UPM FOSS Club Joins FOSSFM

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(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- April 2nd, 2006)   Student efforts at University Putra Malaysia have begun, and their FOSS club has opened up a site http://upm.foss.org.my. 

"The creation of this FOSS clubs, shows that there is an active interest by students in learning more about Free and Open Source Software. The open and collaborative nature of FOSS provides additional avenues for aquiring and sharing knowledge for students, which were previously denied to them due to the restrictions and costs of proprietary software", said Master Yoda, the current chairman of FOSSFM.

"By using FOSS, I had acesss to the source code and technical help from the worldwide FOSS technical community", said codept, a student of UPM.  The excited student also added, "I could use all the features of an advanced database such as PostgreSQL for my project, which I could use freely on my own PC. Several senior local and international developers shared with me advanced ideas when on my project!".

The UPM FOSS club hopes to help facilitate more support to students through by holding regular meetins and inviting leading local developers to present and mentor them for projects throught the support of FOSSFM. Already over 100 students have joined the new club. Not only are the students learning new skills on software that are current market leaders in technology and innovation, but the FOSS software skills increase their marketability and chances of emploment upon graduation.

"FOSS allow students to reuse their skills without the added costs of acquring expensive proprietary software. This only increases their value to employers, furthermore the collaborative and open nature of FOSS and their involvement in FOSS communities advertises their skills to employers who are also using the same software", said Khairil Yusof a developer at a local FOSS company. He further added involvement in FOSS, allows students to better understand concepts that prepare them to use a variety of tools.

"The ability to understand the basic concepts and use of multiple software tools are the skills that employers are looking for."

Local proprietary software representatives declined to comment. A chair however was thrown through the window of the companies and foul expletives were heard regarding how they will kill FOSS.

FOSSFM stated that plans are currently in place to support 10 more universities and students throughout Malaysia.

About Free and Open Source Software

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is software whose licenses give users the freedom to run the software for any purpose, to study and modify the software and to redistribute and share copies of either the original or modified software without the permissions or royalties to previous developers. These freedoms permits sustainaible and rapid development by providing access to software technology and innovation for Malaysians.

About Free and Open Source Software Foundation Malaysia

Free and Open Source Software Foundation Malaysia (FOSSFM) was founded to cater specifically to the needs of the Malaysian Free and Open Source Software community. FOSSFM advocates the use and benefits of Free and Open Source Software to academic, government and civil society by facilitating support of community initiatives and projects.