From Stabroek News

Software Freedom Day to be celebrated today
Saturday, September 15th 2007

Software Freedom Day, a global grassroots effort to educate the public about Free and Open Source software (FOSS), will be celebrated today.

And the Guyana Linux Users Group and DevNet will mark this event for the third year by hosting a discussion/exhibition at Orion Technologies at 14 Stelling Road, Vreed-en-Hoop from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm and the public is invited, a press release stated.

Free and Open Source software, the release explained, refers to software which allows freedom of use and freedom to change and distribute the software without any infringement of copyrights.

The purpose of Software Freedom Day is to raise awareness since there is no centralised marketing strategy, and FOSS deployment relies on the interest of professionals, policy makers, and other users.

Most of the FOSS also happens to be free of cost, and the FOSS licensing model offers developing countries like Guyana an alternative to expensive proprietary licensing models which limit the ability of the customers/users to change, upgrade and modify the programmes, the release informed.

There is a range of free and open source software available for different purposes, from Mozilla Firefox for browsing the Internet to the Linux Operating System, and the Open Office productivity

application which provides word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and database functions at no cost.

The release also noted that E-learning packages such as Moodle are in use by universities and other educational providers while content management systems provide web developers with a variety of website development tools.

The release pointed out that the move towards the implementation of Intellectual Property regimes means that Guyana has to find creative ways to ensure that there is no dependence on any product or vendor, and that Guyanese can explore different software licensing models.

Free and Open Source software has been embraced by governments in Brazil, the USA, India, Cuba, China and in parts of Europe as an option to ensuring independence of use of software.

Linux is used in Guyana in some parts of the private sector, while many of the Internet servers around the world use the Apache web server.

According to the release, the first deployment of Linux at the community level in Guyana is in the telecentre implemented by the Society for Empowerment and Wholistic Advancement at the Cummings Lodge, Mandir.

The growth in the use of FOSS also helps to stimulate the local IT sector since it gives IT entrepreneurs a chance to explore the structure of programmes, and to develop solutions which could be affordable to users.

The release said further that persons who are interested in joining the Guyana Linux Users Group can send an email to glug@sdnp.org.gy.