In early 2009 the Minister for Tourism, Regional Development, and Industry returns from annual leave to find that the global financial crisis has hit Queensland hard. Job losses are mounting across key industries, tourism numbers are falling in major centers, and the regional townships can do little more than watch the world unravel. While reading an assessment of key industries the Minister recalls that branding and policy initiatives undertaken by various Spanish state governments in tight economic times led to Spain rising to pre‐eminence as the centre of open source in Europe. And more than the ICT industry benefited when the 2008 Open Source World Conference swelled hotels with 6500 delegates from across North America and Europe. In follow up discussions, the Minister and her team hit on the idea of making Queensland famous for open source software by further expanding links with existing success story Red Hat and going one step further by establishing a local icon worthy to sit alongside XXXX, Cane Toads, Wally “The King” Lewis, and the Great Barrier Reef. Yet making Queensland a world‐centre for a well‐known and specific open source solution is not necessarily an easy task. Many wonder if attempting to convert the Lockyer Valley to the west of Brisbane into the Silicon Valley for global open source development is achievable. Unbeknownst to most in the local ICT industry, Linus Torvaldsʹ equivalent for the world’s most popular open source content management system is co‐ordinating the final touches for the latest global release from his office in Toowoomba. Could Queensland’s next iconic software brand be closer than we all think…