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.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4