Software Freedom Day at the OpenCafe - our first barcamp

The team at the OpenCafe has been preparing for weeks and the day was a success – our first barcamp had about 60 visitors, registered around 15-20 geeks with the Geek Freedom League, listened to speakers on interesting topics around open source software, open content and the role of art and artists in todays’ communities.

This year the Geek Freedom League (www.freedomleague.org.za) funded all marketing materials and catering, we gave away lots of OpenCDs, Ubuntu CDs, and gave T-shirts and geek bags to our local geeks that registered with the GFL on the day.

Reedflute Software Solutions provided the venue and all equipment for the presentations.

We had a set program to follow which included more technical talks and installs in the morning. The first talk of the day by Eugene Coetzee was based on the questions our local geeks submitted to us in the past few weeks – Eugene focused on techniques for using the Internet to find answers to Linux-related questions. Later in the morning Bob Jolliffe of Freedom to Innovate South Africa (www.ftisa.org.za) gave a talk about patents in general and specifically focused on the negative impact of software patents on innovation.

Since one of our most important projects is ArtMarketOnline (www.artmarketonline.co.za) we devoted the afternoon to art, artists and how they can benefit from participating in online communities and open content projects. The afternoon was also a musical journey introducing us to the music and traditions of East and West Africa.

In the first talk of the afternoon Anna Dani introduced our local artists to Creative Commons projects and open licenses, talked about artists that participated in the Wired CD and ccMixter projects.

Following the talk we were treated to a poetry recital by the members of local group, Muse Poesy.

Later Peter Okeno On’gare - director of local percussion group Ngoma Vuma Afrika – talked about the significance of music and specifically percussion instruments in Kenyan society. Peter ended his talk explaining to artists about the skills he and his group learnt by participating in the ArtMarketOnline project.

After the talks and discussions we showed a documentary film about well-known Senegalese musician, Baaba Maal talking about the responsibilities of artists in Senegalese communities.

The day ended with percussion music by Ngoma Vuma Afrika – singing South African and Kenyan songs.

To see photos about the day visit :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opencafe/tags/sfd2006/