We’re going to be mentioning this a fair bit over the next few weeks. OpenSure is happy to support the Herefordshire Linux User Group (HLUG) in the Herefordshire Open Source Day that they’re running on Saturday 26th March. This is their press release:
Herefordshire Open Source Day
Free Software Event supporting Open Document Standards
Saturday March 26, 2011
@ All Saints Church, High Street, Hereford HR4 9AA
10am – 4pm
Following on from our successful Sept Event, Herefordshire Linux and Open Source Group (HLUG) is holding an Open Source day at All Saints Church, High Street, in the centre of Hereford on Saturday 26th of March 2011 from 10am – 4pm. The Event is being held on a drop-in basis and is free to attend.
We will be focusing on Open Source Cross Platform Software – software that can be run on Windows, Mac and Linux, demonstrating a number of Linux operating systems and giving away lots of free Open Source Software for you to use.
Dr Mark Wright who is Bristol Council’s cabinet member responsible for ‘efficiency and value for money’ and an Open Source advocate will be speaking in the afternoon about his experience of Open Source in Local Government.
The event is being held as a part of the global Document Freedom Day initiative to highlight the need for Open Document Standards and we will be showcasing Open Source Office Suites which use open document standards.
We are supporting Open Standards because we think we should all be able to:
* Choose any operating system or application and still be able to read and edit all our old documents.
* Collaborate with others regardless of which software they are using.
* Use any software of our choice to interact with our local and national government.
The adoption of Open Standards will in the long term lead to more effective government IT solutions that avoid the cost of vendor lock-in.
Open Source software which is developed by the open source software community worldwide, shared free of charge and fully disclosed (hence Open Source) allows anyone to adapt or improve it. This software is legally protected by a special license which allows it to remain open to anyone willing to contribute but is also available for anyone to use free of charge and without legal limitations.
In a period when organisations & individuals are looking to cut costs the increased use of Open Source software without the need to pay for licenses and updated versions can represent a considerable saving.
We have lots of Free Open Source Software CD’s and Linux discs to give away. So if you are interested in finding out more about Open Source and Open Standards, would like to see Linux operating Systems in action or would just like to save money by finding out about high quality Open Source Software – come along and meet our friendly volunteer team from Herefordshire Linux User Group which includes business users, general users & IT specialists who will be there to give free informal help and advice.
We will also be presenting HLUG’s new HOSS Awards (Herefordshire Open Source Star awards) to businesses, organisations and individuals who have done the most to promote and develop the use of FOSS (free open source software) in the county.
The awards are open to everyone, from individuals who have helped introduce others to open source software, businesses, schools, local govt and organisations who have introduced open source software in the workplace to FOSS community developers in Herefordshire. So if you, your organisation or someone you know deserves a HOSS – let us know by emailing hoss@hlug.org.uk
For more information about the Open Source Day please visit http://www.herefordshire.lug.org.uk/
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