, chatty and friendly. I think there was an assumption that I shared their political views, which is something we all do. I wish I still had my dread(s), I think that would have made things more interesting, based on later comments.

Basically they seem just like me, except when they dive into a political rant it’s about how Mark Latham’s going to destroy the economy. Although my initial reaction is “what a load of shit”, it’s not too far removed from me ranting about how John Howard’s going to destroy the environment.

Some random pics.