This also means it's the first linux.conf.au to boast waterfront views. It's the second time the event has been held in New Zealand, following Dunedin in 2006.

Registration on the first day. The man in the unfeasibly loud rainbow T-shirt is HP Linux CTO and Debian advocate Bdale Garbee.

No conference would be complete without the presentation system breaking down, a situation the Linux community frequently blames on close-minded video hardware companies.

Dave Greenberg from Life Flight Trust explains the main charity auction prize for the week: the chance to experience an actual winching training mission on a helicopter. Greenberg is a former COBOL programmer who decided rescue operations were a more rewarding career. No argument from here.

Another charity prize on offer is a model raygun donated by NZ effects house Weta Digital. As one audience member remarked: "That'll never get through Customs".

Caffeine in the Town Hall — undoubtedly the first time the traditional tea break has included provision for an audience of hundreds to watch from the gallery, though no one seems to be taking advantage.

Conference organisers assure us that the awarding of prizes at keynotes was random, but you don't have to be a coding expert to discern a pattern here.

NYU professor Gabriella Coleman gave the first keynote, looking at how IP law and the free software movement have evolved in parallel. "It's imperative to highlight the ironies and paradoxes from this history," she said, but she also showed numerous lolcats pictures.

No matter what the venue, Linux mascot Tux is never far away.