CEG's Linux User Group

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is an annual worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The principles behind FOSS are underpinned by the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. SFD is a public education effort
aimed at increasing the awareness of Free Software and encouraging its use. Software Freedom Day was established in 2004 and was first observed on 28 August of that year. Over 70 teams participated in the first Software Freedom Day. Since then its popularity has been scaling new
heights and this year the organizers anticipate more than 1,000 teams to participate in this tech fest! This year, this mega fete kicks off at 10 a.m on September 18 at Birla Planetarium in the state capital!

A success story. .

Abacus '09 is the technical Symposium conducted by the Department Of Computer Science and Engineering, Anna University. CEGLUG had a stall at Abacus, in order to spread awareness about OpenSource and the Linux Operating Systems. We the second years, took stage to do this job. We are proud to say that it was indeed a grand success at Abacus. We showcased 3 laptops which had Ubuntu 8.10-GNOME, Ubuntu 8.04-KDE and Ferdora 10-GNOME. Varied possibilities with Linux were shown and spectators were wonderstruck with the capabilities of Linux OS. Most of them had no idea about Linux, and to see an Operating System with such capabilities,(!!),were they amazed!! They were all surprised on seeing Linux's performance in even Moderate Configuration PC's.

(Image: At the Stalls. For more photos Click Here )

We also gave away CDs of different Linux distros like Ubuntu 8.04, OpenSUSE, Fedora 10 and Mandriva. There were many people who came forward to get them. We also encouraged them to install these distros in their Systems, and also explained how to do the above. We saw people interested in Wubi installation than the complete installation since they dint want to loose Windows all over. But that is a good way to start over is what we felt. (Even i started the same way, and i now have plans to remove Windows 'cos its occupying unnecessary disk space :) ).

(Image: Distros given away by us)

On Day 2, we went a step further. We had people who had already been there the previous day. They wanted to see something different. So we showed them how to build a project from its source. We also showed them how to edit a code(we edited the GNUSIM8085 code) and make a few changes to the GUI. And ofcourse yes.. They were amazed to know that it was all C!! We had a few Math department students who were really interested in knowing about Linux and were interested in developing applications for their field. We would be honored to have math ideas in our groups!!!!

At 3.00 in the evening. The day was hot, but it was made hotter, by our event, Open Beads. It was an OpenSource event, which had a prelims and a final. The prelims had 20 questions based on Linux and Shell Scripting in Linux. We selected two teams after having a tough time in eliminating the others. These two teams were given two PCs, with a bug in them. Their mission was to solve the bug and make the system function as normal. They were given Internet connection and a time of half an hour. Both of the teams were close to completion, but none hit the goal. Final prize was given to the team who had scored the highest in the Prelims.

As the day came to an end, we were satisfied about the fact that we have contributed in some way in spreading ideas about OpenSource. We are confident that we have attracted most of our Visitors to Linux. We hope to do more in the near future,.