AsiaSource-Pilipinas
AsiaSource-Pilipinas is comprised of the Filipino participants, facilitators, and organizers to the previous Asia Source Camps. The 1st Asia Source was held at India last February 2005 while Asia Source 2 took place last 21-31 January 2007 at Yawitra Asri in Sukabumi, Indonesia.
In its endeavor to promote Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), the team AsiaSource Pilipinas is closely working with the Computer Professionals' Union (CP-Union), University of the Philippines Linux Users' Group, University od the Phlippines Association for Computing Machinery, Philippine Linux Users' Group, Software Freedom Philippines, Txtpower.org, and the International Open Source Network (IOSN) for the celebration of SFD 2007.
Check out the details at http://www.cp-union.org/cms/?q=node/43
The Team
Asia Source II; Sukabumi, Indonesia; January 21-31, 2007
Philippines takes part in the Worldwide Celebration of SFD 2007
In its aim to educate people from around the world on the ideals and benefits of free software, the Software Freedom International (SFI) has been initiating the Software Freedom Day (SFD) since 2004. SFI coordinates with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) advocates globally in organizing the said event, providing support and SFD giveaways and materials.
Now on its 4th worldwide celebration, the Computer Professionals’ Union (CP-Union), along with other regional SFD festivities in the country, is organizing a local SFD 2007 at the UP College of Engineering Library 2 on September 15, 2007. CP-Union is closely working with the University of the Philippines Linux Users’ Group (Unplug), University of the Philippines Association for Computing Machinery, Philippine Linux Users’ Group, Software Freedom Philippines, Txtpower.org, the UNDP-APDIP's International Open Source Network (IOSN) ASEAN+3, and SFD2007 Team AsiaSource-Pilipinas in marking another outstanding and very stimulating Software Freedom Day.
Team AsiaSource-Pilipinas is a group of Filipinos who were given the opportunity to join Asia Source Camps for the past years. The most recent camp was held last January 21-31, 2007 at Sukabumi, Indonesia. A group of 19 Filipinos composed of participants, facilitators, and organizers met in Indonesia and eventually transformed into a very dynamic group of Filipino FOSS enthusiasts, whose fields of interests and affiliations range from non-government organizations to private enterprises, sustaining and promoting the FOSS advocacy within and outside the country.
After the said source camp, members of the group have been continuously conducting series of activities in its aim to spread FOSS. A local group called SOCSARGEN Open Source Network was formed last March 2007 as a result of the great efforts of a very active member based in Koronadal City. In her continuous efforts, an Open Technology Fair will also take place on September 27-28, 2007 in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, featuring tech talks and exhibits on FOSS. Another team member based in Zamboanga City, also in Mindanao, has been very active in collaborating with local FOSS groups and indivduals in carrying out trainings on FOSS. The group has also actively participated in the National FOSS Conference organized by the Institute of Popular Democracy (IPD) last March 7-8, 2007 at the EDSA Shangrila Hotel. Members of the group have also been taking part in bringing the Sahana, a FOSS Disaster Management System, to the country.
AsiaSource Pilipinas intends to lead more FOSS-related activities, extend assistance and initate collaborations with organizations, which share the same aspirations with the group. Thus, AsiaSource Pilipinas is giving out full support and extending full cooperation to the CP-Union in the preparations for the Software Freedom Day Celebration.
SFD 2007 will commence with a series of plenary talks. Topics include ‘The FOSS Movement in Advancing ICT for the People’, ‘Why we use Free and Open Source Software’, and ‘Updates on the FOSS Bill’. The second half of the day will be featuring talks on ‘Ruby on Rails’, ‘Open Source Development using Glade’, ‘FOSS for daily use’, and ‘Migrating to Free Software’.
Meanwhile, demonstration booths will be running the whole day. There will be demos on FOSS for kids, for daily use, for developers, and for non-government organizations (NGOs). A Burn Fest Booth will also be set up where participants can bring some blank CDs for open source software burning. Giveaways like Ubuntu CDs, CICT's OpenStep, and OpenCD will also be distributed.
SFD 2007 organizers worldwide fervently hope that this collaboration will cultivate a general understanding of software freedom, empowering the public to freely use, develop, and create Free and Open Source Software and enriching anyone’s interest on any area of life that involves software.
SFD 2007 is very much open to the general public with free admission. Students, enthusiasts, advocates, teachers, government, and non-government workers are encouraged to attend and let us all experience software freedom.
For more information, please visit http://cp-union.org/cms or http://softwarefreedomday.org. ###
