On a more personal basis, I've had the pleasure of participating in some brilliant "real life" events this year - from the always brilliant [OGGCAMP](http://www.oggcamp.org), arranged by the amazing people behind the [Linux Outlaws](http://linuxoutlaws.org) and [Ubuntu UK podcasts](http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org). OGGCAMP is the sort of event which attracts "my sort of geek" -- people with which I really enjoy spending time and socialising and I am already looking forward to next years! I've also enjoyed a number of Ubuntu-UK events, from the recent release party to smaller happy hours to the rather interesting Christmas meal at Dans Le Noir, where we ate a surprise menu (consisting of glow in the dark scallops, ostrich and blue shark to name some items!) in complete darkness before wandering off to enjoy a few pints of ale. Now, this is where freenode communities are great -- I am an avid fan of the Ubuntu project, however, I have never used the distribution (though as a Debian user I am sure I'd get on with it just fine.. right?) but through freenode I have, over the years, come to know a lot of Ubuntu contributors and users, and over time discovered that these are people I really enjoy spending my time and people I am proud to call my friends! And I love their social events, they are a lot of fun! So thank you for letting me be a part of your community despite not really being "one of you" ;)
On a more personal basis, I've had the pleasure of participating in some brilliant "real life" events this year - from the always brilliant [OGGCAMP](http://www.oggcamp.org), arranged by the amazing people behind the [Linux Outlaws](http://linuxoutlaws.org) and [Ubuntu UK podcasts](http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org). OGGCAMP is the sort of event which attracts "my sort of geek" -- people with which I really enjoy spending time and socialising and I am already looking forward to next years! I've also enjoyed a number of Ubuntu-UK events, from the recent release party to smaller happy hours to the rather interesting Christmas meal at Dans Le Noir, where we ate a surprise menu (consisting of glow in the dark scallops, ostrich and blue shark to name some items!) in complete darkness before wandering off to enjoy a few pints of ale. Now, this is where freenode communities are great -- I am an avid fan of the Ubuntu project, however, I have never used the distribution (though as a Debian user I am sure I'd get on with it just fine.. right?) but through freenode I have, over the years, come to know a lot of Ubuntu contributors and users, and over time discovered that these are people I really enjoy spending my time and people I am proud to call my friends! And I love their social events, they are a lot of fun! So thank you for letting me be a part of your community despite not really being "one of you" ;)