OSCON 2009: Opening keynote focuses on open government
On July 22, O'Reilly founder and CEO Tim O'Reilly launched this year's OSCON conference with a challenge for open source advocates to get involved in the quest for open government.
O'Reilly expressed excitement about recent efforts of the Obama administration to promote open records and open source software as a means for ensuring equal access to information. In his opening keynote address, he briefed the OSCON crowd on the new Open Source for America advocacy group.
O'Reilly highlighted the need to think of government “...as a means for collective action.” He added that the recent push for more openness in government has led to a big demand for experienced open source developers to volunteer their time and expertise. “Collective action means more than collective complaint....If you're interested, don't just lend your voices—lend your hands.”
The open source in government theme continued through the first day, with presentations on election audits, “Hacking the Open Government,” and “Bureaucrats, Technocrats, and Policy Cats: How the Government is Turning to Open Source and Why.”
The open government theme reflects a growing interest throughout the US in finding ways to ensure that information compiled at government expense (and therefore owned by the people) is easily available to everyday citizens without usage fees, vendor lock-in issues, or license constraints.
Issue 264/2022
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.0 Officially Released
Although it will be some time before most Linux distributions ship with the latest kernel, the next major release is now available.
-
ExTiX 22.9 Released with Support for Installing Android Apps
The developers of the ExTiX Linux Distribution have released a new version that includes added support to make installing and using Android apps on the desktop a breeze.
-
System76 Skips Pop!_OS 22.10 to Focus on COSMIC Desktop
In a move that is sure to raise some eyebrows, System76 has chosen to concentrate on COSMIC Desktop instead of staying in step with Ubuntu releases.
-
New Look for System76 Thelio
System76 has given their already stellar Thelio desktop computer a redesign by way of the chassis accent panel.
-
Ubuntu Software Store Rumored to Replace Gnome Software
An alternative to GNOME Software has been written, using Flutter, and it’s making enough noise that Canonical is rumored to be considering using it as the default.
-
A New Arch-Based Linux Distribution Has Arrived
Crystal Linux is a new distribution with the goal of bringing the power of Arch Linux to the masses.
-
Fedora 37 Beta Available
The Fedora development team announced the beta for version 37 of the open-source operating system would be released on time on September 13, 2022.
-
Salix 15.0 Offers Updates and a Modernized Look
Salix is a Slackware-based Linux distribution with a new look and a goal of being fast, user-friendly, and highly stable.
-
Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS Release Now Available
The latest point release of the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS distribution is now available and sports kernel 5.15.
-
MX Linux 21.2 Offers Improvements and Bug Fixes
MX Linux 21.2, aka “Wildflower,” is now officially available and is the second refresh of the MX-21 release.