Vlc is also hosted in France, where software patents aren’t legal.

You get healthcare, always. Not just when you have a job. You get security around your job, so your employer can’t just go “lol, you’re fired, stfu”. You get “theoretically” enough money to live when you do get fired.

And you get that, regardless of your employment status. Everybody, from students, to fast food workers, to the nice rich software developers. Sure, you NEED it less if you’re a software developer, I almost certainly pay more in taxes than I get in tax-related value. But it also means that if my arms fall off one day, I’ll still be living in a country that will ensure I’m relatively healthy, homed, and fed.

Co-operation is why humans are so successful. If everybody was only ever out for themselves, we’d still all be scrabbling around in caves looking for food. Helping 100 people get educated so 50 of them can be useful members of society is still better than having 10 of them get supported through their parents, and letting the other 90 fail.

They’re not different to the consumer. Either way they’re a surcharge to the store price of the item, and most places in the world include it on the sticker.

AFAIK NZ has no more 24 hour supermakets. I remember brisbane used to, but a quick google search shows that might not be true anymore?

When I was staying in South Bank, restaurants were regularly open until 9:30/10pm. Finding places like that in christchurch is much harder, outside of thursday/friday/saturday. Auckland might be better, but it’s been a while since I’ve stayed there.

TBH, maybe it’s not that brisbane is good for late night stuff, maybe it’s just that NZ is even worse.

I found the same thing when I visited brisbane recently. I’m from NZ, and virtually everything is closed at 6 or 9, depending on the day & what kind of establishment it is.

In NZ, the only time I’ve boiled water is when we had an earthquake that screwed up a bunch of stuff, including the water & sewage pipes.