1. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Overview and History Nils Magnus Program Chair magnus@linuxtag.org 9th Annual International Localisation Conference Limerick, Ireland, September 21 – 22, 2004 Towards Lower Barriers in International Knowledge Transfer by Means of Open Source Approaches Oliver Zendel Chairman zendel@linuxtag.org

2. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Overview and Motivation ● Free Software is a social-economic phenomenon ● Free Software is not a product, but a ressource ● Key features include – Low Cost – Stability/Security – Flexibility ● How can Free Software bridge gaps in a global society? ● Examples for successful projects as case studies

3. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo What Free Software stands for ● Free software is a matter of freedom: – Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs – Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour – Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits and last but not least – Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program, for any purpose

4. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Comercial Impact ● Free Software means not “free of charge” – Free Software is often free of charge: Low license expenses – Free Software can be sold for money ● Free Software is a path to the service society ● Keyplayers like IBM, HP or Fujitsu Siemens Computers use Free Software for solutions based on service-oriented IT-architecture ● Free Software vendors use ressources to create products (similar: carpenters uses wood to create products) ● Open Standards are induced by Free Software

5. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Case Study: KDE ● K Desktop Environment is the user interaction environment between user and operating system: – Window decorations: Look and Feel – Application launcher, panels, applets – Several applications: editor, word processor, email client, system utilities, games, and many more ● Started in 1997 by German student Matthias Ettrich ● Today several hundreds of developers worldwide enhance the system (programmers, tranlators, web team and more) ● Locale tools are part of the development process

6. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo

7. KDE internationalizing effort ● KDE is translated almost 90 different languages by more than 300 translators (i. e. Irish Gaelic) ● Languages are chosen by demand, not by economic reasons ● Tools to support localisation are part of the development process (KBabel, gettext)

8. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Being part of the Movement ● Not only Programmers and Software architects can contribute to Free Software, but also you and I ● Open Source ideas in other contexts: – Artists can contribute to Free Software: Open Music – Writers and Translators can contribute to Free Software: Open Content/Open Access – Common Users can contribute to Free Software by filing bug reports ● Free Software is knowledge, everybody can contribute to a knowledge pool ● Developers and non-developer cooperate together

9. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Case Study: Wikipedia ● Wikipedia is a joint effort to create a global encyclopedia of common knowledge of high quality ● International collaboration ● Non-technical contributors ● Everybody can participate ● Based on Open Source technology ● Shift of Paradigms ● Quality assurance is still an issue: Palestenian-Israel confilct is an example of how to settle conflicts

10. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Rise of a free knowlege pool

11. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Knowledge needs Infrastructure ● Internet technology is the driving force for free knowledge ● Increasing the Internet user base increases the free knowledge pool ● There are still billions of people without Internet access. How many of these would share their knowledge? ● Free knowledge needs software to manage the it ● There is necessity of software for – information retrieval (Access) – collecting and archiving knowledge (Store) – quality assurance (Enhance)

12. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Case Study: Knoppix ● Knoppix is a LinuxTag project maintained by Klaus Knopper ● Easy to use full featured Linux operating system ● Run from CDROM or DVD without tampering your system – Over 2 GB of installed programs (CD version, DVD: >5GB) – Instant Internet access (LAN, WLAN, modem, DSL, mobile) – Office productivity applications – Educational software – Development tools – Games and much more

13. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Knoppix Localizations ● Knoppix is available in several languages: – German, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Dansk, and Russian – More languages are available through projects or can easily be done by yourself ● Lowers the barrier for underdeveloped regions ● Several projects customized Knoppix to their needs

14. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo LinuxTag as Platform ● Projects, developers, business, and users need a platform to exchange ● Conferences for several focus groups: – Developers and admins (Free Conference) – Descision makers in business and public administration (Business Conference) – Users (Practical Linux Forum) – Customers (Exhibitor Forum) ● 16,000+ visitors, now 10 th anniversary ● Next LinuxTag: June 22 – 25, 2005

15. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo LinuxTag exhibition ● Over 6,000 sqm floor space for 150+ exhibitors: – Keyplayers in IT-Industry: HP, SAP, Sun, Intel,... – Providers for customized Linux Solutions – Free Projects: KDE, GNOME, Open Office.org, FSF,... ● Commercial vendors pay for their floorspace ● Free Projects get booths for free ● LinuxTag is run by volunteers in their spare time ● LinuxTag is a projection of the Open Source model

16. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Q & A Session Thanks for listening...... see you at LinuxTag in Karlsruhe, Germany from June 22 – 25, 2005

17. Europe's leading Linux and Free Software Conference and Expo Speaker Contact Information Oliver Zendel Chairman LinuxTag e.V. zendel@linuxtag.org Nils Magnus LinuxTag Program Chair magnus@linuxtag.org LinuxTag e.V., University of Kaiserslautern, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany http://www.linuxtag.org/