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  • LCA 2008 is over.
    04/02/2008 - 21:21

    Another superb LinuxConf is over. Once again delegates were enlightened and entertained by quality speakers from all over the world at the University of Melbourne. Most of the conference sessions were recorded and the Ogg/speex files are available here.

    It is always a buzz to attend events like this where you get to meet the people who are making a difference in the world today. Check out the OLPC slides from Jim Gettys to get a feel for some of the challenges people face. And speaking of the OLPC a number were given out at random during the conference with the request to "do something wonderful". I know that a number made it to New Zealand so here is hoping we can.

    LinuxConf 2009 will be held in Hobart in Tasmania so start planning now.

  • Ministry of Justice - FOSS Paper Updated
    30/01/2008 - 15:25

    Barry Polley has kindly sent me a revised verion of the MoJ open source discussion paper.

    Some changes reflect further consultation, others reflect feedback from the NZOSS list and website.

    A summary of changes is as follows:

    - Added TCO policy (#11)
    - Updated references to OSS adoption within public sector (global and NZ)
    - Corrections to version and documentation policies
    - Wording changes based on additional feedback from readers.

  • Forbes Op-Ed piece - Linux in Education
    25/01/2008 - 10:18

    You can't fit that much detail into an Op-Ed piece but at least the authors have a go here.

    Their conclusion? Education is very teacher centric at present and current computer use in classrooms tends to reinforce that view. There are historical reasons for that however they opine that for the future the 'classroom' must become child or student centric i.e. change from a monolithic teaching structure to modular learning structure. Linux is used as both the example and the means to do this.

    Of course we see the benfits of this here in New Zealand with the results from the use of Moodle by the Telford Rural Polytechnic. The case studies from Telford and other NZ academic institutions using Moodle can be found here.

  • Open Source Software in Early Childhood Education
    21/01/2008 - 10:24

    Over the last few years the NZOSS has been able to participate in the training portion of IBM New Zealand's Kidsmart deployment. As part of that training we have provided copies of Open Source software CD's based around The OpenCD and now The OpenDisc to every Kindergarten and Childcare Centre that has received a KidSmart unit. The training is hands on and includes tutorials and demonstrations of the power of Open Source tools. Feedback from the training sessions has been universally positive especially as the Open Source philosophy is closely aligned with how many parents and teachers expect learning to happen.

    We have written up a short description of what Open Source software we recommend the Kindergartens and Childcare Centres should use and why here.

    We would encourage you as parents to use this information as guide for what may be acheived in your own childs education.

  • That's ISO not I-S-O
    18/12/2007 - 22:26

    What's in a name? And no, its not an acronym... Anyway, the article is a blog post about one Ken Holman who is stepping down from the ISO subcommittee responsible for SGML. The first part of the post is about the ISO name bit but the second part has to do with how some of the ISO committees operate and some possible changes in the wind especially in regards to our good friends at SC34 (you know, the document format handlers).

    Apparently there is talk of setting up another working group to deal specifically with office document formats... it seems "the volume of work required of ODF and OOXML is threatening to overwhelm the members of those [existing] groups".

  • Ministry of Justice Open Source Discussion Paper
    11/12/2007 - 14:40

    The MoJ have been working on an OSS strategy for some time. Barry Polley at the MOJ has released it today and given us permission to distribute its contents widely.

    It is groundbreaking and I guarantee you will be pleased. Here are some pertinent quotes:

    "The Ministry needs an explicit strategy to embrace the adoption and use of OSS."
    "Knee-jerk prohibition of OSS is no longer feasible or cost-effective"
    "government agencies have a much easier case justifying the use of OSS."

  • Review of ECMA OOXML Responses
    10/12/2007 - 09:14

    The New Zealand Open Source Society is participating in the next round of Standard New Zealand's review of the Microsoft/ECMA responses to ISO's NB comments for OOXML. You may recall Standards NZ voted "No - with comments" with regards to the proposed standard earlier in the year.

    Standards NZ will be participating in ISO Ballot Resolution Meeting to be held in February next year.

  • Australian Symposium on ECMA-376 - December 14th
    27/11/2007 - 22:28

    Nice to see our Australian cousins getting up to speed on this one. The Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre is hosting a symposium to which Standards Australia and a number of other luminaries are invited to. I believe one of the invitees represented NZOSS in the New Zealand equivalent event a few months ago. Should be an interesting discussion even though the registration for the ISO BRM will have closed by then...

    Pia Waugh is also asking for help to find some documents on her blog. Hopefully someone will be able to provide the information she needs.

  • Desktop Linux on the rise...
    24/11/2007 - 21:29

    According to the preliminary findings of the Linux Foundation. The Register reports here with DesktopLinux coverage here.

    The survey hasn't finished yet so you can still bias the results for your favourite distro here.

  • Recruiting software talent the Red Hat way
    22/11/2007 - 08:01

    A positive bit of press from Computerworld here on the Open Source job market and how Red Hat try to operate in respect of that.

Read more...

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