The popular maxim, “Better late than never”, may very well apply to a group of local computer enthusiasts who yesterday celebrated “Software Freedom Day”.
Despite the celebration occurring a week late, the special forum held at the NCERD building, witnessed an impressive turnout as persons gathered to learn more about computer software.
The session was organised by the Guyana Linux Users Group – one of the 500 teams from 90 countries – who celebrated “Software Freedom Day” this year. This group has been celebrating the event since 2005.
According to one of the organisers, Vidyaratha Kissoon, the purpose of the session was “to educate the public about the virtues and availability of Free and Open Source Software.” He explained that the forum was open to all members of the public including those who knew very little about computers.
When Stabroek News was on the scene, Malisa Richards from the Kuru Kuru Co-operative College presented on Moodle, which is one of the more popular software programmes used to develop online learning applications. She highlighted that several local institutions use this programme including the University of Guyana and St Stanislaus College. Further, she said that this programme is ideal for local use since it is inexpensive, simple to understand, and can be easily accessed using dial-up internet connections.
Apart from six presentations, there were also demonstrations and open discussions.
The open discussions proved to be very engaging since the participants asked questions and discussed several computer-related topics.
Michael Dabydeen, the Network Administrator at GuySuCo and one of the presenters, told this newspaper that the forum was both interesting and thought provoking. He was particularly impressed at how keen the participants were and this, he said, was demonstrated in their active involvement in the different activities.
