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BG: 'Government's increasing use of Open Source inevitable'

BG: 'Government's increasing…

Published on: 30/05/2008 News Archived

The Bulgarian government will turn more and more to Open Source software, predicts Krasimir Panayotov, coordinator of the GNU/Linux User Group in the city of Rousse, the country's fifth-largest city.

The Open Source advocacy group are confident that Bulgarian public administrations migrating to this type of software find it reduces the cost of IT and at the same time improves the security of their  systems. To help get this message across, the user group is organising software demonstrations next month tailored especially for representatives of public administrations.

The software demonstrations will take place on either 14 or 21 June, says Panayotov, depending on availability of conference space at the Angel Kanchev University. Apart from proving to government representatives of how easy switching to Open Source is, the group  plans to present the major Open Source distributions, including FreeBSD.

The Rousse GNU/Linux enthusiasts are also getting busy organising the fourth annual Openfest conference, scheduled for this autumn. This Open Source conference is increasingly attracting representatives of public administrations, says Panayotov. "Some of our regular participants are IT workers from the local Custom Office."

The non profit GNU/Linux user group was founded last year. It wants to provide information around the use of GNU/Linux and other Open Source applications. The group plans to regularly organise public events to discuss and demonstrate this type of software.

Panayotov trusts that the Open Source demonstrations in June will help convince local IT administrators to at least try it out. "Those in public administration that use standard office productivity software, can switch to using Open Source alternatives almost immediately."

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Further information:

Ruse city Linux User Group (in Bulgarian)

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