Software Freedom Day 2010

SFD 2010 went very well

This year again, Software Freedom Day’s action of FSFE have been very successful. Mostly all around Germany but also in the Hague and Zurich, Fellows have very well taken the opportunity to celebrate this particular day.

As foreseen, the Berlin Group participated to an event organized by LinuxWorks! in the E-LOK. After a convivial time spent at discussing and eating on the terrace, the talks began at 2 p.m., opened by the one of Matthias Kirschner, who explained the history and basics of Free Software and returned on the idea of the 4 liberties. His talk was followed by several presentations on Free Software projects and communities (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian), which sparked significant discussio between the advocates of on or the other distribution, which was very enriching. Other projects like Skolelinux raised particular attention in the audience, as well as the talk of FFII on software patents. The talks werevery well attended - 60 people were present at the event - and we are confident that they will be even more popular next year !

In Köln, more than 30 people assisted to the numerous talks foreseen. From the history of the net working of computers to the practical problems of one single project, or an introduction to the virtualization and presentation of VirtualBox, the day was very varied and interesting. The general ambience of the day was very convivial and obviously much better appreciated than the year before, a very promising outcome…

In Offenburg, the information day was even better than expected with a jolly good weather and the for SFD in Offenburg now traditional Information booth. The Fellows distributed Live CDs of Open SuSE and Ubuntu, but also FSFE Flyers and general information on Free Software. They are very satisfied also of their day.

In Bonn, the day passed between talks, baloons and al lot of children, under a very blue sky, as the photos prove it.

Outside of Germany, Karsten Gerloff, pesident of FSFE gave a talk in the Royal Library in The Hague. There he spoke about “power, software and freedom”, evoking the link between controlling your software, having thereby power and freedom to chose for your future. The talk was well received.

In Zurich, the Fellowship Group went to FROSCamp, which they commented as having been “a very nice 2-day event with many talks and a lot of projects having information booths”.

To put it in a nutshell, we are looking forward to celebrate Software Freedom Day again in 363 days from now !

Circumstancial list of FSFE's events for SFD 2010

Germany

• Berlin : The Fellowship Group is taking part to an event organized by LinuxWorks! located in the E-LOK. Matthias Kirschner will give a talk there about the importance of Free Software for our society.
  • Also on the blogosphere :
• Bonn : The Fellowship Group in Bonn will hold a stand on the Bonner Friedensplatz. There they will distribute Info-Flyer, show freedroidz robots, distribute Ubuntu und Kubuntu DVDs, etc .
  • Michael Kasper gave his impressions about it right afterwards on his blog
• Hamburg : The hamburger group will have a booth at the event of the Balista Linux User Group. Participants to this day will have the possibility to discuss from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to discuss with the stand holder and to assist to presentations on LPIC-evaluations and keysigning. Entry is free of charge.
• Köln : SFD in Köln will host again talks from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. im teaching room of the ASB Köln. The first speaker of the program, Dr. Michael Stehmann, a Fellow of FSFE and member of the Freedom Task Force will give the first talk at 10.15 a.m. about "Free Software - what, what for, and why ?" ("Freie Software – was, wieso, warum?")
• Also on the blogosphere : Software Freedom Day 2010 in Köln
• Offenburg : Fellows in Offenburg will have a booth in from of the computer shop "Fun-Computer", Am Marktplatz 19 · 77652 Offenburg, where they'll inform customers and people passing by with flyers, posters and some notebooks started with live-cds. Björn Schiessle (FSFE) will give a talk there.
  The Fellowship group also plans an information day about Free Software in Offenburg's "Fachhochschule", on the 9th of October (because of university's holidays. The day will consist in two different tracks one for beginners, the other for proficient Free Software users). Between other themes, the will be for the beginners an introduction to Ubuntu and OpenSUSE as an example of Linux and four talsk about the CMS-System and for the proficient users, about virtualization with XEN and the developpment systemy Clojure and ThinClients.
  • Also on the blogosphere

Switzerland

• The Zurich Fellowship groups takes part to the FrOSCamp, a public event taking place on the 17th and 18th of September. On this occasion, Reinhard Müller will hold a speech titled "Free yourself - how to save the world in five easy steps" (in German), and FSFE will hold a booth presenting its work and the Fellowship.

Netherlands

To celebrate Software Freedom Day, Karsten Gerloff will give a talk at a celebration in the Royal Library of The Hague, Netherlands.

• More details are given by Karsten Gerloff himself on his blog