Linux users and floggers – often synonymous terms – are more
interested in hot-dogging software and trying new things to dazzle
the public than making a buck.
“COMMERCE oozed into the aisles at Interact + PC IT this year.
It would seem the festival has, as Sun Microsystems likes to put
it, been “dot.commed”.”
“Information technology is big business, but with booth after
booth of vendors selling not especially exciting products, one
might have thought dot.com was all that was left.”
“Where was the subculture? Where were the digital artists? Where
was the latest insane interactive game? Where were the excitable
nerds hocking useless technology that, at second glance, was kinda
cool? Never mind the dot.com, what about the dot.org and
dot.edu?”
“The only system failure I witnessed at the show was at the
Linux Users of Victoria (LUV) booth. At first, this seemed
impressive but then the truth became clear: despite being next door
to Crown Casino, there was to be no gambling at Interact.”