Free Software Festival in Puerto Vallarta
Following up on the experience of the 10th Real-Time Linux Workshop´, held in 2008, and former activities favoring technological development, the University of Guadalajara’s North Campus is to organize the Free Software Festival Vallarta 2009, on November 5 to 8 in Puerto Vallarta.
The festival is an open space for students, workers and all interested in the area to attend, and collaborate; it will allow the display of research works and development of free software to promote its advantages.
Learning Technologies Coordinator Alejandro Lopez, from the North Campus, indicated that the university has the obligation to promote issues that are beneficial to people, regarding technology, as is the case of free software.
The theme of the festival this year is Free Software and the Digital Gap, which will be boarded in conferences and discussion panels to exchange experiences, research and developments that can contribute diminish this social problem.
The activity emerges from motivations that have to do with technological development in general and the free software in particular: technological convergence that will transform society, technology to solve important world problems, digital gap, sustainable development, freedom of knowledge as fundamental aspect and free software as synonym of freedom of knowledge.
The North Campus bets on free software. It switched its platform from Web CT to Moodle, which represented big savings to the university, considering the constant use of technology as part of the learning process of students, since the campus uses b-learning as educational model.
In 2008, about fifty international experts in free software applications in real time participated in the 10th Real Time Linux Workshop, held in Colotlan, an event held for the first time ever in Latin America.
The Free Software Festival is expected to have an impact on half the states of the country, from universities, companies, municipal governments, “thus we seek to create fertile soil for the use of free software among the whole of the population” emphasized Lopez.
Important personalities from the free software scene are confirmed to attend the festival, like Alvaro Lopes, from Spain, who created the free web server Cherokee; Rafael Bonifaz, from Ecuador, who lobbied for the use of free software in his country; and Sandino Araico, Mexican, specialist in fine tuning, hardening and virtualization. They all work on proposals of technological inclusion with impact on society, said Lopez.
the festival will take place in the convention rooms of the Holiday Inn Puerto Vallarta hotel, where over 30 papers will be presented, along with discussion panels, and workshops by free software experts. Over 500 people from at least 20 states are expected to participate.
For info and registrations log on to: www.fslvallarta.org or E-mail:
contacto@fslvallarta.org.