Happy Software Freedom Day to everyone!
Best wishes from all of us for a successful SFD event. While you're out there spreading the word, remember to stay positive and focus on the benefits of software freedom and your rights in a digital world.
Good luck, we will be in touch after SFD to communicate about your events, and start making plans for next year! It's definitely the best time when memories are still fresh to build upon this experience and shape an even more successful SFD 2010!
- SFI Team -
SFD Schwags Packing Video
After failing to include the video on this front page we've had no other choice than to post a group picture of the team (minus the photographer) and a link to the great video made by Daniel Stegen from the Beijing LUG who did filming, stunts, editing and special effects for us. We were really impressed with the quality and the humorous tone of the whole thing and definitely encourage everyone who's interested in the work behind the scene to pay a visit to http://www.vimeo.com/6480146!
A small note regarding the balloons colors on the photo: we actually only ordered orange ones, but for some unknown reasons we also received a few blues, yellows and pinks (not that many and not enough to make a full team pack, but enough to notice it). You can also see from the video that balloons were manually counted, and T-shirts manually sorted.
A big thank you for all our sponsors Canonical (the folks who bring you Ubuntu), Google, Red Hat and DKUUG (with additional help from Linode, Zac-ware, Linux Magazine and FSF) to make this possible, and the volunteers all over the world making it happen every year! Happy SFD!
SFD supplies have been shipped
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Team supplies waiting to be shipped from SFD regional HQ in Beijing |
An email has been sent to all team leaders who registered before the shipping deadline, informing them of what is in the shipments that we have dispatched. Unfortunately if you did not receive such an email, you're not getting any supplies. Sorry about that - and make sure that you register early next year to avoid disappointment, by listening out for announcements on our mailing list!
To ease the disappointment, we're making available a limited number of T-shirts via our online store. Check it out and buy lots of T-shirts - you'll be raising awareness and contributing to a good cause at the same time. And you can buy collectable SFD 2008 shirts too!
Why not take a look to see where your closest SFD event is happening, or put together your own event? Only 31 days left....
Registrations are open for Software Freedom Day 2009!
STEP 1: Put Saturday 19 September 2009 in your diary.
STEP 2: Check out the interactive map to see if there's a team in your area.
STEP 2a: If there isn't a team, register your own
STEP 3: Get out on the streets and celebrate software freedom!
The first 200 teams registered before Friday 10 July will receive a SFD team pack including three SFD 2009 T-shirts, Ubuntu CDs, and a few other bits and pieces to support your day - we'll keep you posted on what's going into the pack. As usual, these packs are sent to teams all over the world with support from our sponsors: Canonical (the folks who bring you Ubuntu), Google and DKUUG (with additional help from Linode, Zac-ware, Linux Magazine and FSF).
If you haven't taken part before, learn how to run a new event from our easy to read StartGuide - and if you have any questions, just email info@sf-day.org. And good luck!
Software Freedom Day in 2009!
The date to diarise for Software Freedom Day this year is Saturday 19 September 2009. Once we've laid our plans, we'll be letting you know when and how you can register. Keep an eye on this website, or subscribe to our announcements or open discussions mailing lists to make sure you hear it first!
SFD 2008 competition winners announced
Congratulations to FOSS Nepal, SFD Nicaragua and DabaweGnu for submitting winning entries for the SFD 2008 competition! More information can be found on the competition webpage.
Well done to the team leaders Subir Pradhanang, Leandro Gomez and Holden Hao - we will be dispatching OLPC computers to each of them. And thanks to over five hundred team leaders, and all those who submitted reports and entries about their events.
Tell us about YOUR Software Freedom Day - DEADLINE EXTENDED!
This is your chance to tell us how SFD went where you are.
Team leaders are encouraged to go to the event reporting page and tell us how many people they interacted with and generally how their event went. Unfortunately this is only for team leaders - but don't forget to sign up to the mailing list to hear when next year's registrations open, and you could be an SFD2009 team leader!
Oh, and for those team leaders who submit reports before 27 October 2008 (we've extended the deadline by one week!) there is the chance of winning one of three pairs of OLPC laptops - see the competition page for more details.
500 teams registered for SFD08!
That is over 500 teams in over 90 countries all around the world, all celebrating SFD and taking software freedom to the masses!
Planet Software Freedom Day
Send us your blog feeds to add to the newly created SFD planet. Email info at softwarefreedomday dot org to get your blog and SFD news added today!
Make sure you blog and also add your media releases and other news coverage to the SFD 2008 media page!
New SFD resources for teams
The wonderful JM (an SFI board member) has put together an excellent array of SFD resources for teams, collating stuff from over the last 3 years! The wonderful Peter Ruwoldt has also been busy putting together a page of SFD resources for education, so check it out! Please add your talks, videos, art and other resources there everyone!
Introduction to free software by Stephen Fry
An excellent resource for teams and anyone interested in understanding free software, and software freedom.
SFD '08 team supplies are on their way
Those of you who may be tuning in to the Olympics have another reason to be interested in achievements in China: our team supplies are as we speak making their way from China to all those team leaders who registered before the deadline and requested supplies.
Frederic Muller, a heroic SFI board member based in Beijing, has been working hard over the last few months to organise suppliers for the materials we are planning to send you and shipping to make sure it gets to you. With the support of his friends at the Beijing LUG, they have been collecting and packaging up the supplies in the last two weeks and shipping them to teams in 65 countries across the globe.
Frederic has shipped the following supplies to teams:
- at least 3 T-shirts
- a bunch of stickers
- a handful of button badges
- a bunch of balloons
a small number of OpenDisc8.5 and OpenEducationDisc CDs
The supplies have been shipped by EMS from China, with a maximum shipping time of 20 days to all countries. So those teams that registered before the deadline should be receiving team supplies before the end of August.
While you're watching the Olympics, feel free to cheer on the Netherlands because that's where your team's Ubuntu 8.04.1 CDs are being shipped from. Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu, and a sponsor of Software Freedom Day) is sponsoring the supply of CDs. Keep an eye out for these, they are being shipped this week and will be delivered by courier.
Teams can still register to participate in SFD, but we will not be sending supplies to any more teams this year. Email info@sf-day.org if you would like more information.
Happy software freedom planning - and congratulations, you're part of a fantastic global effort (check out the map) reaching from Nepal to Chile, Russia to Nigeria, Germany to Australia via USA and back!
Registrations are open for Software Freedom Day 2008!
Register your Software Freedom Day event for September 20th, 2008 in our new registration system, which makes it easy to find teams on an interactive map! The first 300 teams registered receive a SFD team pack including SFD 2008 tshirts, button pins, stickers and balloons, as well some useful resource CDs (some OpenEducation Disc, a resource DVD with artwork, documentation, presentation templates and video material, and the option for some Ubuntu CDs.
Learn how to run a new event from our easy to read StartGuide.
Results from SFD 2007 Competition accounced
Many congratulations to the three winning teams of the SFD 2007 Best Event competition, FOSS Nepal, SFD Nicaragua and Beijing Software Freedom Day! All winners details as well as the highly commended entries are available on the winners webpage. Thank you to everyone for your excellent entries. It was a tough decision and fantastic to see so many great examples of taking Software Freedom to the streets!
Over 330 teams celebrated Software Freedom Day in 2007
Could all Software Freedom Day teams please fill in this short report form so we can collect numbers for SFD 2007. Thank you! 
Bringing software freedom to a street near you
Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of software freedom and the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software. Local teams from all over the world organise events on the third Saturday in September. The most recent event involved over 200 teams from all over the world.
Latest News
Software Freedom International going for United Nations recognition
The Software Freedom International Board are pleased to announce that they will be pursuing formal United Nations recognition of Software Freedom Day as a day of international importance for 2008! We are looking for people interested in assisting with this process, so please contact us at info at softwarefreedomday.org if you want to be involved.
Interview with Mark Shuttleworth for Software Freedom Day
"I have had comments and emails and reports from people all over the world who have been introduced to Free Software through ... Software Freedom Day." Thanks Mark! A great interview from Mark Shuttleworth for Software Freedom Day 2007.
Teams preparing for SFD 2007
As the teams prepare for Software Freedom Day 2007, they are sending news and tidbits, like this gorgeous photo, to the teams mailing list.
Updated ISO of TheOpenCD available for SFD
We've got a version of TheOpenCD updated with all the latest installers, it can be downloaded from the sourceforge mirrors system, please grab a copy and help us test it.
Download TheOpenCD SFD2007 Edition
Put SFD 2007 in your diary!
The date to remember for the next SFD is Saturday 15 September 2007. We're currently putting together plans for this event, so please check back here or join the mailing list to hear what's happening.
T-Shirts For 2007
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The t-shirt design has been decided on! The 2007 registered teams will be receiving limited numbers of T-shirts, and you can buy more here. Teams can get the team discount by emailing info at softwarefreedomday.org. Normal shirts are $30 each and teams get them for $15 each.
On the back of the 2007 t-shirts is our missions statement-"Software Freedom Day - empowering all people to freely connect, create and share in digital world that is participatory, transparent, and sustainable."
Winners of the SFD 2006 competition
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The SFD 2006 event hosted by LinuxChix at Mutare University, Zimbabwe, won the Best Event category |
The results of the SFD competition have been announced - congratulations to the winners, and thanks to those who submitted entries!
More News
For More News. And check out the archives for previous events!
More Resources
SFD Mailing Lists
We now have three mailing lists:
SFD-announce - low-traffic announcement list (sponsorships, competitions,etc)
SFD-discuss - join up to hear discussion from around the world about SFD events
planning-es - the spanish mailing list for team planning
Please join the SFD-announce list to keep up to date on what's being organised for the next SFD event.
Open Letters For Use in Your Community
We've got a starting point for an open letter that anyone can personalize and send to a local educational institution. An open letter to the government has also been created, but it needs your input!
Press and Marketing Materials
Find some useful press releases done by other teams and contribute your own press coverage on the Press page and find other useful marketing resources on the marketing page.
Artwork
You can use the SFD 2007 logo for your promotional material, or else take a look at all the logos, T-shirt designs and posters which have been contributed at Artwork. We have recently added a couple of images with Spanish at the bottom of this page.
Previous Software Freedom Days
If you want to see what happened in previous years, check out the team archives and see the news items from SFD 2005. If you want to find out what previous years' teams found worthwhile and what not, take a look at lessons learned.
You are welcome to participate! Our StartGuide has some pointers on how to join the SFD celebration.
