Date:02/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/02/stories/2008100251200200.htm

Kerala - Kochi

‘Free software’ march taken out

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Supporters of free software, who are gearing up for the national conference, are happy that awareness is spreading slowly. The team got an indication of this while holding the Software Freedom Day (SFD) last week.

Just like all other efforts by advocates of free software, the SFD march too was informal and instinctive. Even though the weather was conducive, the members were not sure about the candlelight procession to mark the event as it required police permission.

With that too secured, the “first free software procession in Kerala” started from the Broadway. Though it was meant to end at Boat Jetty, the procession went on till Law College and then lit candles at the Marine Drive.

The procession, said one of the members of the Linux Users Group, caught the eye of the commuters along Park Avenue during peak traffic as well as pedestrians, thanks to body posters.

Heads were turning, so much that on one occasion, three vehicles almost collided as the drivers went on reading the posters, he said. As the apostle of free software Richard Stallman would say the “movement aims for a social change.”

The euphoria of the procession was carried on through the week, which also marked the 25th year of GNU - the free software operating system.

There was more for free and open software activists down the week.

The monthly meeting discussed the geo visualisation and resource planning using free software. The technical presentation by Jaisen, started with the history of maps and the different types of geographical mapping methods and types of maps, before moving to his project – “Geographical Visualization of Cheruvannoor Panchayat in Kozhikode”.

The meeting ended with a briefing about the National Free Software conference coming up in November.