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Manchester UK Software Freedom Day Results
by Dave Page 25 Sep '08

25 Sep '08

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Manchester Free Software's Software Freedom Day at the Marbella Cafe The day started with fitting an extra switch (needed so that both the office machines and the cluster computers could use the internet connection) and powering on the LTSP cluster machines to check everything was still working. The computers were only moved into the Marbella Cafe Friday afternoon and there was still lots to tidy and check. Thanks to Robert, Steffi and everyone working at the cafe for helping out! From about 11.30am we had a steady stream of people stop by for a coffee and a chat. Everyone was interested and impressed by the LTSP setup. For those who wondered, the server has a 3Ghz Sempron processor with 2GB ram and runs everything for the four thin client machines with hardly any load. We hope to add a few more clients in the near future. It didn't take people long to start playing games, like asteroids, and running flash heavy websites on the machines. One of the few problems we found was that Tux Racer does not play well with LTSP (unsurprisingly) and slowed down all of the clients! There was a bit of a lull around lunchtime, which was a shame because the food was really good. Things picked up again in the afternoon though. Overall, we handed out plenty of information sheets, CDs, badges and stickers. We all got to meet a wide variety of people from lots of different backgrounds, but who had all heard of free software and were keen to find out more. I think it was a really fun day and best of all, there's now a cafe in town using free software to provide free internet access (and wireless for those with laptops) and serving wonderful food. Thanks again to everyone who turned up and to those who helped out. Plenty of people had cameras and some photos can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lucybridges/SoftwareFreedomDay2008# http://www.flickr.com/photos/16743931@N00/2872799118/in/photostream/ I hope to see some new faces at our talk in October. Lucy ------------------------------------------------------- -- Dave Page <grimoire(a)cultofperf.org.uk> Jabber: grimoire(a)jabber.earth.li

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Date for 2009?
by Dan Scott 23 Sep '08

23 Sep '08

Hello: After a small but successful inaugural event in Sudbury, Canada[1], I would like to start planning for SFD 2009 - I already have several interested speakers ready to commit to next year's event. Has a date for 2009 been figured out yet? 1. http://coffeecode.net/archives/166-Software-Freedom-Day-2008-Sudbury.html -- Dan Scott Laurentian University

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How's your SFD?
by rick 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

A few coverage i encountered on the internet. These are for the CP-Union-lead SFD in the Philippines. Of course, a report is now in preparations.... http://www.gmanews.tv/story/121562/RPs-biggest-Software-Freedom-Day-set-Sat… http://manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/18/yehey/opinion/20080918opi5.html http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20080905-158897/Group… http://www.pinoypress.net/2008/09/18/software-freedom-day-slated-in-philipp… :-) Rick

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HAPPY SFD
by Norman Garcia Aguilar 20 Sep '08

20 Sep '08

Happy SFD to all the people in the world! :) Here in Nicaragua (1) we are in the final preparations :) Good luck to everyone!!! (1) http://linuxtour.org/sfd -- Norman Garcia Aguilar http://normangaguilar.blogspot.com Linux user # 444131 Ubuntu user # 15806

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and finally arrived
by Alexjan Carraturo 19 Sep '08

19 Sep '08

And finally italian customs deicide to give me the SFD-pack.... it's incredible how much time they spent only to check, and is incredible what they do to block few t-shirt.... Only in italy!!!!! By the way it's finally arrived Thank you SFI, but next time, try to make start the pack from europe not china -- #################################### Alexjan Carraturo admin of Free Software Users Group Italia http://www.fsugitalia.org ####################################

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how to get an event on the map
by David Tremblay 19 Sep '08

19 Sep '08

Dear friends Our event is in the wiki but not in the map, where's the link to put it ? Thanks -- David Tremblay IT analyst mob: 418-208-3631 jabber: ict4ngo skype : ict4ngo Blog : http://blog.ngowiki.net

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SFD is just around the corner!
by Robert Schumann 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

Attention all team leaders for SFD 2008: amongst all your preparations for Saturday, don't forget to make sure you've got your digital camera, and make sure you keep a rough count of the numbers of people you're interacting with! The camera will be particularly important for your SFD competition entry <http://softwarefreedomday.org/Competition2008>. Similar to last year, we have an event reporting webpage<http://cgi.softwarefreedomday.org/event_report.html>(which has gone live today) at which you'll be able to tell us about your event - some of the basic info like * how many team members contributed to the event * how many members of the public your event reached * how many CDs you gave away * how long your event lasted * in addition, this year we'd like to hear whether you got any local support, either from businesses or from (local or national) government. The event reporting form is also the method of submitting your entry to the SFD event competition. You'll have to tell us, by selecting from a drop-down box, whether you'd like your event to be considered for the SFD competition, and then point us to a URL with your event information (photos, reports, links to blogs and news articles, videos and anything else that tells us about your event). The prizes this year are three pairs of OLPC computers<http://laptop.org/>- make sure you showcase your event for the judges! Good luck with SFD, and we look forward to hearing about your events soon! Robert. Vice President, Software Freedom International Event reporting page: http://cgi.softwarefreedomday.org/event_report.html Competition information page: http://softwarefreedomday.org/Competition2008

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Software Freedom Day in Manila Times (Philippines)
by rick 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

*PROMETHEUS BOUND * By Ricardo Bahague Jr. *Software Freedom Day *ref: http://manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/18/yehey/opinion/20080918opi5.html* * For the past four years, computer users beginners and experts alike, programmers, NGOs and free software advocates have celebrated every third Saturday of September as Software Freedom Day. This year, over 500 teams all over the world is celebrating the event. It is a public education event held by different groups around the world to promote the use of free and open source software. "Software" is the word for programs and other procedures in your computer that uses your hardware to do the work you require it to do. Proprietary software is the most common kind of many software products that users are allowed to use upon the payment of license fees. Buying a software product like an operating system gives you a license to use it under certain conditions such as installing it only on a single computer, accepting the prohibition not to modify it and not to redistribute the program to others. Unlike proprietary software, free/open source software (FOSS) product owners, developers and/or creators give users the right to use it for any purpose and to redistribute, study, modify and improve it. This is done by doing away with traditional copyright conditions and making the source code of the software itself available to the public. The source code of a software is like the recipe of a dish and the chef would be the software company that produces the software. Using this analogy, the main idea in FOSS is that the recipe is made available to all. Others can modify it to suit their needs and its products can be shared freely, or given away to anyone we like. Most popular proprietary software already have free and open source equivalents. These equivalents are already on a par with their proprietary counterparts. A whole range of high quality and dependable applications that are free and open source can be downloaded from the Internet. It ranges from operating systems to run in your personal computer (such as GNU/Linux), servers that manage websites and your e-mail (Apache, SendMail), office suites such as OpenOffice, Internet browsers like Firefox, graphics design software (GIMP) and databases. An immediate benefit of using FOSS is the reduced licensing and upgrade fees. The giant chip maker Intel reportedly saved $200 million for switching their servers from proprietary UNIX software to open software, while Amazon.com reported a $17-million savings when they migrated to Linux. FOSS in lieu of proprietary software result in significant cost savings of anywhere from 15 percent to 35 percent over a span of three years. A UNDP study has pointed out that using FOSS in the Philippines can develop local capacity in our software industry, reduce our dependence on imports, conserve our foreign exchange, enhance our national security, reduce copyright infringements and enable software to be easily adapted to local languages and practices. Furthermore, reducing the costs of software increases the public's capacity to use and have access to information thus enabling more people to use these in their efforts to achieve overall economic development. A government policy on using free and open source software is the purpose of House Bill No. 1716 or the Free/Open Source Software Act authored by Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño. It proposes to require the use of free and open source software in the absence of a clear advantage of using proprietary software. It also promotes open standards and open formats in all government agencies and encourages the use and development of FOSS in the private and public sector. The government is the single biggest consumer of ICT goods and services. It spends billions of pesos to implement systems for public use. Mandating the use of FOSS to government agencies will lower the cost of implementing various ICT programs and projects. Rather than spending on software products that have FOSS equivalents, additional hardware can be acquired instead. The use of free and open source software is the affordable software alternative for a third world country like the Philippines. You can see free and open software in action during the Software Freedom Day to be held on Saturday September 20 at 9:00 p.m. at the University of Makati. The organizers will make available the latest versions of free operating systems that can be freely copied during the event. Aside from the University of Makati and PUP-Taguig events in Metro Manila, there will also be regional events in Baguio, Angeles, Mindanao State University and in Isabela City. The event is expected to bring in more than 2000 advocates and enthusiasts all over the country in line with this year's call for "One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom." More information can be found at www.cp-union.com or at www.sfdphil.org. Know a world where software is free and no pirates exist. Discover free and open software. *[A member of AGHAM, Mr. Ricardo Bahague graduated from physics at UP Diliman. He is a FOSS advocate, developer and coordinator of the Computer Professionals Union.] prom.bound(a)gmail.com.*

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Media release: Software Freedom Day 08
by Rik Tindall 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

Software Freedom Day 2008 Software Freedom Day is an international festival of computer telecommunications independence, marked on Saturday 20th September. A Christchurch team event is at the South Christchurch Library Learning Centre, 66 Colombo Street in Beckenham, from 10am to 4pm. The GNU/Linux operating system and other Free and Open-Source Software is on show, tutored, and available for the public to take home. Software installation help and DVD screenings also feature. This is an annual social and educational event for the Canterbury GNU/Linux user community, which numbers in hundreds. Similar SFD events will also take place in Wellington, Hamilton, Auckland, elsewhere in New Zealand and around the world. All are very welcome to attend this family-friendly celebration of liberating technology. For more information see: http://www.SoftwareFreedomDay.org http://www.bethere.co.nz/festivalEvents.aspx?id=12747 http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/teams/oceania/nz http://www.greens.org.nz/policy/informationtechnology Contact: rik.tindall(a)greens.org.nz (list candidate) Software Freedom Day Christchurch team leader +64 03-332-1069 or +64 027-406-0077 Canterbury Regional Councillor (ECan), Christchurch East

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Planet SFD - send us your blogs/newsfeeds!
by Pia Waugh 18 Sep '08

18 Sep '08

Hi all, we've set up a planet (blog/news aggregator) for the Software Freedom Day website. Please send us your blogs and rss/atom feeds so we can add you to the planet if you are blogging about SFD, software freedom, open standards and other related topics to our community :) http://planet.softwarefreedomday.org/ Currently we only have 3 of the SFI board members, but there are several great posts from Fred about the packaging and sending of goodies to teams, so check it out! Cheers, Pia -- OLPC Australia http://olpc.org.au/ Linux Australia http://linux.org.au/ Open Source Industry Australia http://osia.net.au/ Software Freedom Day http://softwarefreedomday.org/ "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J. R. R. Tolkien

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