Event to highlight increasing interest in free software

Capitalising on a growing interest in the open source ('free') software movement, the Northern Ireland Open Source Community is holding a free open day on Wednesday 16 April 2003 at NICVA’s head office at 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

More and more companies, particularly small businesses and voluntary organisations, are exploring the use of open source ('free') software such as Linux and OpenOffice as a means of increasing information security and reducing their costs. Recent research, commissioned by open source lobby group OpenForum Europe, showed that some three-quarters of small businesses in the UK are looking to adopt open source software alternatives to products such as Microsoft Windows and Office.

The Northern Ireland Open Source Community was established last year by NICVA and Avec Solutions to promote the use of such cooperatively-developed software solutions and to show how they can often outperform expensive proprietary commercial offerings. By bringing IT solution providers and open source enthusiasts together with representatives from not-for-profit organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), NIOSC helps to introduce open source software to a wider non-technical constituency.

NIOSC’s open day, featuring keynote speakers, demonstrations, hands-on workshops and a range of exhibitors, is likewise aimed at a non-technical audience of information workers, administrators, directors and other IT decision makers within not-for-profit organisations, social enterprises and small or medium-sized businesses. Admission is free and includes refreshments and a light lunch.

For more information, visit NIOSC or contact:
Stephen Gray at NICVA on 028 9087 7777 or
Geoffrey Ready at Avec Solutions on 028 9045 9000.

Background Information on Open Source (‘Free’) Software

The idea of open source software (also called ‘free software’) is that, rather than one company developing a product on its own and protecting its exclusive rights through patents and copyrights, software can be developed more effectively by involving as many volunteer developers from around the world as possible. Instead of a private company, a large worldwide community works co-operatively to write and test software code. The result is software that is better written, more robustly tested, compliant with open (rather than proprietary) standards, and freely available for anyone to use or distribute.

Leading the open source movement for the last decade has been a free version of the UNIX operating system called GNU/Linux, or simply Linux for short. Today Linux is by far the most powerful and stable operating system available for the PC, with thousands of application programmes written for it. There are also Open Source alternatives for most computer software applications, including the OpenOffice application suite, which is fully compatible with Microsoft Office.