On 20th September 2008, we, the students of Osmania University successfully started a new open source group, named S.O.U.R.C.E (Students of Osmania University to reach the Realms of Computer Excellence) in our college to propagate Sun Open Source Technologies.
Initially a core group of Third Year CSE students spent a day and discussed the name of the group and also the day it should be launched. The group decided that the best day to launch the S.O.U.R.C.E should be "Software Freedom Day" and there was total unanimity in this decision. The core group also coined the acronym S.O.U.R.C.E as it reflected the goals and focus of the open source group.
Following the above decisions, the next aspect the core group considered how the event launch should be publicized in the Campus. A day was spent on the Poster Designing. A lot of thought and debate had gone into this Poster design especially with respect to positioning Sun Brand in this launch. The Poster finally was designed with Sun Brand Colors, Fonts and Logo and with the focus on the team.
Another day was spent seeking permissions from Head of the Computer Science and Engineering Department, Prof. S.Ramchandram and Principal of Osmania University, Prof. Venu Gopal to formally launch the Group in the University. We also explained to them about the Open Source focus and integration with Sun Open Source Strategies. They were appreciative of the initiative. We invited both of them to preside over the inauguration. In parallel the posters were printed and put up on the notice boards of all the Departments, Library and Hostels to catch attention.
On the following day, the core group went to each Engineering Department and gave an introduction about the group S.O.U.R.C.E highlighting open source philosophy and Sun Microsystems Inc. We encouraged all the departments to join us and stressed that open source is just not software but a philosophy.
Once the above aspects were covered, the core group spent a day discussing the Agenda, identifying the Show Anchor and Seminar Topics. In addition seminar hall was checked for all facilities and Open Office was installed on machines in Seminar Hall. In parallel the logistics were taken care of like procurement of Bouquets, Cakes, Snacks, Water Bottles etc., On Friday evening with all arrangements in place, we kept our fingers crossed hoping that everything should go well and Murphy Law would not show its face.
On the D-day i.e., Saturday, the Core Group was very early in the College and reviewed once again all the arrangements.
People started coming in trickles and by 9:45 AM, the entire seminar hall was full with a whooping strength of 70. This was amazing and encouraging.
The inauguration was started by presenting bouquets to Prof. S.Ramchandram and Prof. Prem Chand. The senior faculty provided the group with some inspiring words and ensured their support always for this initiative. They shared their experiences and wisdom about Open Source Philosophy. A cake was then cut as a part of the celebrations of "Software Freedom Day".
This was then followed by a seminar by Mr. Roopak Bhartee, a third year CSE student, who spoke about open source and its benefits to the people in today's world. He also gave an insight about "Software Freedom Day".
Subsequently a presentation on "Sun's contribution to Open Source Community", was given by Mr. Muduganti Gautam (Sun OU Campus Ambassador) which covered SUN, it's participation in open source communities, various open source technologies of Sun like Solaris (OpenSolaris project), VirtualBox, Java, GlasssFish, NetBeans, etc. The presentation also explained Sun OSUM (Open Source University Meetup) and how S.O.U.R.C.E fits into that framework.
The participants were then encouraged to sign-up at the OSUM site and join our group at the site.
The event was concluded by a "Vote of Thanks" by Mr. Harish. The entire event was well anchored by Miss. Apoorva.
The entire S.O.U.R.C.E core group was encouraged and enthused with the success and response for the event.
Check out the photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/osum.source
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