Wanted-Future trainers on "FOSS Certification"

Wanted: Future trainers on "FOSS Certification" (LPI certified Linux Administration)
in East and Southern Africa! 

Application deadline for the 1st Regional Training of Trainers in Nairobi, Kenya,

is September 22nd, 2010 (Course dates: 1st- 12th November 2010)

The application deadline for the 2nd  Regional Training of Trainers in Johannesburg,
South Africa is November 15th, 2010 

- For all inquires and answers to this mail, 

please use the following address: ikua@fossfa.net<mailto:ikua@fossfa.net> 

Further information:

http://www.ict-innovation.fossfa.net/

Revisiting the Free Software Definition

“Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free drink.” 

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus, you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission to do so.

You should also have the freedom to make modifications and use them privately in your own work or play, without even mentioning that they exist. If you do publish your changes, you should not be required to notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way. 

The freedom to run the program means the freedom for any kind of person or organization to use it on any kind of computer system, for any kind of overall job and purpose, without being required to communicate about it with the developer or any other specific entity. In this freedom, it is the user's purpose that matters, not the developer's purpose; you as a user are free to run the program for your purposes, and if you distribute it to someone else, she is then free to run it for her purposes, but you are not entitled to impose your purposes on her. 

The freedom to redistribute copies must include binary or executable forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and unmodified versions. (Distributing programs in runnable form is necessary for conveniently installable free operating systems.) It is OK if there is no way to produce a binary or executable form for a certain program (since some languages don't support that feature), but you must have the freedom to redistribute such forms should you find or develop a way to make them. 

In order for freedoms 1 and 3 (the freedom to make changes and the freedom to publish improved versions) to be meaningful, you must have access to the source code of the program. Therefore, accessibility of source code is a necessary condition for free software. Obfuscated “source code” is not real source code and does not count as source code. 

Freedom 1 includes the freedom to use your changed version in place of the original. If the program is delivered in a product designed to run someone else's modified versions but refuse to run yours — a practice known as “tivoization” or (through blacklisting) as “secure boot” — freedom 1 becomes a theoretical fiction rather than a practical freedom. This is not sufficient. In other words, these binaries are not free software even if the source code they are compiled from is free. 

One important way to modify a program is by merging in available free subroutines and modules. If the program's license says that you cannot merge in a suitably licensed existing module — for instance, if it requires you to be the copyright holder of any code you add — then the license is too restrictive to qualify as free. 

For more go to http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

Tanzania Software Freedom Day!

September 18, 2010
 
FREE SOFTWARE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS
Tentative Programme
Workshop title: Free Software and Open Source Software for Legal Professionals
Organizer: Tanzania Free and Open Source Software Association (TAFOSSA)
Target:Legal professionals (Invitation only due to space limitation)
Venue: Conference Hall at the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA)
Duration:3 hours
Date: 18th September, 2010
Expected number of Participants: 20
 
Workshop Content
Presentation (1.30 hrs)
• Introduction
• A bit of history
• freedom of software
• Developers and their motivations
• Free software and public administrations
• Legal aspects of Free Software
• Opportunities for legal professionals
• Case studies
• Free resources
• Question and Answers

Demonstrations (targeted to legal professionals) (30)
• Office Applications
• Website Content Management Systems
• File management systems
• Collaboration software
• Blog Software
• etc

Software Installation (1 hr)
• Ubuntu Linux
• Free Application Software for windows (Office, antivirus, multimedia etc)
• Website Content Management Systems (Joomla, MediaWiki, etc)
• File sharing software

TAFOSSA Team (to be published soon)

TAFOSSA and the 10 questions on ICST in Tanzania

Dear all,

I believe we all understand and agree that information and Communication Science and Technology (ICST) is key to development of any society.

I  desire to see TAFOSSA become an active and one of the key players in research, development and innovation on Information and Communication Science and Technology  in Tanzania.

But  a few questions pop out in my mind.

1.What can we do as TAFOSSA to assist Tanzania take fully advantage of the economic and social revolution brought about by progress in this area (ICST)?

2.What role can Free Software and Open Source Software play in 1 above?

3.What role do we have to play as individuals ?

4.What role do institutions have to play?

5.How should TAFOSSA approach research and development (and innovation) to match the needs of Tanzania in various sectors (health, environment, energy and security)?

6.Who should TAFOSSA approach for partnership? (Nationally/Internationally)?

7.How can TAFOSSA achieve the above sustainably?

8.How can TAFOSSA organize itself at the National level to better achieve the above?

9.What should be the operational model of TAFOSSA to be successfully?

10.What are you ready to do today on behalf of TAFOSSA today?


Your ideas/suggestions will contribute a lot to the success of TAFOSSA and development of ICST in Tanzania

Atanas C Nkelame /UCC +TAFOSSA

calls for LPI material development consultants and training consultants

... From a post to FOSSFA By Evans Ikua, FOSS Certification Manager,

Wanted: LPI training manuals development consultants and Trainers ofTrainers for the FOSS Certification pillar of the ict@innovation project Application Deadline is 27th August, 2010. * Are you interested in developing training materials for the Linux Professional institute Certification? * Do you have a solid background in Linux administration and development of user manuals and documentation? * Do you have experience in training others on the LPI, and/or are you part of a training institution? * Then respond by 27th August 2010 to become part of an exciting training materials development programme on FOSS Certification, and/or to become one of our trainers of trainers.Background - ict@innovationThe ict@innovation programme aims at building capacities for Africansmall and medium ICT enterprises to build a business with Free and OpenSource Software (FOSS). The project encourages the growth of African ICTindustries, particularly in Southern and East Africa, through three mainaction lines: spreading FOSS business models for enterprises in Africa,fostering FOSS certification and supporting innovative local FOSSapplications for social and economic development.ict@innovation is a partnership between Free Software and Open SourceFoundation for Africa (FOSSFA) and InWEnt - Capacity BuildingInternational (Germany). Pillar B – Fostering FOSS CertificationThis pillar of the ict@innovation programme aims to help African SMEsinvolved in Open source Solutions development, implementation andtraining to improve the quality of their solutions offering throughcertification of their FOSS skills. The project partners haveappreciated the importance and urgency of increasing the number ofcertified Linux systems administrators on the African continent so as tohave a bigger impact on the uptake of FOSS on the continent.To achieve this, the program will implement the following interventions: 1. Support the development of open content Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPI) training material. 2. Offer Training of Trainers to individuals in the participating countries, leading to the LPI exams for certification. 3. Support the trainers to deliver the LPI training and certification in their countries and institutions as a business model. LPIThe ict@innovation programme, is looking for African (and global)experts wanting to participate in the development of end user trainingmanuals for the Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC-1). Weare looking for individuals with experience in the use of the LinuxOperating system, as well as with experience in the development of enduser training manuals.Our aim is to make use of already existing open licensed materials andmodify them to bring them up to date. Once this is done the materialwill be distributed under the same open content license (GFDL), and putonline for our trainers to download and use in their trainings.We will also be offering a series of regional training of trainerworkshops, with the first one set for later in the year for the EASTAfrican region. In line with this, we are looking to recruit experiencedLPI training consultants who will deliver this training to our trainingparticipants. The participants will be selected from individuals whoalready have some experience using Linux and offering training.ict@innovation may also choose to select one consultant/consultingfirm/consortium to work on the two contracts. The application documentsincluding the terms of reference and the formal invitation can be foundhere: Material for Developers and Material for the Training of Trainers.If interested, please send your application by email to the followingaddresses indicating availability, to reach them not later than 27thAugust 2010:george@inwent.co.zaand copy the following addresses:
ikua@fossfa.net
Evans Ikua,
FOSS Certification Manager,
ICT@Innovation,FOSSFA/inWent,
Eagle House, 2nd Floor,Kimathgi Street,Nairobi - Kenya,
Tel: +254-20-2212485,Cell: +254-722-955831,
www.ict-innovation.fossfa.net

Tanzania rolls out a National FOSS Training Programme

The National Institute of Transport (NIT) has just completed a training programme titled 'Advanced Training on African Business Models with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)'. This follows some very good work done by Mr Edgar Telesphory (Senior System Analyst/ Technician - NIT).

The training was organized by the National Institute Of Transport with support from ict@innovation, a joint capacity building programme of FOSSFA (Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa) and InWEnt - Capacity Building International (Germany), funded by OSISA and the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ).

 Participants in the just ended FOSS training held at NIT in a group photo

(photo by Atanas C Nkelame)

This training follows a regional train of trainer course called "Advanced African Business Models with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)“ which was conducted at the University Computing Centre and where it attracted participants from various neighbouring countries (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia).

The training started on 02nd August 2010  and was concluded on 13th August 2010 and a presentation about TAFOSSA was made by Mr Atanas C Nkelame who also was one of the trainers. Trainees were awarded certificates. Trainers/Facilitators  included Edgar Telesphory (NIT/lead trainer), Atanas Cosmas Nkelame (UCC/TAFOSSA), Frank Tilugulilwa (UCC), Lawrence Lyayuka (UCC) and Juma Lungo (ZALONGWA)

Pool of Tanzanian ict@innovation experts and trainers on Advanced FOSS Business Models

The following Tanzanian-based trainers and experts are part of a pool of trainers, who have acquired training experience and expertise in "African FOSS Business Models for IT-SMEs" through a Training-of-Trainer programme of ict@innovation. They have been qualified in facilitating the course “ict@innovation: Free your IT-Business in Africa”

Feel free to contact these resource persons, when looking for services related to training in Open Source and Business aspects, particularly "African FOSS Business Models".

1. Almasi S. Maguya
2. Alex Mukurasi
3. Frank Tilugulilwa
4. Simon K. M Njovu
5. Atanas Cosmas Nkelame
6. Lawrence Lyayuka
7. Olympa Lema
8. Juma Lungo
9. Lusekelo Mwaipyana
10. Hector John Mongi
11. Majid Igangula
12. Baraka Chuma
13. Justin Tarimo
14. Edgar Telesphory
15. Mariam Ally Tambwe
16. Titus Tossy