About FOSS

What is Free and Open Source Software?

Free and Open Source Software is software for which users are licensed to allow users to freely copy, modify and redistribute in ready to run packaging and with the source code.

You can run a complete easy to use desktop operating system for personal and business use. Applications include office productivity applications such as word processing and spreadsheets, as well as specific applications for finance, science or hobbies such as cooking.

For businesses, in addition to desktop productivity software, FOSS provides mature and supported server applications such as file and print sharing, customer relations management systems and content management systems.

Some examples of software:

• Personal Desktop
• Small Office/Home Office

Get/GNU Linux - a friendly introductory site to Linux

Where can I get help and support?

User Groups

 Local user groups are good contacts for general and specific FOSS support. You can also attend our monthly meetups to meet the general local FOSS community.

Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are email discussion lists where you can get both general and specialised support on a variety of FOSS topics by subscibing to them. Malaysian FOSS Mailing lists.

IRC

Internet Relay Chat is a live chatroom to get live support from the community.  #myoss on irc.freenode.net is one of the most popular places to get advice.

Malaysian Contributers

Malaysian contributers are developers who work directly with the development of FOSS projects. They are a good resource for expert help.

Businesses

There are local businesses that provide a wide variety of services. From migration to training, you can turn to these local businesses for professional service and support.  You can also send inquiries to commercial@foss.org.my

Jobs

jobs-list is a moderated announcements only list to post job offers. You can post job offers to  http://lists.foss.org.my/mailman/listinfo/jobs-list 

Where can I get it?

Websites

KedaiCD

Is a local online store that ships by the next business day nationwide, popular FOSS CDs and DVD.

CD Shops

FOSS comes with liberal software licensing, so when you buy a copy from your computer shops, they are legal. IT shops are encouraged to display and sell FOSS CDs as well as pre-install and provide support for FOSS on computers that they sell.

The following software is legal to be sold and used freely:

• Ubuntu Linux
• Fedora Core Linux
• Suse Community Linux
• Slackware Linux
• Centos Linux
• Mandriva Linux
  
• FreeBSD operating system
• NetBSD operating system
• Openoffice.org Office Productivity Suite (for any platform)
• Firefox Browser and Thunderbird Email Client
• GIMP Photo editing

This is not an exhaustive list. If in doubt, you can email the myoss list, or the society.

While use of FOSS is legal by users, the following distributions are not allowed to be sold due to legalities of trademarks and users should buy copies from authorised resellers and support providers. They may also contain proprietary software.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Novell Suse Enterprise Linux
• Lindows
  

Does it work with my PC?

While Linux and FreeBSD operating system now supports most common hardware out of the box, there are still devices that do not have any driver support. In addition to checking your operating system notes to see if a device works, you can check a recommended compatibility list of devices available at local shops.

List of compatible hardware available locally.

Other resources on FOSS

The United Nations Development Programme's APDIP International Open Source Primers provide introductory information on a variety of FOSS topics.