Software Freedom Day draws near
Media Release: Software Freedom Day, Team Christchurch NZ
15 September, 2007
The Christchurch Unix community has its annual technical show this
weekend, as part of international Software Freedom Day celebrations.
Personal Computer operating systems derived from Unix offer an
alternative, to Microsoft (MS) desktop security issues and costs. Main
variants of Unix are GNU/Linux and Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).
BSD is the core of Apple Computer's OS-X. Licensed free software
installation discs and install help are made available to the public on
Software Freedom Day.
Other types of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can run on top of
Windows, providing extra user choice. The Firefox web browser and Open
Office suite are popular examples. Firefox has over a quarter of the
desktop browser market alone, to which other browsers such as Apple's
add to make big competition for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. But the
playing field is not level, hence the need for Software Freedom Day,
user support, and publicity.
"The main issue is standards," says Richard Tindall, Software Freedom
Day's Christchurch team leader. "Monopoly tactics in the PC software
market undermine user choice by breaking standards," he says. "The end
result is information blockage through proprietary formats and vendor
lock-in. Working around these obstacles requires assistance, for less
technical users. That kind of work is done on Software Freedom Day."
"But the situation is improving," says Tindall. He cites the NZ
Government Web Standards and Recommendations of March 2007. These
require crown and public agency adherence to the W3C Web Accessibility
Initiatives, from 1 January 2008. "The FOSS user community is eager for
inclusion via information presentation standards and browser
compatibility," Tindall says.
A good example of the service neglect FOSS users suffer is to be found
locally, at Environment Canterbury. The online Metro Real Time Bus Info
is not readable without MS Explorer. This means bus stop numbers cannot
be extracted and therefore the bus locations can remain hidden to FOSS
users, without their going to view the stops.
"Shutting out such a big proportion of potential bus use is no help to
the environment," says Tindall. "The problem is sourced to Adobe not
sticking to its own standard, for Scalable Vector Graphics" (SVG).
"Adobe is discontinuing SVG support from 1 January 2008 too,
coincidentally. So Ecan has a major upgrade of its web service ahead. We
do recommend Ecan explore standards compliant software, and they could
start by accepting this invitation to visit Software Freedom Day this
weekend," Tindall concludes.
Software Freedom Day takes place Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th
September, from 12pm to 4pm at the South Learning Centre, South
Christchurch Library, 66 Colombo Street, in Beckenham.
October 14th is World Standards Day, and New Zealand participation in
that too is expected.
ENDS
Further information may be obtained at SFD Christchurch, or from the
following.
Contact: Richard Tindall, 03-332-1069 or 027-406-0077 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Refer: http://www.SoftwareFreedomDay.org
http://www.infohelp.co.nz/sfd7.html
http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/web-guidelines/web-standards-v1.0/
http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/web-guidelines/web-standards-v1.0/agency-web-recommendations/quality-assurance.html
http://www.w3.org/WAI/
http://www.metroinfo.org.nz/realtime_map.html
http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics
http://www.ansi.org/meetings_events/WSW07/wsd_fact_sheet.aspx?menuid=8
http://www.standards.co.nz/news-and-seminars/current-news/World+Standards+Day.htm
