[Sheflug] Free (Libre) and Open Source Software Special Interest Group

[Bob Holland <bobholland [at] xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's take a while to make happen, but I am pleased to announce to members of 
Sheflug that Digital South Yorkshire have agreed to provide some funding via 
Objective 1 and Yorkshire Forward for the creation of a Special Interest 
Group (SIG) devoted to FLOSS. This has taken me a few months to organise and 
with the assistance of Richard Ibbotson, Seb James and others we are now in a 
position to host some high profile events in the region.

Here is the formal introduction.....

Digital South Yorkshire
--------------------------
Digital South Yorkshire (d-SY) is the network and specialist support 
organisation for creative and digital industries in the South Yorkshire 
region. d-SY already supports a number of special interest  groups (SIGs) 
working within this sector. Building on some successful activities this year, 
a new SIG dedicated to Free (Libre) and Open Source Software (FLOSS) has been 
established.

Free (Libre) and Open Source Software (FLOSS) Special Interest Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The term "Free (Libre) and Open Source Software" (FLOSS) refers to software 
which gives the user both the freedom to use and redistribute (the 'libre') 
and the freedom to modify (the 'open source'). Usually the licensing schemes 
used aim to protect these rights in perpertuity for both users and developers 
of the software, though there are a few exceptions to this. This is in 
contrast with most proprietary 'shrink-wrapped' software where the end-user 
license agreement (EULA) permits neither.

Many computer users will by now have heard of GNU/Linux (or maybe just 
Linux), but this is only a small part of the story of a collaborative 
development phenomenon which lies behind this and the many thousands of free 
software projects worldwide.

The formation of this new SIG will assist South Yorkshire vendor companies 
gain competitive advantage by the adoption of FLOSS technology. Emphasis will 
be on leveraging FLOSS to support the development of new technologies, 
products and services leading to wealth creation for the regional economy.

In support of this aim the SIG will...
* Provide a single point of access for FLOSS releated resources in the 
region, including a regular electronic news-letter and RSS news feed;
* Co-ordinate a series of technical workshops including presentations by key 
developers of major FLOSS projects;
* Facilitate participation in the most relevant FLOSS events both in the UK 
and overseas;
* Identify collaborative FLOSS projects from around the region that may be 
eligible for development support;
* Identify skills shortages in FLOSS technology within participating 
organisations and work with partner organisations to address these.

------------------------------------------------------------

The initial funding is from October 1 to 31 March next year. If the group 
proves successful and I am able to demonstrate to the funding 
bodies that some specific targets have been met, then it should be possible 
to obtain further follow on funding to support the group.

The Institution of Electrical Engineers South Yorkshire Branch have once 
again agreed to support the technical workshops along with the New 
Technology Institute (NTI) in Leeds.

It will take a while to crank up the activity and write some of the 
rules, but for the time being you can whet your appetite with these events...

Saturday 9th October - Jeremy Allison - The Samba Roadmap.

Saturday 27th November - Robin Rowe - MovieEditor - Film animation using Free 
Software.

Both these events will require registration through the Digital South 
Yorkshire site at http://www.digitalsy.org.uk/

Just follow the link to Future Events. You should be able to register for the 
events now if you wish. The front page for the FLOSS special interest group 
will be available shortly. Note that there is an error on the site at present 
and it is not necessary to become an Associate of d-SY to attend these events 
but you will need to register for the event.

Many thanks to Richard Ibbotson who liased with Jeremy and Robin to make 
these happen whilst I was busy sorting out the funding.

Seb James from Hypercube Systems will be making a contribution 
to a planned workshop on embedded systems early next year.

I will reveal more about the activities and programme a little later.

Regards to all...

Bob Holland


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