About

Welcome to Foss Cell NITC

This is a wiki based website for the Free and Open Source Software Community at NITC.

What is FOSS?

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (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 improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

For more information, please visit http://gnu.org

Vision

Free and Open Source Software is much more than a superior technology. It is a philosophy which lays emphasis on the rights of a user to copy, study, modify and redistribute code. It is based on the belief that Knowledge is a common heritage of mankind, and thus software, a form of knowledge, has to be free and accessible to all. Our vision is a society where the sharing of Knowledge is the norm, rather than the exception.

Action Plan

• Popularize the use and spread awareness, in the campus, about the advantages of using Free Software, through demonstrations, installation fests etc.
• Provide support to nearby schools for the IT@School programme.
• Encourage students to get involved in Free Software development- both community Free Software projects and events like the Google Summer of Code.
• Discuss how and why FOSS can be used effectively in the curriculum, probably replacing proprietary tools.
• Initiative to develop FOSS tools in areas where they are lacking. Probably these can be taken up by students as part of their project work.
• Join with the NITC chapters of IEEE, CSI etc. to conduct events like FOSSMeet@NITC.