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For the past four years, computer users beginners and experts alike,
programmers, NGOs and free software advocates have celebrated every
third Saturday of September as Software Freedom Day. This year, over
500 teams all over the world is celebrating the event. It is a
public education event held by different groups around the world to
promote the use of free and open source software.
“Software” is the word for programs and
other procedures in your computer that uses your hardware to do the
work you require it to do.
Proprietary software is the most common kind of
many software products that users are allowed to use upon the
payment of license fees. Buying a software product like an operating
system gives you a license to use it under certain conditions such
as installing it only on a single computer, accepting the
prohibition not to modify it and not to redistribute the program to
others.
Unlike proprietary software, free/open source
software (FOSS) product owners, developers and/or creators give
users the right to use it for any purpose and to redistribute,
study, modify and improve it. This is done by doing away with
traditional copyright conditions and making the source code of the
software itself available to the public.
The source code of a software is like the recipe
of a dish and the chef would be the software company that produces
the software. Using this analogy, the main idea in FOSS is that the
recipe is made available to all. Others can modify it to suit their
needs and its products can be shared freely, or given away to anyone
we like.
Most popular proprietary software already have
free and open source equivalents. These equivalents are already on a
par with their proprietary counterparts. A whole range of high
quality and dependable applications that are free and open source
can be downloaded from the Internet. It ranges from operating
systems to run in your personal computer (such as GNU/Linux),
servers that manage websites and your e-mail (Apache, SendMail),
office suites such as OpenOffice, Internet browsers like Firefox,
graphics design software (GIMP) and databases.
An immediate benefit of using FOSS is the
reduced licensing and upgrade fees. The giant chip maker Intel
reportedly saved $200 million for switching their servers from
proprietary UNIX software to open software, while Amazon.com
reported a $17-million savings when they migrated to Linux. FOSS in
lieu of proprietary software result in significant cost savings of
anywhere from 15 percent to 35 percent over a span of three years.
A UNDP study has pointed out that using FOSS in
the Philippines can develop local capacity in our software industry,
reduce our dependence on imports, conserve our foreign exchange,
enhance our national security, reduce copyright infringements and
enable software to be easily adapted to local languages and
practices. Furthermore, reducing the costs of software increases the
public’s capacity to use and have access to information thus
enabling more people to use these in their efforts to achieve
overall economic development.
A government policy on using free and open
source software is the purpose of House Bill No. 1716 or the
Free/Open Source Software Act authored by Bayan Muna Party-list Rep.
Teddy Casiño. It proposes to require the use of free and open
source software in the absence of a clear advantage of using
proprietary software. It also promotes open standards and open
formats in all government agencies and encourages the use and
development of FOSS in the private and public sector.
The government is the single biggest consumer of
ICT goods and services. It spends billions of pesos to implement
systems for public use. Mandating the use of FOSS to government
agencies will lower the cost of implementing various ICT programs
and projects. Rather than spending on software products that have
FOSS equivalents, additional hardware can be acquired instead. The
use of free and open source software is the affordable software
alternative for a third world country like the Philippines.
You can see free and open software in action
during the Software Freedom Day to be held on Saturday September 20
at 9:00 p.m. at the University of Makati. The organizers will make
available the latest versions of free operating systems that can be
freely copied during the event. Aside from the University of Makati
and PUP-Taguig events in Metro Manila, there will also be regional
events in Baguio, Angeles, Mindanao State University and in Isabela
City. The event is expected to bring in more than 2000 advocates and
enthusiasts all over the country in line with this year’s call for
“One Nation: Unity for Software Freedom.” More information can
be found at www.cp-union.com or at www.sfdphil.org.
Know a world where software is free and no
pirates exist. Discover free and open software.
[A member of AGHAM, Mr. Ricardo Bahague
graduated from physics at UP Diliman. He is a FOSS advocate,
developer and coordinator of the Computer Professionals Union.] prom.bound@gmail.com.
opinion@manilatimes.net
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