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Free Software Day Around The World
depechemodem writes "In a follow-up to Microsoft Leaves U.N. Standards Group, it appears that it may have been in reaction to the UN's sponsorship of the 1st annual Software Freedom Day in which its International Open Source Network (IOSN) will educate Asian users on the benefits
of Free and Open source Software (FOSS). FOSS promotes several high-profile applications including OpenOffice, Mozilla, MySQL, and Apache." An anonymous reader says of the U.N. effort, "Events will be organised in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam on Saturday, August 28th." According to another anonymous reader, "Go Open Source, funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation and HP, expects up to 10,000 visitors at the various Linux install-fests around South Africa this Saturday, says the Mail & Guardian."
Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2
Hoarders may get piles of money,
That is true, hackers, that is true.
But they cannot help their neighbors;
That's not good, hackers, that's not good.
When we have enough free software
At our call, hackers, at our call,
We'll throw out those dirty licenses
Ever more, hackers, ever more.
Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2
I instinctively cringe whenever I see something like this:
1st annual software Freedom Day
It might end up being a total flop, and not be bothered with again.
(I do of course hope its a success)
Next year I would be willing to consider it the 2nd Annual software freedom day, but lets get past the first one ummmmm first.
Its just one example of illogical phrases.
liqbase
Sorry... early morning thought.
What would happen if other things in the world were free? What if budding designers and contractors demostrated their skills by building free pubic buildings?
Musicians and artists already use the free model to start their careers.
AC
The fact that Microsoft hasn't seen the future just shows that they resemble the record industry in the most simple ways. Both MS and the record industry don't want to understand that soon they may have to change their buissness model, so they're trying to fight tooth and nail to keep the old one, they don't care about the cost to consumers or the economy.
Just more proof that if you don't adapt you die.
(PS: First Post)
When will anyone at slashdot start to check even the most basic stuff?!
actually here: http://softwarefreedomday.org/
Events will be organised in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
I think it's a good thing that they are focusing on poverty-stricken developing nations where computers are rare... like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and New Zealand.
there will be an Indonesia Goes Open Source Award (IGOS) 2004.
-- budi
"They're all commies!!! Don't listen to their free software ideals! Don't listen to their rhetoric about Intellectual Property wanting to be free!"
.au) that software cost money, even just to rent for a C=>64.
This could just be paranoia, and probably is considering I'm pissed and listening to NIN, but I can't see a good outcome to this.
The only people that listen to the U.N. are the people who CARE, same as the only people who listen to OSS pundits are those who CARE about our IP rights, those who CARE about our ability to share software freely.
When I was a kid, some odd number of years ago, it was a given around where I lived (Ipswich, QLD,
I haven't seen that change in the general public mindset, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
People are addicted - unintentionally but irrevertibly - to the phrase "you get what you pay for", despite the fact that software can be written by any person who has a basic grasp of a programming language.
I think the phrase should be "you get what you invest in", whether that investment be time, money, or effort. I know a fair few inventors wouldn't say their inventions were worthless because they themselves only invested time and effort into creating them.
Microsoft, like any large company, has proven one thing, and that is that they are after power - power to control, and with control comes more money, and money creates more power with which to create more money to feed the power-giving politicians who will in turn return more power...
It's a circular argument. We're boned, and we're just waiting for everyone else to realise it so we can go "Ha Ha!".
One name is especially missing - Singapore, the country with the second fastest technological adaptation in the world, close seconds to the United States and Japan.
And that's the problem - everything in Singapore runs on Microsoft (our "world's first" automated train system [blue screen...!], traffic surveillance, etc etc). Nobody has a plausible explanation, but as a citizen I'm sorely disappointed.
Isn't it great to see people like Mark Shuttleworth (second space tourist, and the First African in Space) investing in these kinds of worthy programmes?
Now if only someone can convince the SA government that cheap internet is VERY important to the economy. At the moment communication in South Africa is controlled by Telkom, a monopoly. They charge more than R800 (about US$120) per month for ADSL, and they cap your bandwidth to 3 gig a MONTH. There's a good reason for the so called "digital divide" in South Africa, it's the prohibitive cost. There's a great site highlighting the grievances against Telkom, called Hellkom.
LUG Cape Town is already busy discussing the details of the coming install parties.
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http://www.adelie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/A
For more info please visit:
http://www.adelie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/sp
I hate to say it, but with BitTorrent and other various programs, every day is "Free Software Day".
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
GO GO SOURCE RANGERS, MIGHTY COMPILIN' SOURCE RANGERS!
wouldn't that be us gentoo users? not mandrake ones?
damn lameness filter!!!! from hells heart i stab at thee!
Microsoft leaving the UN standards group and the International Open Source Network organising a team (one of many) for Software Freedom Day are two very separate things. Who put these things together? timothy? :)
It amazes me to no end how many people talk about "Linux apps" and Linux. We have the BSDs (which aren't encumbered by the GPL), we have other OSs like Syllable, NewOS, OpenBeOS, ReactOS. But it's always GNU/Linux that gets all the hype and press notes.
Mike Bouma, Amiga, Inc.
Dudes, no! That article is in error and the people in charge of IOSN have been desperately trying to correct them before it got into really wide circulation. They are giving publicity to Software Freedom Day which is the brainchild of someone else and can be found here:
www.softwarefreedomday.org
Note that there are no interviews with the staff of the IOSN or the UN in the article. No direct quotes. Some reporter just looked at the web site and jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Don't believe me? Email the IOSN people. They can be reached at sunil [at] iosn.net or khairil [at] iosn.net. They are the current torch bearers at the IOSN.
The UN is not "sponsoring" this. That implies far too much and is too dangerous a position to take. You can't imagine the UN would take such a controversial stance would you? However, the Free and Open Source Software section of the UN can widely publicize FOSS so long as they do not claim it is the UN's official position.
You're useless comments show absolutely no insight nor do they demonstrate that you even have a brain capable of anything more than not wetting your bed in the middle of the night. Don't waste space with you're crap.
A new release just came out (2 CD-ROM's)
on 12 August 2004.
The idea is to give folks a chance to "try"
free software that's made for Windows...
Once they see how much better it is, they
just might give a free OS a try, later.
"Don't cause pain, give pleasure!"
How about a /. sponsored free software day, where we try to get all those /. readers still using *cough* windows *cough* to switch to something more open?
#include void main() { printf("Hello World!!!\n"); } Enjoy.
Novell (Suse Linux) India (Including other counties like Hong Kong and Australia), recently announces latest strategic and technical information seminar on Open Source and Linux technologies for enterprise computing.IBM also sponsors this seminar. What's more participants can win latest Linux based Motorola A760 mobile phone :)
The important thing is not to stop questioning --Albert Einstein.
'A United Nations-funded organization has produced a Linux desktop manual for novice PC users as part of an effort to encourage developing countries to use open-source software.' - ZDNet (http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5322002.html)
--- Yx3 = Delilah ---
OK, somebody PLEASE tell me how these things are connected. Seriously, this is a pretty pathetic attempt to spin a news story. This is a follow-up how? Are these two events connected in any way? If not, then please just report the stories. Or perhaps the tagline should be changed to "Speculation for Nerds".
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Perhaps I misunderstand, but my impression was that one of the main points behind the whole free (speech) software movement is that most other forms of information already are free.
That is to say: Software is in quite an unusual situation, because the machine instructions are not nearly as useful as the source code from which they were derived. This is not the same as something like a book or a song, because even though there may be copyright restrictions on the distribution, those who do get it can still see and manipulate the actual building blocks of the information once they have it... at the very least for their own personal use.
What the GPL and "free" software movement does among other things is to make sure that if someone distributes the software, then they must distribute the source version at the very least, to ensure that the person getting it has all the same rights and abilities that they would normally have with other types of information.
An architect or builder probably won't build a free building as you've suggested, because a building isn't information in the traditional sense. (At least if they do, we're talking about something on a fundamentally different level.) But if an architect were to design plans for a building and sell them to a developer, the developer would naturally be able to adjust and perhaps continue re-distribute those plans... at which point whoever gets them can continue to do the same. Something like this isn't automatically possible with software, because it can be distributed in a form that can be used but not easily changed.
Similarly, some artists are giving their work away under a variety of free licenses, but those licenses aren't revolutionary to art in the same way that the GPL is revolutionary to software... (although perhaps they are in other ways). With or without those licenses, it's still naturally possible (legal or not) to obtain a song or an artwork, and derive something else from it. This is not so easy with closed source software.
I think the difference is that software information is directly used by computers whereas other blocks of information (at least those that are normally associated with distribution and trading) are directly used by people. You have to understand the words in a book to make use of it, but you don't have to understand the machine instructions in a software application... so the readable edition can be held back. Many software developers/businesses take advantage of the extra control-by-obscurity over the information that this technicality gives them. If we all had logic brains and could easily understand and manipulate the compiled software that was bought off the shelves, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Among other things, the GPL attempts to remove that technicality and make software like most other types of information.
I'm not exactly a strong advocate of free software besides using it for most things. If anyone thinks I've missed something important, please elaborate.
So, we have an event supposedly devoted to "freedom" being sponsored by a group comprised of representatives from corrupt dictatorships?
in which its International Open Source Network (IOSN) will educate Asian users on the benefits of Free and Open source Software
That's kinda funny. From what I hear, Microsoft products are all "free" (as in beer) in many parts of Asia.
You'd think that Microsoft would be thrilled to replace its products with FOSS ones on Chinese computers, for example. With a piracy rate over 90% in China, Microsoft must be "losing" billions of dollars there every year. If Chinese users simply switch over to Linux, they'll instantly become legitimate, fully licensed users instead of software pirates, Microsoft will no longer "lose" billions! What enterprising business wouldn't like to stick its rival with a market where piracy is rampant?
Erm, no, I guess that won't work. Chinese users switching to Linux means Microsoft suddenly loses control of the largest emerging market in the world, and the only thing it'll actually lose is the opportunity to wring as much money out of China as it can. And since you can't lose what you don't have, Microsoft doesn't actually lose money in China, it just doesn't realize all the potential sales. Microsoft would likely lose more sales in China if users there rampantly copied someone else's product than it does now with users rampantly copying Microsoft products.
Events in New Zealand?
The last time I checked, NZ is a long way away from Asia!
I am simply stunned that /. people aren't seeing this for how truly bad it is. Once a "so called" standards body is supporting a particular type of software it is the END of those standards and there organisation. Standards bodies are supposed to be independant, wonder how you would all be reacting if they had come out to promote Windows or Solaris over open source. They haven't just shot themselves in the foot, they have blown there whole bloody leg off with this stupid move. Why would any vendor now take them seriously as they have proven they are no longer independant.
Being a college student, there was no way I could afford all those expensive production suites for windows, so Open Source was a huge help in perfecting my skill as a programmmer durig college not only with all the free software/development suites, but also, with being able to look over the source of any program I had, I was able to pick up quite a bit.
I suppose you could say open source software has not only been inspiring, but beneficial. It help fostered in me a view of programming as a hobby, and I'd definately say my time spent on open source projects really helps increase my skill level (keeps me turning out better code at work).
TO those of you out there who, like myself included now, are working hard on open source projects...
Thank You.
James CarrThe story is wrong, wrong, wrong and needs corrections.
I know the founder of Software Freedom Day, it is not the IOSN, they are simply supporting and organizing several teams. The correct site for Software Freedom Day is here:
www.softwarefreedomday.org
Also, please provide a source for the speculation that Microsoft withdrew because of this or retract the article. I think it is simply unhealthy speculation.
I'm really proud that a fellow South African is doing something constructive for the country. I would be even more proud if Thabo and co realised the dangers of relying on Microsoft and the plus points and ease of Linux in schools, where porting the software to whatever language you want is a real possibility.
Software should be free because of its availibility and no-existant costs of production. I am considering production to be separate from development. Production is nothing more then running the ftp server so poeple can download it. Software is so cheep to manufacture it really should be gratis. Development on the other hand costs time and money. Licensing it is and always will be a stupid scheme because its always going to be pirated and or you will not at some point be able to compete with your previous versions. People simply won't want to pay to upgrade any more.
FOSS has done alot of great things but the gratest projects were born out of need and then generously gifted to the rest of society so that others can enjoy the work.
So what if your business is software and as such you have few specific needs? Then create your own market. Other industries have figured this out. For example: Make an inexpensive cartoon show, that can't likely sell enough advertizing time at first for you to break even. Get people hooked for a little while. Start selling card games and books, and posters related to the cartoon. Profit!
Software firms should be able to do the same. Make a hopefully killer app. Give it away create installed user base. Let companies and individuals pay $$$ you to implement feature X or customization y for them. Wait a release or two an d fold those features into the mainline(you have to get your userbase to upgrade so you not stuck maintaining really old trees). Repete above untill interest in the product dies off, then start on something new. Being open source can't individuals and companies implement stuff on their own and leave you out of the loop. Sure but if your app is of good quality and is substantial enough to be "commercial quality" chances are nobody can do a better job as quickly or cheaply as you can. The other reality is that if some third party does create a valuable patch you can fold it into your mainline imediately, takeing away any third party market for forprofit development on your product insuring you will have a monopoly withing the sphear of your own product.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Of course we would like to see a 2nd, 3rd, ... nth annual days, but "first" only means that no other came before it, it doesn't necessarily imply that more will follow.
Mike, trust me on this - if people weren't talking about Linux they wouldn't be talking about Amiga OS either. Sorry to burst your bubble.
PS. Isn't the OS4 developer release kind of reliant on GCC? Here's a free clue for you - GCC would most likely not exist without the "encumberance" of the GPL. I'm sure if you asked MS really nicely they'd let you include Visual C++ in your little toy "commercial" OS. Might put the price up a bit, but I somehow doubt it would have a significant effect on your sales figures.
With artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we will arrive to that point sometime in this century. We just cannot imagine what the consequences will be, but expect a lot of teeth-gnashing. Imagine a world where you have everything you need, but everything you have is worth nothing. OK, I suppose some things may still have value, such as some metals and real estate. But it's interesting that few writers have even tried to imagine what kind of society it will be. Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" is one book speculating on those lines, but, like other Stephenson's books, it's too crazy to be even remotely realistic.
However,
In fact, they have, for long. For one thing you have the FSF/UNESCO Free Software Directory, and UNESCO has had a Free Software Portal, AFAIK for many years. Full with gnus and penguins. There are many people who really Get It in UNESCO, who realize that Free Software is all about promotion of Education, Science and Culture, and proprietary software is not.Furthermore, they (I think it was the UNESCO, couldn't find the link), issued a very critical report on DRM, exposing it for the pending cultural disaster it is.
Unfortunately, this understanding doesn't penetrate throughout the UN. On the other extreme, you have WIPO, which is completely dominated by a *cough*superpower*cough*, takes their orders from entities like USPTO, is not open to debate and works tirelessly to strip away the rights you thought you had to participate in the cultural and scientific advancements of society.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
The Mayor: "Today is the proudest day in the history of Springfield ... SNOW DAY!!!"
...considering that Singapore is an optimum mix of authoritarianism and capitalism, both arguably in excess.
Maybe the UN should sponsor their own Linux distribution. They could call it "UN-ix".
Oh, wait a minute...
org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
Richard Stallman I salute you.
You'll get raped if you use the GPL too. Just look at companies like Apple, IBM, and Sun who use GPLed software but never donate a damn cent back to the community. The only real solution is to simply license your software under a "free for non-commercial use only" license. The GPL doesn't offer any protection in this regard.
Early adopters not being able to shake the infastructure that they have built, and the people who get on later get the best stuff.
To me the FOSS situation is just like the telco & cable situation. Here in the good old USA we have an infastructure that is old and needs replacing (maybe wireless or fiber) and we know how it do it but can't shake loose the change. But in developing countries they are puting in the current best fit.
Here in corp. USA we are saddled with MicroSnot and some mentality which will not let us move forward. But in developing countries they don't have that problem and they also don't have the notion that in order for it be good it must cost a lot. So they will get away from the MicroSnot tax and forward the march of FOSS in to the glory it deserves.
Wouldn't it be nice if the next version of MS Office came with filters to import files from OpenOffice so that the corp USA types can read the files that the rest of the world will be making.
My local bookstore (albeit at the university) had a display of several books about open source today.
A local computer group also had posters explaining what open source is plastered all over campus.
Seems like open source is going mainstream.
Hey UN,
Last I checked India, philippines new zealand etc were already AWARE of free software... Dare say, in India free software awareness is more than that of some US states who are still clinging on to MS software for no reason (apart from hand warming from MS).
Better spend some money on educating developed countries too that there ARE alternatives to some crapware from MS.
- mritunjai
I know this is a bit off topic, but why is it that MySQL gets attention that PostgreSQL doesn't? MySQL, as a database, sucks ass compared to postgres.
I'm sure there are lots of other examples like this. Does it have to do with the fact that there's a more commercially oriented company behind the MySQL development? If this is the case, what does this bode for the future of FOSS projects that don't have some commercial backing?
Beware of geeks bearing formulas.
How much money does it take for the UN to do software standards?
How many starving people could be fed with this money?
Right, I thought I'd be generous and give you all a break from the "Microsoft decade" and "Proprietary century", so enjoy it while you can, kids.
Now back to work, punks!
- Bill Gates
"This comparison cannot be made without the conclusion that software is *always* going to be cheaper than hardware."
Your conclusion is innacurate , "legally" you can have 100 desktop costing each 200$ - 300$
when the "Legal" OS full version per box is 499 ( windows Xp pro ), add MS office 2003 "Legal"
699 per box , and thats not even close to a full set of software.
Everything as a cost , it all depends on what you whant to buy and how you whant to pay. Even the cost of the making of the software can easily beat the cost of making a computer hardware component.
Sometime in the 1940's, Nestle Corp approach Mrs. Ruth Wakefield, and purchased her famous 'Toll House Cookie' recipe. They named it the 'Nestle TollHouse Cookie."
Even though they paid handsomly for the recipe, they started printing it on the bag of chocolate chips, and giving it away. Why would Nestle do this?
Nestle does not make money by selling cookies, and they do not make money selling cookbooks. they make money by (among other things) selling Chocolate Chips.
By giving away the recipe, people not had a reason to buy their chips. They made money, indirectly, by purchasing that recipe and giving it away.
In a very real sense, they 'open sourced' this recipe. Since recipes are not patentable, all they could do was 'trademark' the name 'TollHouse'. If you look at a bag of Hershey's chips, Ghiardelli chips, etc, they all have the same recipe, just named differently.
You can use this recipe with no obligation... you could break up your own favorite chocolate bar, and not have to buy any chips. You could leave the chips out entirely, and add M&Ms if you want. If you can make your own cookie for about 15 cents, why would you go to a store in a mall about pay a dollar for a cookie (US Currency)? You are paying for convenience, labor, expertise, etc.
This is how Open Source makes money.
Now, information is fundamentally different than tangible property. With tangible property, you don't have it once you give it to someone. Information is not like that. So how does this change the equation?
Lets say I'm building a house. I may have to pay for the bricks and mortar, but how much does that really cost compared to the price of the house? The material for an individual brick is cheap (but not free). BUT, it takes labor, time, and expetrise to move it to where it needs to be, and assemble many of them into a structure. THIS is the majority of the cost. If I were to own the brick factory AND be the bricklayer, it might be 'worth it' for me to give away the bricks in order to charge for my time.
Open Source philosophies are not new... they just seem to be thought of as new because of the impact they are having in a relatively new marketplace.
-db
Its an easy mistake to make but then again you dont fully understand what freedom means.
BSD , and Syllable, NewOS, OpenBeOS, ReactOS are Open source , let me write the same word three time so you see it properly : Open source , Open source , Open source.
Free software cannot be closed or kept to yourself once you decide to distribute it.
It's about time they lower the price of them $4 CDs, or ppl will just get them off the internet.
Free Software have good media attention in Hanoi, Vietnam since Richard will speak at the event .e Nguyen
The web site of the event is here (French)
http://c3ld.vn.refer.org/
=======
Mik
http://www.t9m.net
Hey, please!
The link text is typed correctly, but the link itself is wrong.
Try this:
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
I think you've missed my point, which was that a builder (or anyone else) still can understand the plans and change them simply by having the plans, even if copyright put limitations on whether they're allowed to do so legally. ie. They're not usable in any type of encrypted state. If plans were somehow distributed in a machine-only readable format, it could be different. Copyright might prevent this, just as it usually prevents re-performing of songs and re-publishing of books.
The GPL goes further than what I commented on (I did say "among other things"), so it doesn't make software exactly the same as other types of information. In addition to ensuring that source code is always available during distribution, the GPL also allows people to redistribute what they have under certain conditions without needing to get explicit permission from the copyright holder.
Probably some Aussie joking about New Zealand - which is well up the table of developed nations, although Brunei was a fairly strange selection also.
I celebrated free software day by pirating 3 copies of Windows XP!