Bristol Wireless Wiki - Social Source South West

Social Source South West

Bristol Wireless are hosting an ICT Hub event on February 5th at St Werburghs Community Centre, Bristol promoting the benefits of Free & Open Source software (FOSS) and aimed at voluntary sector groups across the South West. It includes speakers from the National ICT Hub and Bristol City Council, plus workshops and demonstrations from individuals, organisations and companies already using or helping groups with free software both regionally and nationally.

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Bristol Wireless wants to make the day as relevant possible to attendees, tailoring it to a non-technical audience that's nevertheless keen to make savings on software licensing, administration and support.

Free and open source software is a different model of software development, one that the non-profit sector is just beginning to embrace. At the outset it was the hobby of technical volunteers, but as the software has matured, it has been adopted and gained respectability from its use by companies such as IBM, Sun, HP and major governments, for example India and Brazil.

One key advantage of FOSS to the voluntary sector is the lack of limits on copying it and no licensing worries. Many large and medium-sized organisations, for example Greenpeace and Amnesty International, depend on FOSS, whilst some major web companies like Google and Yahoo rely on it completely.

A lot of recent FOSS development has been aimed at low power consumption and greener computing, making ICT more environmentally responsible. Most FOSS will run on older hardware, getting new life from older machines, removing the need to upgrade whilst matching the productivity of more resource-hungry new hardware.

The three biggest FOSS projects are the Linux operating system, the Open Office suite and the Apache web server. Linux is already considered superior to Microsoft Windows by most independent technical reviewers in terms of security, stability, virus protection, adaptability and cost.

The Open Office suite is built on open standards and is completely compatible with other suites, including Microsoft Office. The cost savings have convinced many organisations, including Bristol City Council, to adopt it.

The Apache web server runs over 70% of websites and growing. If you have a website you're probably using it.

Who should come

If you're an IT technician in your office, you'll want to learn about alternatives to the commercial software upgrade treadmill. If you're a finance officer, come and hear about the cost savings and see workshop demonstrations of ways to boost productivity and cut support costs.

There will be opportunities to talk to individuals and organisations already using and supporting FOSS, take away samples of free software to try and even leave with a Bristol Wireless computer set up for what you want it to do!