September 5, 2008
PRESS RELEASE

Reference:
Mr. Rick Bahague
CPU/SFD2008 coordinator 09178840096
rick[at]cp-union[dot]com

Software Freedom Tour Celebration Kicks Off with Training Marathon
Computer Professionals Union holds open source sessions at the University of Makati

More than a thousand students of the University of Makati will participate on Saturday, September 6 in a training marathon on free and open source software (FOSS) as part of the Software Freedom Tour of the Computer Professionals Union or CPU.

Rick Bahague of the CPU and coordinator of Software Freedom Day 2008 in the Philippines said that this event is only the start of a month long celebration leading up to a coordinated celebration of Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 20, 2008.

Running from 7:30 am in the morning up to 7:30 pm in the evening, more than 1500 students will have introductory lessons on alternatives to proprietary software. Divided into four sessions, the students will have introductions on OpenOffice Productivity Suite, Ubuntu GNU/Linux desktops and content management software (CMS) for websites. The FOSS marathon will be a non-technical forum introducing students to FOSS tools and philosophy.

"These software are examples of high quality free open source software that are available to run in your computer for office and home use", said Bahague. He added that free and open source software is the affordable software alternative especially for a third world country like the Philippines.

Support for the Open Source bill filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino in Congress will be solicited through an SMS support sign-up that will be launched during the event. The Software Freedom Tour 2008 includes exhibits and school events in Metro Manila and other provinces. More details can be found at www.cp-union.com.

Software Freedom Day is a yearly celebration of Software Freedom and why it is important; our purpose is public education about these important issues. Information about the Software Freedom Day 2008 event in the Philippines can be found at http://www.sfdphil.org. Regional events will be held in Baguio, Angeles City, Bicol, Cebu 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 of "One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom". SFD 2008 Team is composed of the Computer Professionals' Union, Philippine PHP Users Group (PHPUGPH), IT Society - University of Makati, TXTPower.org, Bayan Muna, Internet Café Association of Imus, UNDP-IOSN, and UnPLUG.

The CPU has been active not only on Free and Open Source Advocacy but also on ICT-related concerns that impact the grassroots. CPU developed and maintained one of the first web based human rights documentation systems in the world and provided consultations and implementation of more than 20 Drupal sites for different NGOs under their Project People's Web.###