About
We host talks, workshops, and social events about free, libre, and open-source software (FLOSS), for the folks of Oxford. (We also stream or record most talks for the folks of The Internet.) They're open to anyone in the city (not limited to any University or affiliation), technical or not, whether a free software expert or newbie. For most non-external events, you can just turn up; no registration required!
What's FLOSS?
I (Oliver Geer) am glad you asked! Quoting Wikipedia (which is itself FLOSS):
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that gives users the right to use, share, modify, and distribute the software — modified or not — to everyone and provides the means to exercise those rights using the software's source code.
[...] Free and open-source operating systems such as Linux distributions and descendants of BSD are widely used, powering millions of servers, desktops, smartphones, and other devices.[9][10] Free-software licenses and open-source licenses have been adopted by many software packages. Reasons for using FOSS include decreased software costs, increased security against malware, stability, privacy, opportunities for educational usage, and giving users more control over their own hardware.
The Free Software Foundation Europe explains:
Free Software is about freedom. In practice, this provides numerous advantages for users, organisations, businesses, and governments.
- Autonomy
- Free Software helps to develop and maintain tailored software that suits your needs, not just the vendor's business model.
- Collaboration
- Free Software can be shared and used in a non-exclusive way by everyone – serving the public good.
- Share & Copy
- A Free Software licence allows a limitless number of installations to be run, without paying extra.
- No Lock-in
- Free Software licences reinforce independence from vendors and provide more choice in service providers.
- Reuse Code
- Free Software provides the freedom to reuse the code for other projects.
- Innovation
- A Free Software licence encourages innovation for your software.
- Competition
- Free Software resists monopolisation and enhances competition.
- Security
- Free Software allows for independent security checks that help close security holes faster.
You don't need to be technical to get involved in FLOSS. As mentioned above, FLOSS newbies are more than welcome to come to our open-level events!