CianBlog

OK, so on 24th March the Document Freedom Day was celebrated. I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least 3 Romanian groups promoted the event in the country.

My joy didn’t last too long. Today I learned that, again, Romania is voting for OOXML. I’ve been following very carefully all the debates related to ODF and OOXML on one of the most serious IT Romanian forums (TIC-Lobby), and was happy to see Romanians identifying the traps and misleading ‘promises’ OOXML brings. I was sure this time they were going to vote the right way. Wrong! It seems that ASRO (The Romanian Standardization Association) – which in this vote was comprised of 26 organizations representatives – decided that Romania is for OOXML. I have to stop and wonder: are these 26 organizations representing the variety and depth of public opinion? The whole economical and technical spectrum of an entire Country? How is that possible?

A good picture I found on the web. I would name it – “The size matters”

I found this article pretty interesting and pretty self explanatory. Although the author is playing with suppositions, I would suggest you read, think and decide for yourself. What is your common sense saying? “Romania says yes to OOXML once again” Also, I have found two excellent articles about open formats and Open Source in general. Even if you’re not in IT, it’s well worth your while to read it. Mircea Sarbu is one of the most respected and trusted IT specialists I’ve met in Romania. Well done Mircea! The articles are only in Romanian, unfortunately (or fortunately, so all the Romanians will understand it).

• “De facto si de jure“
• “Open Source ca afacere“

Last but not least, I’d like to pass on an important and timely note: Louis Suarez-Potts, the OpenOffice.org Community Manager and probably one of the most knowledgeable person in the ODF/OOXML dispute, is coming to speak at eLiberatica this spring. Barbara Held from European Union will be there, too. I hope the Romanians will take this chance and understand clearly what this ODF/OOXML war is about. And why it matters for everybody. And especially for them.

I thought that might me useful to post here the eLiberatica newsletter too. We just published it yesterday. …………………….. Dear Partners and Colleagues, In addition with the ones presented in the February newsletter, we are glad to announce: Google, IBM, Red Hat, OpenOffice.org and Gartner, some of the heavy weight world-wide IT organizations, are sending speakers to the eLiberatica Conference this spring. The organizer committee is currently arranging for speakers from other important IT organizations and companies, as well. As soon as we have confirmation, their names and descriptions will be published on the eLiberatica website in “Speakers & Schedule” and “Partners & Sponsors” sections. 1. New confirmed speakers: From Google Inc – Matthew “Chewy” Trewhella (SUA) / Developer Advocate From Gartner Inc – Felix Enescu (Romania) / VP Consulting & EXP for Romania From OpenOffice – Louis Suarez-Potts (Canada) / Community Manager, OpenOffice.org / Sun Microsystems Inc. From Open Source Innovation Ltd – Humberto Moran (England) / CEO To find more about them, read their bios published under the “Speakers” section. 2. You still have one week to take advantage of our discounted ticket promotion when you register by 31 March:

• 20% off for: Basic Conference Ticket (BCT) – BOOK IT NOW
• 20% off for students, teachers and non profit representatives: Discounted Conference Ticket (DCT) – BOOK IT NOW
• 20%+10% of for FLOSS Associations: Basic Conference Ticket – FLOSS Associations (BCT-FA) – BOOK IT NOW
• FREE – special offer for accredited mass media representatives: Media Conference Ticket (MCT) – BOOK IT NOW

3. We released our updated Partners and Sponsors list under “Partners & Sponsors” section. We expect in the next newsletter to have at least 5 more prominent organizations confirmed as participants at eLiberatica. Keep an eye on that section for updates. 4. Special for you. This conference was designed for you: business people, decisions makers, developers, students and the non-specialist computer users. The event represents a unique opportunity in Romania, not only to keep up with the latest news and trends in the field, but also to enlarge your horizon about new technologies and practices, to establish contacts, to socialize and network and have a great time in a fun and entertaining atmosphere. As one of the IT pioneers Edsger Dijkstra said so well: “Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.“ Participate at eLiberatica and you’ll will find why! Remember to note on your calendar – the discount promotion for eLiberatica tickets ends on 31st of March. For registration please use this link: http://www.eliberatica.ro/2008/eliberatica-registration 5. We found a great link to an article on the Open Source and Free Software phenomenon. The article was published by Mircea Sarbu, one of the Romanian IT veterans. We are convinced it will heat up your curiosity to learn more: “Open Source like a business” (the article is in Romanian). We wish you all our best and hope to meet in the spring! The eLiberatica team. Conference Organizers:

• ROSI – Romanian Open Source and Free Software Initiative - http://rosi.ro
• Agora Media – http://www.agora.ro

Gold Partner:

• IBM Romania – http://www.ibm.com/ro/

Silver Partners:

• Red Hat – https://www.redhat.com
• BitDefender – http://www.bitdefender.com

Bronze Partners:

• Mozilla Foundation – http://www.mozilla.org
• BIT Software – http://www.bitsoftware.ro

Freedom Party Community Sponsor:

• eZ Systems – http://ez.no

Community Sponsors:

• O’Reilly Media Inc. – http://www.oreilly.com
• Navarik Corp. – http://www.navarik.com
• OpenOffice.org – http://www.openoffice.org
• Free Software Foundation Europe – http://www.fsfeurope.org
• Open Source Innovation Ltd. – http://www.opensourceinnovation.org

Media Partners:

• ActiveState Software Inc. – http://www.activestate.com
• NetMeans.net – http://netmeans.net
• Raincity Studios – http://www.raincitystudios.com
• PHPRomania – http://www.phpromania.net
• Linux Users Group Iasi – http://lug.info.uaic.ro
• GhidulPresei.ro – http://www.ghidulpresei.ro
• Acasa.ro – http://www.acasa.ro
• PR Wave Directory – http://www.prwavedirectory.ro
• Severpress – http://www.severpress.ro
• Joobs.ro – http://www.joobs.ro
• PRwave International – http://www.prwave.ro
• Bloombiz.ro – http://bloombiz.ro
• News2.0 – http://news20.ro
• ComunicateDePresa.ro – http://comunicatedepresa.ro
• My-News.ro – http://www.my-news.ro
• Connect Magazine – http://www.connect.com.ro
• Market Watch – http://www.marketwatch.ro
• Photo Magazine Romania – http://www.photomagazine.ro
• Agora News – http://www.agora.ro/
• Channel Partner Magazine, Romania – http://www.agora.ro/index.php?qs_sect_id=3129
• eWeek, Romania – http://www.eweek.ro
• PC Magazine, Romania – http://www.pcmagazine.ro
• SPIN Media – http://www.spinmedia.ro

For information regarding registraton or your organization’s promotion during the conference you can contact us at: International organizations, companies or individuals: Lucian Savluc, eLiberatica Conference Coordinator | ROSI Group Coordinator: lucian.savluc@eliberatica.ro | lucian.savluc@rosi.ro Romanian organizations, companies or individuals: Andreea Maier, PR Manager, Agora Media andreea.maier@agora.ro Mobile: (+ 4)-0730-119.721 Telephone: (+ 4)-021-330.92.82 Fax: (+ 4)-021-330.92.85 Mihai Bucuroiu, Sales Manager, Agora Media mihai.bucuroiu@agora.ro Mobile: (+ 4)-0723-408.990 Daniel Dan, Sales Representative, Agora Media daniel.dan@agora.ro Mobile: (+ 4)-0722-589.735 General information:

• Echoes from the last edition: http://www.eliberatica.ro/main-index.php
• eLiberatica 2008 website: http://www.eliberatica.ro/2008/
• Public Relations: pr@eliberatica.ro
• Conference Coordinator: lucian.savluc@eliberatica.ro
• Agora Media Conference Representative Coordinator: andreea.maier@agora.ro

There will come the time Romanians will travel without visas to Canada – the question is when? “Citizenship and Immigration Canada has been working with new EU countries in an effort to establish visa-exempt status for all EU member states. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Lithuania, are the most recent countries for which citizens traveling to Canada are no longer required to obtain Temporary Resident (Visitor) Visas.” – CIC News – Read the whole article: “Visa-Free Travel to Canada for New European Union Member States“