Software Freedom Day 2008 was jointly celebrated by SPACE, FSF India and GNU/Linux users group, Thiruvananthapuram on 20 Septemper 2008 at Press Club Hall, Thiruvananthapuram.
Representatives of Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board, Kerala State Electricity Board and State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications (SIEP) spoke at the seminar held in the morning.
Prof. K. Pappootty, Director of the State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications highlighted the need to promote free knowledge in the true spirit of science. The restrictions placed on knowledge sharing throug patent, intellectual property rights, copyrights etc have to be countered, he said. The SIEP had made the Malayalam Encyclopaedia Sarvavinjanakosam online to encourage the public to contribute to its content, he said.
Software Freedom Day is a declaration of freedom against the monopolisation of knowledge, remarked Mr Joseph C Mathew, IT Advisor to Kerala Chief Minister. Free software is gaining acclaim as a more powerful alternative. The International FOSS Development Centre to be set up by the Government of Kerala will harness free software technologies for various sectors, he said.
KSEB moved to Free Software in 2007 six years after computerisation was started. It developed a FOSS based billing software and trained all the 640 section offices in its use. KSEB not only saved itself lakhs of rupees in terms of computerisation but also set up a friendlier and hassle free software.
By moving to free software, the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board asserted its position regarding freedom said Mr. M.K.Rajendran, Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board.
Mr. Balaram, Master Trainer, Insight made a demonstration of how visually challenged people can use GNU/Linux and ORCA for their information and communication needs.
In the afternoon, two animation movies Elephant Dreams, Big Buck Bunny made with the Free Software, Blender and a documentary Steal this Film were screened.
In the evening a two hour tutorial titled "MaSH the true story of a Shell" by Mr. Raj Mohan Kovilath, Senior Programmer, SPACE was organised to introduce participants to the efficient and effective use of GNU Development tools.
Over 70 people from different walks of life participated in the Software Freedom Day celebrations. As a part of the celebration SPACE announced a programming contest for students.
Gallery : http://space-kerala.org/
Contest Details : http://space-kerala.org/node/
Technical Presentation : http://space-kerala.org/files/
More News :
- http://keralafarmeronline.com/25th-software-freedom-celebrations/lang/ml
- http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/21/stories/2008092158130300.htm
- http://pramode.net/2008/09/23/hack-the-mash/
- http://pramode.net/2008/09/21/software-freedom-day-updates/
- http://free-knowledge.web4all.
in/2008/09/18/software- freedom-day-2008- thiruvananthapuram/ - http://www.mathrubhumi.com/
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