How one Melburnian spent Software Freedom Day

Sam Varghese
Monday, 21 September 2009 06:16

Opinion and Analysis

"At one point, a gentleman who had had some previous experience with Ubuntu and Debian asked me questions on how to install newer versions of these Linux distributions. With a computer nearby, I showed him how to do so and wrote down some web sites and online forums where he could get further information," Nguyen said.

"There was a bunch of Fedora and Ubuntu CDs on the desk of every booth so I gave him some Fedora and Ubuntu CDs. He also asked for a Debian 5 DVD. But there wasn't any Debian CD or DVD lying around, so I reached for my back pack, took out my personal Debian 5 DVD I had been using for months and gave it to him."

Nguyen started using Linux and FOSS in 2005 when he was halfway through his undergraduate degree. "My university had standardised on Microsoft products. All the subjects of my course were exclusively taught with closed source, proprietary software," he said.

"Any software that we required was installed on laboratory computers so we could study for exams, complete our homework and assignments using these laboratory computers. But one of the major problems was that once I got home, I wouldn't have access to any software I required for completing my homework or assignments. This was really frustrating; I spent most of my time in computer labs, studying through to the late evening.

"Faced with this problem, I began investigating alternatives to the software I was using in my university subjects. I came across various Linux distributions, office productivity software such as OpenOffice.org, documentation preparation software such as LaTeX and TeX, and FOSS mathematics software such as Sage."

Sage is a FOSS mathematics software system dedicated to teaching and learning mathematics at all levels, from primary school, through secondary school, up to university and into advanced mathematics research.

"Over the course of a few months starting from 2006 I gradually transitioned to using mostly FOSS software in my day-to-day computing experience," Nguyen said.

In 2007, after more than a year of experience using FOSS and Linux, he started contributing to the development of Sage.

Nguyen says at first he made small contributions of patches and documentation. "Over time, I worked on various components of Sage including algebra, mathematical optimisation, cryptography and even joining the team that maintains the Sage website.

"I now manage the release cycle of Sage, a role which entails careful management of the stability of each stable release as well as interacting with a world-wide community of Sage users, developers and educators."