Here is the text used on the Canberra team's SFD leaflet.
What is Software Freedom Day?
Software Freedom Day is an annual event that aims to promote the benefits of using high quality Free and Open Source Software in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere! It is a worldwide celebration with more than 150 volunteer teams running events to spread the message to their local communities.
The Canberra Software Freedom Day event is brought to you by a group of local users, developers and proponents of Free and Open Source Software. We all share an interest and appreciation of its quality, the community spirit associated with it and the freedom it brings from the constraints of using proprietary software.
What is Free and Open Source Software?
Free and Open Source Software is software that everyone is free to copy, modify and redistribute. Much of this software is licensed under the General Public License (GPL) which is maintained by the Free Software Foundation - http://www.fsf.org/.
Free and Open Source Software is becoming increasingly popular in schools, businesses and the home as awareness of the benefits it offers widens. You have probably heard of the Linux operating system, it's a Free Software project. So is the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird email client and the OpenOffice.org office suite. They are a few of the tens of thousands of Free and Open Source software packages available.
Benefits of Free and Open Source Software for the Home User
- Viruses, worms, spyware - none really. Linux's architecture has inbuilt resilience.
- Free to install and free to update.
- Free to share with family, friends, anyone!
- Free from licence fees.
- Free from unreasonable and restrictive licence conditions.
Local Support Options for the Home User
Canberra Linux Users Group - http://clug.org.au/
PC Users Group – Linux Special Interest Group - http://www.pcug.org.au/LinuxSIG/
Keep an eye out for “Make the Move” an upcoming initiative to assist those new to the world of Free and Open Source software with their journey - http://makethemove.net/
You can also check the website of your chosen Linux distribution for information regarding free community support via mailing lists, forums and/or chat-rooms.
Benefits of Free and Open Source Software for Organisations
- Free from licence fees. Wave goodbye to those onerous purchasing procedures!
- Multiple layers of support: vendor, local providers (see below), user community.
- Free from vendor lock-in. You decide when to do your software and hardware upgrades. Obtaining support for older software versions is possible.
- You're in control. You decide what features you want or don't want and which business will provide the modifications to your open source software.
- Free to improve the software yourself or have others do it for you.
- You can decide to share your improvements with everyone and make the software better for everyone.
- Most Linux distributions have stable releases that will receive security updates for long periods. When you do upgrade, it's free.
- A drastically reduced Virus/Spyware management headache.
Playing nice. You won't be forcing those who interact with you (suppliers & customers) to purchase expensive proprietary software in order to do so.
Local Support Options for Organisations
There are a number of Canberra based or locally represented businesses that are ready, willing and able to provide support for your Free and Open Source Software initiatives. Here's a few of them:
(logos removed)
Many of these businesses are members of FOSSACT, a local forum for organisations/people wishing to collaborate in promoting the use of Free and Open Source Software to business and government in Canberra. See http://www.fossact.org.au.