Software Freedom Day serves online democracy  
    Media Release: Software Freedom Day Team Christchurch, New    Zealand  
    19 September, 2014  
        The Christchurch Unix community has its annual technical show    this weekend, as part of international Software Freedom Day    celebrations. Personal Computer operating systems derived from    Unix offer an alternative, to Microsoft desktop security issues    and costs, and are maintained by a large international    community. Main variants of Unix are GNU/Linux and Berkeley    Software Distribution (BSD) operating systems. BSD is the core    of Apple Computer's OS-X. Licensed free software installation    discs, install help and tuition are made available to the    public on Software Freedom Day.  
    The event is held at South Learning Centre in the South    Christchurch Library. Talks, demonstrations and videos make the    day focused on educational sharing. It is a family-friendly day    of fun for all, with computers and related technology as the    platform, community driven. Safe use of telecommunication    devices is the strong emphasis here, helping people become    independently secure in their online lives.  
    Other types of free and open-source software (FOSS) can run on    Microsoft Windows, providing user choice in programs. The    Firefox web browser and Libre Office suite are popular    examples. Firefox has a quarter of the desktop browser market    alone, to which other browsers such as Apple's add to make big    competition for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. But the industry    playing field is not level in what gets promoted, hence the    need for Software Freedom Day, user support, and publicity    around FOSS alternatives.  
    Addington.net is holding an open day as prelude to SFD    celebrations, at 314 Selwyn Street on Friday 19 September: a    drop-in session demonstrating FOSS programs. The Christchurch    Software Freedom Day team was the first to get going in New    Zealand, at the event's global inauguration in 2004, and is the    last one still standing in 2014  the eleventh year.  
    We want to focus discussion this weekend on solving the    problem of secure online voting, team leader Rik Tindall says.    With Christchurch a technical innovation capital for New    Zealand, we can make an important world contribution here -    this way especially.  
    Tindall believes that just as people have secure online banking    accounts they can rely on now, very soon everyone will have    voting accounts the same way. He is calling together a    mini-conference to set some parameters at SFD this weekend, for    New Zealand to leverage its honest broker reputation to    initiate a global democracy service much needed today - using    transparent process and technology.  
    Software Freedom Day takes place Saturday 20 September, from    10am to 4pm at the South Learning Centre, South Christchurch    Library, 66 Colombo Street, Cashmere.  
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Software Freedom Day serves online democracy