Giant Drupal icon lights up Sydney Harbour Bridge

Web software symbol takes place of Oprah's O

A huge version of the Drupal content management system logo shone brightly, and briefly, from the Sydney Harbour Bridge last night, in the same spot where the contentious Oprah "O" made headlines last month.

The sudden and unexpected appearance of the 20-metre high Drupal icon coincided with the final day of Drupal founder Dries Buytaert's promotional tour Down Under.

Drupal is the free, open source software that powers the White House website and millions of other sites around the world.

A large group of local web developers joined Mr Buytaert on the harbour foreshore to count down the final seconds before the huge blue-and-white sign burst to life at precisely 10.00pm.

Anyone on or near Sydney Harbour couldn't help but notice the alien-like image when it began glowing atop the bridge, but few of them, bar the diehard Drupal devotees in attendance, understood its significance.

"I've never heard of Drupal," said one of the onlookers. "Does she have a TV show?"

"Drupal? It's like Viagra, right?" said another man, standing outside a harbourside pub.

Their interest in the huge apparition was short-lived, however, as the gigantic half-menacing, half-friendly visage vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, at precisely 10.07pm.

Asked about the timing, one of the Drupal supporters who witnessed the event explained that the seven minutes of illumination reflected the fact that the latest release of the Drupal web framework is version 7.

The same man was less forthcoming about how the giant lighting rig was put in place and kept secret until the surprise unveiling. All he would offer was that "Drupal developers are a resourceful bunch."