First "big meeting" a big success!

EPFSUG volunteers would like to thank MEPs Olle Schmidt and Indrek Tarand, as well as all visitors and participants.

Over 65 "staffers" from almost all EU bodies in Brussels replied to the invitation to this first big event arranged by EPFSUG. The room was full! Thankfully Olle Schmidt's office had foreseen the need for sandwiches and refreshment :-)

After welcoming the participants, the hosting MEPs made two remarcably strong statements in support of EPFSUG which was reported in online media:

MEP Schmidt said he will foster the Epfsug's initiative. "The EP institute should not try to ban this. It is a sign to them that they should be implementing this kind of software at the EP."

MEP Tarand said. [...] free and open source software advocates reminded him of those resisting the Soviet regime. "I spent the first half of my life in an unfree society. I did not like it much. I know how important a free society is, and that includes freedom in software, and that should include competition."

After that, the meeting started with the presentations:

• Drupal and contact databases (CiviCRM), by Marc Kaufmann and Xavier Dutoit (slides) (openoffice/libreoffice required)
• Tmail and webmail, by Jonatan Walck and Erik Josefsson (slides) (pdf reader required)
• Pretty good free privacy, by Joris Vanhove (slides) (openoffice/libreoffice required)

We hope the next "big event" will be just as successful. Thanks for coming and for your support!