Software Freedom Day observed

Software Freedom Day has been observed on the third Saturday of September every year in different parts of the world. Following this, Bangladesh Open Source Network celebrated this day on 18th September in Bangladesh through various events. Since 2004, local volunteers in different countries of the world have been observing this day regularly. That year, Software Freedom Day was celebrated for the first time, bringing together a number of technology enthusiasts who support the free software movement. This day has been regularly celebrated worldwide on the 3rd Saturday of September every year since 2006. Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) is also celebrating the day in Bangladesh. Accordingly, the day has been celebrated through various events to highlight the importance and contribution of the software freedom movement. A cake was cut at the BDOSN office. Later free chat was held. Munir Hasan, General Secretary of BDOSN, Promi Nahid, Coordinator of ‘Chakri Khujab Na Debo’ Group and many others were present on the occasion. Free and open source software is software that respects the freedom of the user and keeps its source code open. Open source software gives users the freedom to use, research, modify source code or develop any type of software. So that general and commercial users can easily realize its usefulness. In 1983, Richard Stallman started the first free software movement, which was instrumental in giving computer users software freedom. In addition to free chat, open discussions on free software were also held on this day. BDOSN general secretary Munir Hasan, joint general secretary Nasir Khan Saikat and coordinator Mosharraf Hossain Tipu took part in the discussion. Taking part in the discussion, Munir Hasan said, “Working in open philosophy or open source community expands the openness of hearts, one can learn to stand by people and work for the humanity, worldwide.”