Free software and free software concepts for home, education, business and government computer users will be promoted during Software Freedom Day this Sunday, September 19.


These volunteers are organising the Software Freedom Day open day this weekend at St Mary’s Catholic School. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

Run by the Bay of Plenty Linux User Group and supported by TechnologyWise, an open day will be held on Sunday from 11am-3pm at St Mary’s Catholic School to promote free open source software to the community.
"The goal of Software Freedom Day is to educate the public about the benefits of using high-quality, free open source software that is available," says TechnologyWise director Steven Vincent.
"Our vision is to empower all people to freely connect, create and share in a digital world that is participatory, transparent, and sustainable."
Volunteers will have PCs, laptops, big screens and projectors and will show visitors the extent of open source software and its capabilities. A wide range of software will be demonstrated including areas such as audio-visual, astronomy, business, design, educational, games, genealogy, libraries, music, and programming.
This is the first year Tauranga has had its own Software Freedom Day event as part of a worldwide celebration of free and open source software.
The event is free and everyone is welcome.