You are only as free as the tools you use. This notion articulates a key challenge of our times. We are surrounded by tech, it permeates our work, play and homes.

Today, 18 national technology sector communities are launching our 2017 Tech Manifesto.

The goal of this collectively composed manifesto is to guide party policy in the technical area going into the 2017 national election. It represents the united front of our many NZ-wide technology-focused communities and is, we trust, an informative and compelling read for any prospective leaders of NZ.

Silicon Systems, an NZ-based Lenovo reseller (among other things), has extended an updated offer to NZOSS members, making 2 Lenovo laptop models available without Windows pre-installed. That means you can buy them without paying for a proprietary operating system you neither need nor want. The models are

From the NZOSA press release email:

The ACT Party has called for the NZ Government to adopt open source software, citing, among other things, the UK's transition away from Microsoft products to open source alternatives.

This year the IITP's annual conference, ITx, is a bit different from years past. It will feature 11 other national technology organisation's "streams" as well, including one for the NZOSS community discussing aspects of open source, open business, open data, and open standards. We've got speakers, a lightning talk session (so put together a 5 minute presentation about your favourite open topic) and a panel discussion.

We're very pleased to share with you that the NZ Open Source Awards will be run again this year (2016), thanks to Catalyst IT.

If you're using or contributing towards open source software here in NZ, please nominate the projects, communities and individuals you'd like to see recognised at the awards, which will be held in October.

You're welcome to nominate yourself and your own projects - don't be shy!

Section 14.13.2 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) states: