FOSS.IN

FOSS.IN is a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) conference, held in India.

It is the successor of the FOSS conferences known as Linux Bangalore, and is one of the largest annual FOSS events in Asia. Originally designed to be a national FOSS conference for the FOSS community in India, it, over a span of five years, grew into an international conference, attracting audiences and speakers from across the world.

The event is held in Bangalore, India, in late November or early December every year since 2001.

History

Linux Bangalore

[http://linux-bangalore.org/ Linux Bangalore] was India's premiere Free and Open Source Software event, held annually in Bangalore, India.

The event featured talks, discussions, workshops, round-table meetings and demonstrations by national and international speakers, and covers a diverse spectrum of FOSS technologies, ranging from Kernel-programming and Embedded systems to Desktop Environments and Localisation to Databases and Web Applications to Gaming and Multimedia, to community and User Group Development.

First held in [http://linux-bangalore.org/2001 2001] , the event has seen the participation of thousands of delegates from across India and the world, and replicated its success in [http://linux-bangalore.org/2002 2002] , [http://linux-bangalore.org/2003 2003] and [http://linux-bangalore.org/2004 2004] . Unlike commercial "Linux" events, Linux Bangalore is a community driven event, conceived, planned and built by the free and open source community of India, and facilitated by the Bangalore Linux User Group.

The event was seen as a touchstone of the success of FOSS in the mainstream software world in India, and this reflected heavily in the [http://linux-bangalore.org/2004/register/stats.php demographics] of the event audiences, which show large participation by software developers.

At the conclusion of LB/2004, which saw some 3000 participants, it was announced that name of the event would be changing to reflect the fact that this was no longer a "small, regional event". The scope would also be expanded to cater to a wider range of topics.

On August 12 2005, it was announced that the name of the event would be changed to FOSS.IN.

FOSS.IN

Unlike the Linux Bangalore conferences that it succeeded, FOSS.IN features a much widened scope, addressing not just Linux, but all Free and Open Source Software FOSS technologies.

Traditionally held in Bangalore, India, this event is held in late November or early December every year. It is designed to be "portable" in scope, i.e. no longer limited to being held in Bangalore.

The event is facilitated by the local FOSS user group(s) in the city where it is held.

FOSS.IN/2005

[http://foss.in/2005 FOSS.IN/2005] was held from November 29 to December 2 2005 at Bangalore Palace [cite news
title=Foss.in 2005 from Nov 29
url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/17/stories/2005111703080400.htm
publisher=Business Line
date=2005-11-16
accessdate=2006-11-26] . It saw the participation of thousands of delegates, with more than 140 speakers presenting more than 180 talks, workshops, tutorials and BOFs. International speakers included Alan Cox, Harald Welte, Jonathan Corbet, Rasmus Lerdorf, Danese Cooper and Volker Grassmuck, among others.

However, the main attraction of the event was not the many talks by celebrity speakers, but the "conversations" between participants at the BOFs, which for the first time saw interaction between FOSS users, developers and promoters from across India and many parts of the world, and between the Government of India, representatives of the Indian educational system, students and decision makers. There were 2751 registrations [cite web
title=A test where copying is encouraged!
url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/30/stories/2005113002711400.htm
publisher=The Hindu
date=2005-11-30
accessdate=2006-11-26] [cite web
title=FOSS.IN 2005 Registration Statistics
url=http://foss.in/2005/delegates/stats.php
publisher=FOSS.IN]

FOSS.IN/2006

[http://foss.in/2006/ FOSS.IN/2006] was held from November 24 to 26, 2006, at National Science Symposium Centre of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India [cite web
title=Spotlight to be on free software
url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/09/stories/2006110903920200.htm
publisher=The Hindu
date=2006-11-09
accessdate=2006-11-26] . The sponsors included Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Government of India), Sun Microsystems, Google, db4objects, Wipro, ABB India, CDAC among others.

For the first time in history of the event, the inaugural keynote address was delivered by an Indian developer, Suparna Bhattacharya [http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/article_1226891.php] of IBM [cite web
title=Free and open source software conference begins
url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/25/stories/2006112519820300.htm
publisher=The Hindu
date=2006-11-25
accessdate=2006-11-26] . Other speakers included Rasmus Lerdorf, KDE developer [http://people.kde.nl/aaron.html Aaron Seigo] , Russ Nelson, [http://www.andrewcowie.com/ Andrew Cowie] , Christof Wittig of db4objects, Harald Welte, German kernel expert [http://www.ukuug.org/bios+profiles/CHellwig.shtml Christoph Hellwig] , Sulamita Garcia of LinuxChix, Frederick Noronha, Sunil Abraham of IOSN and [http://people.kde.nl/taj.html Sirtaj Singh Kang] , [cite web
title=Bangalore readies for "one of world's largest" FOSS events
url=http://content1.msn.co.in/Technology/technologyIANS_061106_411.htm
publisher=MSN Technology News
date=2006-11-06
accessdate=2006-11-26] .

FOSS.IN/2007

FOSS.IN/2007 was held 4-8 December, 2007, at National Science Symposium Centre of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.

FOSS.IN/2008

FOSS.IN/2008 will be held on 25-29 November, 2008, at National Science Symposium Centre of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.

Role of the community

While coordination of the event is handled by a core team led by Atul Chitnis, the entire content (talks, workshops and tutorials) of the event is created by the FOSS community of India, as well as eminent international FOSS personalities. FOSS.IN is organized by the dedicated efforts of the linux-bangalore team, and is made possible by the contributions of their members.

Funding

The event is funded through sponsorships received from the industry. Delegates to the event pay a small fee which is used to pay for food and T-Shirts. Like its former "avataar", FOSS.IN attempts to provide knowledge to people at the grassroot level.

Role of Indian Government

The event enjoys the endorsement and patronship of the Government of India, specifically the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, who have been increasing their efforts to popularise FOSS in India as an alternative to proprietary software.

See also

Other Indian FOSS conferences
* Freed.in
* [http://gnunify.sicsr.ac.in/ Gnunify]
* [http://www.osscamp.in/ OSScamp]

Similar, international grassroot FOSS conferences
* FOSDEM
* linux.conf.au
* Ottawa Linux Symposium
* Linux Kongress

FOSS communities in India
* Linux India

References

External links

* [http://foss.in Official website]
* [http://planet.foss.in Planet FOSS.IN]
* [http://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/162669/4da8e19f0a8e228b/ News report in LWN.NET]
* [http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/30/stories/2005113002711400.htm FOSS.IN 2005 News report in The Hindu]