Strathmore hosts summit to promote new FOSS software

• FOSS is a software that gives the user the freedom to use, alter, and share data. Since the software source code is readily available, users can make changes to suit their requirements.
• The users of free open source software such as Linux, Apache, and Firefox do not require paying licensing fee to vendors as is the case with proprietary and closed source alternatives such as Microsoft or Oracle.
• The event organised by Linux Professional Association, LPA East Africa will be addressed by international speakers including as Jon ¨maddog¨ Hall, the Director of Linux International.
• In Kenya, other government agencies such as Kenya Revenue Authority have adopted FOSS. The event comes in at a time when cyber cafes are ditching proprietary software for the perceived cheaper and user-friendly open source software.

A two-day conference to raise awareness on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) starts on Friday at Strathmore University.

FOSS is a software that gives the user the freedom to use, alter, and share data. Since the software source code is readily available, users can make changes to suit their requirements.

The users of free open source software such as Linux, Apache, and Firefox do not require paying licensing fee to vendors as is the case with proprietary and closed source alternatives such as Microsoft or Oracle.

However, they only pay customisation fees thus cutting the cost of acquiring the software.

The event organised by Linux Professional Association, LPA East Africa will be addressed by international speakers including as Jon ¨maddog¨ Hall, the Director of Linux International.

Mr Hall, or Mad-dog as he is widely known, is a globally renowned Open Source advocate, having supported the early development of Linux.

Evans Ikua, the chairman LPA Kenya said the software freedom day is a concept that was started by the Software Freedom Foundation and is aimed to celebrate the FOSS movement and community. It is also meant to educate the public about the benefits of using FOSS.

“The Internet would probably not be as pervasive as we know it today if it was not for free and open source software. Today we have a future that promises openness,” said Mr Ikua.

He added that, over 70 per cent of the web pages on the internet are hosted on the open source Apache web server, while about 95 per cent of the world’s super computers run on Linux, arguably the most successful open source project.

Nearly all the popular social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube etc, are built on open source tools.

In Kenya, other government agencies such as Kenya Revenue Authority have adopted FOSS. The event comes in at a time when cyber cafes are ditching proprietary software for the perceived cheaper and user-friendly open source software.

This was prompted by a step up in the fight against piracy by software maker Microsoft in conjunction with the Kenya Copyright Board.