Later today the New Zealand Open Source Awards are being held in Wellington. The Awards, sponsored by Google, Red Hat, Catalyst IT and a number of other local organisations, attracted over 130 entries in the following categories:

• Open Source Ambassador
• Open Source Contributor
• Open Source Software Project
• Open Source Use in Government
• Open Source Use in Business
• Open Source Use in Education
• Open Source Use for Community Organisations
• Open Source for Creativity

Thirty-two finalists have been picked in the above categories. Congratulations to all those who have succeeded in being nominated as finalists.

There is a type of software that exists that you are not only allowed, but are encouraged, to copy and give to your friends. This software is not second-rate or dubious quality but, just for example, it runs most of the world wide web.

The most famous name for this software is Open Source Software also known as Free Software, FOSS, FLOSS and Libre Software. It should be noted that the the term Free Software is a reference to freedom not lack of monetary price.

The main features of Open Source Software are:

• The complete source code of the software can be accessed and modified
• It is possible to get the software without any charge

Open Source software has been significantly growing in popularity since the birth of the Internet. One of the more famous examples of Open Source Software is the Firefox Web browser. There is also a free word processor and office suite called Open Office. The Web server that serves the pages of the majority of Web sites on the Internet (Netcraft Survey) is called Apache and is Open Source Software.

Arguably one of the most significant Open Source projects is called Linux and is an operating system (like MS Windows XP and Apple OSX). This Web site is served from a system running Apache on a Linux operating system.

Here in New Zealand we have a large and active community of Linux enthusiasts and experts. We have NZLUG which is a New Zealand-wide mailing list to get help on and discussion about Linux there is also CLUG in Canterbury, and WLUG in Waikato and a quite a few other places.

There are also New Zealand companies that specialise in Open Source Software solutions, like Catalyst in Wellington and Egressive in Christchurch.