Whether you are writing a new software or building a house - it is always the same story: you won't get it right the first time. But you do get a second chance. The "Free Software Association Bulgaria", who organized "OpenFest 2004", a festival dedicated to software freedom, shares this experience with you. FSA Bulgaria's second chance was an event held on October 24 to 25 in Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, and two other major cities: Plovdiv and Pazardjik.
Attracting a total of over 500 people, it became the biggest event dedicated to free and Open Source software (FOSS) ever to have happened in Bulgaria, if not in the Balkans.
While last year's event was held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, this year's OpenFest saw lectures by the Parliament and active politicians from the entire spectrum of political agendas. They all showed support of the OpenFest motto "Let's share our freedom!"
"The differnece from last year is evident", says Yovko Lambrev, on of the main organizers, "In 2003 it was a four hour event with three international guests in one hall, reaching an audience of 100 people. This year we saw a two day event in two halls packed with more than 300 participants in Sofia."
The annual BSD user conference was part of the agenda. As this year's event was planned in just three weeks in advance, the only foreign representatives came from the Former Yougoslavian Republic of Macedonia. But participants still had an opportunity to exchange ideas about propagating free software in transitional economies.
The major topic besides the lectures was the imminent danger of software patents that are being pushed by large software publishers via the European Council in violation of the normal democratic process. Twice the OpenFest participants protested by getting up from their seats and literally turning their backs on software patents. Both state-sponsored and private nationwide TV and radio stations, as well as the IT press, covered the protest and the concerns in their reports.
The discussions at the event clearly showed that FOSS closely reflects the needs of a young transitional economy. However, since the major software publishers typically have a government lobby, the main obstacle is political. OpenFest will continue to spread the ideas of Open Source with annual events.
