SwaTaha'13

After the huge success of WinterWorkshop, conducted by Free Software Movement Karnataka during the last week of January, FSMK, along with its growing number of volunteers, has been on its toes with future events. The recent one was Swataha — short for “ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ habba” (Free Software Fest).

Swataha was, I think, the first of its kind fest to be conducted at a state level. It was 3 days of freedom, technology, hacking, and fun — conducted at PES College of Engineering, Mandya, a city located 100 kms from Bangalore.

Even for FSMK this was the first time we were trying out a completely distributed event. Adding to this, the complete groundwork was handled by students of PES College of Engineering, Mandya, with FSMK just acting as a guide for the students.

The fest was spread over 3 days, with all three days having a number of activities planned for the complete day. Workshops were planned for students of the Computer Science and Electronics streams. Computer Science students saw workshops on the latest technologies of Drupal and Android, and those in electronics were introduced to the world of robotics and PCB designing.

Apart from workshops, the event also had various sessions about the latest free software technologies, handled by industry experts, students, and academicians. Students took to the streets of Mandya on the first day to help bring awareness among the people about free software and promote its use for regular activities. Students walked around the city shouting slogans, holding placards, talking to the local folks, and also helping DTP operators and internet café users switch to free software.

It was another FSMK event which saw students pouring in by the hundreds from all over the state. As usual it was another awesome experience, meeting and working alongside a new set of students.

With the success of 2 major state-level events, FSMK gears up for another this summer — keep a close watch on the FSMK site for more updates.