Linux.conf.au may be over for another year, but the open source community’s generosity will continue to have a lasting impact on New Zealand’s Life Flight Trust.
At the conference’s closing dinner, held in Wellington last month, attendees had the chance to bid on an opportunity to join the Westpac Rescue Helicopter during a winch training mission.
A $12,750 donation from Linux Australia on the night brought the total funds raised for the air rescue service to more than $33,000.
In pictures: Linux.conf.au
“Free open source software is founded on generosity and these supporters have certainly taken that value to heart,” Life Flight Trust CEO David Irving said in a statement. “The funds raised will enable 13 people to receive emergency flights, which is a great outcome for the community.”
The Linux.conf.au event is the largest annual gathering of open source software professionals and enthusiasts in the southern hemisphere and has been running for 11 years, having first started in Melbourne.
The event featured open source identities Gabriella Coleman, Benjamin Mako Hill, Glyn Moody, and Nathan Torkington, and coincided with the latest release of the Linux kernel.