One Week before "Software Freedom Day @ Alexandria University"

A whole month passed since we began the preparation of the "Software Freedom Day @ Alexandria University".Well it has actually taken lots of time and work to reach what we have done till now.First a call for volunteers was launched at the beginning of the current month.CVs were sent, interviews were passed, till 11 volunteers were chosen to collaborate with the 4 coordinators in organizing this awesome event.Working with 14 individuals with different backgrounds and experiences were extremely useful.We work ,learn, collaborate and share ideas.

Then, we had our kick off meeting.The team was divided into groups to cover the whole preparation of the event.Stands, demos, presentations, registration, organization coordination, study groups, public relations, logistics, publicity, contests, program, fund raising...Lots of tasks!!Well for me choosing between all these tasks was a little hard.I really like them all and I was enthusiast to work in all of them, but I have finally chosen stands, study groups, logistics and fund raising.After that, every one began to work.It was my first time to write a fund proposal and I didn't know how to do it, but after lots of searches ,reading tutorials and tips ,I finally wrote one.I had also to search for companies that may finance our event, so I started surfing the web till I finally found some that may be interested in our event.Making a budget for the whole event wasn't also easy.Although tasks were a little tough, I really enjoyed them and I learned a lot.

A call for speakers was then launched.Lots of CVs were submitted.Presentations are almost ready and I see they cover lots of topics concerning open source and free software.From those topics I can mention:
- Linux (Day to Day usage, Administration and Development)
- Open Source programming languages (C, Java, PHP, Ruby, Python)
- Closed Source replacements.
- Open Source Culture.
- The future of computing and the role of open source in the future.
- Computer Security.
which I see, are suitable for both who have a background about FOSS and who have not. We will host Mohamed Hussein Sayed, a technical at Yahoo!inc, consultant at SkyFire labs, Sr. Systems administrator at MobiTV, Sr software engineer at Symantec corp and idustry veteran with more than 10 years experience in Linux and Unix networking and development as well as RDBMS and large scale systems ,also Ahmed Desouki Ahmed el Mekkawy from eSpace technologies, solutions Team Leader for a team of Gnu/Linux administrators to setup/maintaining development environment and services on the local network and remote Administration for various development , testing ,production environments for world-wide clients.

Finally, there will be contests with gifts for winners to give some fun to the event and urge students to read and learn.So, if you are in Alexandria from 1/9 till 15/9 don't miss this event.I am sure you will benefit.
RSVP here
Register here
There will be special gifts for the first 50 persons who register.
Waiting for you.

Open Source bases

Well, this time we are going to walk a little inside the term of “open source”, to understand its meaning and what makes open source software programs better than closed source ones.

We shall first ask the question “What is open source?”It is an approach to design offering you the right to access the source code of the software for many purposes: learning, changing the code, improving the design and others. This approach has many benefits recognized by individuals.

The concept of “FOSS” (Free and open source software) is based on four freedoms :
-The freedom to run the program for any purpose (Freedom 0).
-The freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to your needs (Freedom 1).Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
-The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbors (Freedom 2).
-The freedom to improve the program and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (Freedom 3).Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Then we have to talk about the GNU GPL (General public license). It is a widely used free software license originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. This license has three versions, but now we are going to talk about the third one only which states that if you distribute copies of an open source program either gratis or for a fee you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you received, make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code and finally you must show them this terms, so they know their rights. There is no warranty for the GPL’s free software and modified versions have to be marked as changed so that their problems will not be attributed to authors of previous versions.

Now let me guess the question that turns in your heads: “I am not a coder, I will never be able to change the code of the software, what makes open source products better for me than closed ones??”Well, those products are characterized by their speed and stability. Open source tends to be high quality and economical, very little security holes and quick fixes, no worms, spyware, crashes, and no more blue screen of death, true multiuser system, modularity and strong communities for development and support.

At the end, I want to say that this was a brief talking about open source bases. Open source actually has lots of privileges that we shall talk about later. There are more and more things to talk about. Want to know more about open source world??!!! Come and join us in Software freedom day @ Alexandria University. Be sure it will be awesome!!

Software Freedom Day @ Alexandria University

A few years ago, open source philosophy and open source software products were only known for a limited number of people .By the time, projects were built on open source operating systems, the number of people using those products is increasing continuously, but still there are people that don’t know what open source is.

Have you got any idea what open source is? What is the difference between open source software products and others? What is their privilege? Have you ever worked on Ubuntu before? What are the four freedoms? ….etc. Need answers for all those questions??Come and join us on “Software Freedom day @ Alexandria University” and I am sure you will benefit.

Software freedom day is a huge event held all over the world including Alexandria University. Our mission is to spread the word of open source in Alexandria, to give the students the urge to learn, use, develop and share different open source technologies. During this event they will surely learn how to use different programs.

The event will last for two weeks starting at the 1^st of September at 11:00 am till the 15^th of September at 2:00 pm. It is in contribution with some student organizations including ACM chapter, OSUM club and the Arabic Wikipedia team. Everyone is welcomed. Waiting to see all of you there. Be sure it will be awesome. To join the event RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124455764728