Foss ed 2007

Over the past two days I was taking part in the FOSS (free open source software) event called FOSS ed .. And man it was an experience .. The event was about implementing open source alternatives which can be used on windows.. I'll not cover the concepts behind all this but anyone interested in the details should check this link out
http://www.foss.lk/events/2007/fossedforwindows
http://www.foss.lk

Anyways the event was the first time I attended aN FOSS event or any open source for That matter.. I should tell you that i grew up with windows and have never used anything else. but after the conference, I am seriously looking at using Linux. God knows they have made me a convert.. I dunno why but open source seems unspeakably cool, I think it has something to do with all the movies I watched has a kid about the computer geeks running around with a box and tht command line open an typing in code to thwart the evil plans of the malicious character in the film. OR maybe its the fact people associate hacking and all with Linix users, This latter parallel is completely off though open sourcers refer to hacking as a clever programming technique and our definition of hacking actually means CRACKING a system which is something they frown upon...
But The topics were'nt that interesting sometimes but the bit on web security and browsers and content management systems was pretty interesting .. and some of the speakers like suchetha and mifan really stood out..
I guess another thing that made the whole thing worth it was the venue.. The HNB tower simply has the best view of the park in colombo.. it just made for a really relaxed atmosphere..

On the whole the topics that were touched upon really opened ones eyes to the bigger picture that we more often than not miss. from the two days I spent I come away with clearer picture of how exactly open source software fits in to the software market and just how far propitiatory software companies collaborate, The interesting thing was I never realised that there where so many opensource alternatives available to be used on non open source platforms.
I'm pretty tired out from the day so I'll give you a more lenghty brakdown of the two days later

I wish to say that all in all FOSS ed was an experiance that was worth it and that these kind of events are jst the ticket to get more people to embrace the open source culture. and I am definitely going for the next FOSS event..

P:S as students we measure goddness by fodd.. and let e just say that the food was good and they kept us well fed :D