September 10 Declared 'Software Freedom Day'

PARIS--Advocates of free and open-source software have designated Saturday as Software Freedom Day and are planning events around the world to educate the public about the benefits and availability of open-source software.

The nonprofit company Software Freedom International is driving the effort, but the event depends largely on the grassroots activities of free software advocates organizing small events at the local level.

A team of four people in Nashua, New Hampshire, for example, said they will most likely be in the Nashua Public Library talking up free software to people attending a book fair organized for the same day.

"The type of person to spend Saturday at the library is exactly the type of person who would care about and be interested in Free Software!" the team wrote on the Software Freedom Day Web site.

In Burdwan, West Bengal, local organizers said they will give a seminar on free software at the Burdwan Institute of Management and Studies. In Paris, advocates including the Paris Linux user group (Parinux) said they planned to give talks and workshops in a "free software village" set up at the Fete de l'Humanite, a music festival taking place just outside the city this weekend.

Other events can be searched by country at the Software Freedom Day Web site.

Don't Bash 'False Great Satan'

Those taking part were urged to use demonstration machines where possible--"let the quality of the software speak for itself"--and not to, on any account, bash Microsoft, "or any other false Great Satan."

The event was also held in 2004, and teams were asked to report back what went well and what didn't go so well.

A team from Oxford, in the United Kingdom, wrote: "A few people were grateful, most just walked past, and some asked 'What's in it for us?' or 'How do I know this CD doesn't have a virus on it?'"