Sun to raise awareness on importance of open source software
ConvergenceAsia staff
16/09/2008

Sun Microsystems has announced a global call to action for organisations and consumers to embrace open source software as part of its sponsorship of Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 20, 2008.

Sun, an official sponsor of SFD 2008, is calling for community members and Sun employees across the world to participate in a global education programme designed to improve awareness around the importance and benefits of open source technologies.

Established in 2004, Software Freedom Day is an annual worldwide celebration of free and open source software and is designed to educate the public, to celebrate the virtues of open source software and encourage its use.

Software Freedom is about creating a digital platform for trust and longevity, particularly in a future where more and more of our lives are dependent upon technology, said Pia Waugh, president of Software Freedom International, the organisation behind Software Freedom Day.

"It is important we can participate in and trust the software we use and Software Freedom Day is designed to draw attention to the importance of open source technology. Through reaching a broad audience, we want to foster a general understanding of software freedom, and encourage adoption of free software and open standards," he said.

In Singapore, celebrations for Software Freedom Day will be held at the National Technological University on 17 September 2008 and the National University of Singapore on 19 September 2008.

Students will learn how to participate on the web, and meet Sun experts and leading industry speakers who will speak about the latest technologies and business models that are driving the web 2.0 era. Students will also get to explore open source technologies from Sun which include Java, NetBeans, OpenSolaris, GlassFish and MySQL.

Attitudes towards open source are maturing rapidly, said Simon Phipps, chief open source officer, Sun Microsystems. "Software is no longer solely the domain of the developer. This is especially relevant in this 25th anniversary year of the GNU Project with more and more businesses moving away from proprietary technologies that deny them freedom and flexibility and introducing open source software into their organisation."

"By sponsoring Software Freedom Day, Sun is helping new audiences across the globe embrace open source and recognise the impact that it can have in organisations of all sizes," he added. 

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