A conference on free and open source software (FOSS) will be organised by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the Federal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT), Angamaly, from April 19 to 21.
K. Anvar Sadath, Executive Director, IT@School Project, will inaugurate the conference. Achuth Shankar Nair, Director of the Centre for Bioinformatics, University of Kerala, will deliver the keynote address.
FISAT Chairman P.V. Mathew will preside over the inaugural function.
At the conference, Nagarjuna G., chairman of Free software Foundation of India, will speak on “Why Free/Open Document Standards is Mandatory and not an Option”.
With free and open source software, it is possible to see and change the source code that makes it work.
The FOSS community believes in its growth beyond its original creators. Thanks to the way it is licensed, FOSS has the potential to be legally given away for free or for very little cost, and can be copied and shared with others without being hassled by copyright norms.
Talks by prominent personalities in the field of free software will enliven the event. Amarnath Raja, Partner and CEO, InApp, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, will speak on ‘The ethics of FOSS' and Vimal Joseph from SPACE (Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment) Kerala, will talk about ‘git Version Control System'.
Free software-based projects executed by FISAT students will be on display during the conference.
Open discussions on topics like localisation of computer language and computer education for the visually-challenged will also be held as part of the free software programme.
