The following things are making me happy:

Finding I'm volunteering for One Laptop Per Child nearly every day and changing the world, and really enjoying it.

How the OLPC effort in Aotearoa is growing growing growing.

How many people came out to talk about how stupid Mark Shuttleworth's comment was (you know which one). "Girls" are among those that made open source what it is today, whether shuttleworth realises it or not.

Statusnet project going from strength to strength (and starting on the journey to world domination)

How Drupal is no longer this unheard of strange CMS that Brenda keeps pitching -- it's being used everywhere, for years now, in place in NZ that i've never been near. Clients turn up already wanting Drupal.

Public sector remix project gaining steam for being awesome.

How many amazing people are coming to Wellington for LCA2010 - including open source ninjas i've "known" for years and never met.

oh, and the thought that in about 2 months I will be able to see my own feet again.

the goings on in Wellington, that i've heard of recently:

Tim McNarama is rallying a Sahana New Zealand cluster. Their online presence is at Launchpad.net. They've had hackfest and strategic planning meetings - there's been lots of great designs including distributed models (borrowing from laconca) and New Zealand customisations.

Don Christie, and the New Zealand Open Source Society have launched the Public Sector Remix, a desktop operating system specialising in government / public sector.

Tabitha Roder continues to lead a group of OLPC testers who meet every Saturday at the Southern Cross.

Nigel McNie, and the rest of the mahara team released 1.2.0beta1.

Who have i missed out? Who's doing Open Source mighty deeds in Wellington?

Internet NZ have signed on as a key sponsor of the upcoming Linux & opensource conference (the conference usually known as linux.conf.au)

This is slightly old news, but worth repeating
http://blog.internetnz.net.nz/?p=265

The annual Linux.conf.au conference will be held in January 2010 in Wellington - the second time it has been held in New Zealand. It will bring together local and international open source practitioners who contribute to the Linux operating system and numerous other open source projects. Linux creator Linus Torvalds regularly attends this event.

InternetNZ Executive Director Keith Davidson says open source has played, and continues to play, a key role in achieving InternetNZ’s vision of an open and uncaptureable Internet.

“Every New Zealander that uses the Internet is an open source user. It’s the backbone of almost everything business and government does these days. If you want to get close to the people that have built the core technology of the 21st century, you go to conferences like LCA2010. I’m thrilled it is being held right on our doorstep.”

“It is particularly timely that LCA2010 is being held in Wellington. Government agencies have been caught up in something of a technical monoculture, leading to missed opportunity and detachment from key transformations that the Internet has enabled. Any IT staff in the public sector unfamiliar with open source would get a huge boost talking with technical folk that have enjoyed the freedom of unfettered global collaboration.”

Press release from NZOSS on G2009 Negotiations with Microsoft | The New Zealand Open Source Society

New Zealand Open Source Society is calling for far greater use of free software in the New Zealand public sector. The renewed call comes at a time when central government agencies have been conducting line-by-line reviews of their expenditure and the UK government has released sweeping policy change...

“The crucial insight from the UK policy is that cost of ownership is not the issue; what matters is value delivered.” says NZOSS president Don Christie “With free software that value can be delivered across multiple agencies through re-use.”

The Electoral Enrolment Centre has been using free software their desktops, happily, for the last seven years. A rollout of free software, such as ubuntu linux, on new desktop/laptops would be a sensible decision. In times while we're laying off public servants due to cost cuts, why pay uber dollars for software that gives less flexibility.
Government (and education) is the right place for the more altruistic aspect of free software - build it once and reuse it through multiple departments without need for further investment. (not to mention the control you get from having the source and the rights to change it/hire someone to make it exactly as you need).