Kathmandu, August 31:

Around 300 groups from over 60 countries are participating in the fourth annual Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 15 in Kathmandu to showcase the range of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and demonstrate how it can be used to save money and gain freedom in every aspect of the information technology sector.

The local volunteer communities are organising events including meetings, awareness campaigns, musical concerts, interactions and skill sharing sessions on FOSS.

This is the third time that Nepal is organising SFD here. This year, the theme is ‘Linux for Desktops, let’s make IT FOSSible.’

It will be held with the joint efforts of various educational institutions, government body, civil society, media, and FOSS IT communities. The Software Freedom International is providing guidance to organise the events. FOSS Nepal Community, the main organiser of the programme, was established by a team of enthusiastic people who believe in the usage of FOSS. The prime target of the Community is to promote and diversify the usage of FOSS in the country. FOSS said in a press statement today that the Community aims to raise awareness among government bodies, private sector, civil society, educational institutions and media for expanding the scope of ICT via FOSS; to sensitise government bodies, media and civil society for implementation of e-governance by means of FOSS; advocacy for alternatives in IPR specific to ICT; and to enhance the capacity of IT professionals by promoting inclusion of FOSS in educational system and providing a platform to make them ‘globally saleable.’

The concept of FOSS provides an opportunity to harness benefits of development in ICT to the developing nations at a minimal cost. Linux, OpenOffice and Mozilla are common examples of the highly useful, and entirely free software.

FOSS also promotes collaboration of communities, which in turn foster local IT industries without the need for large up-front investments.

FOSS software works on distributed development model with the participation of thousands of developer communities.