Greetings all,
On the 1-2 May I had the opportunity of representing Linux Australia at the ConnectingUp06 conference in Adelaide. This conference is "Information and Technology services for Australian Communities".
See: http://connectingup.cisa.asn.au/
Please find attached my report from the ConnectingUp06. There are some photos available at http://www.mawsonlakes.org/media/misc/cu06/
High/low-lights ------------------ - Linux and Open source are definitely on Microsoft's radar. Some disparaging remarks were made from the podium during the first day. The second day was more though positive as I was able to join in the discussions as a representative of just another 'Not-for-profit' organisation.
- Over half of the people who visited the Linux Australia booth were using Open Office and promoting it's use in the organisations they are involved in.
- Although Microsoft is offering heavily discounted software to Not-for-profit and charitable organisations (their 'Unlimited Potential' program), one organisation said that they are still not getting what they need and are installing OpenOffice instead.
- A workshop was held on creating a 'National Nonprofit ICT Coalition' (NNIC), which is a project funded by the Federal Dept of Communications, IT and the Arts (DCITA). This could be very exciting with regards to open source adoption in the Not-for-Profit sector.
See the report for 'thank you's but I would like to take is opportunity to specifically thank the Linux Australia committee for their sponsorship and assistance in pulling this together.
Cheers, Paul Schulz
Attachment:
report-linux-aus.odt
Description: application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text