Survey results
1. The number of respondents who found the conference useful: 97.3%
Comments
- Informative regarding software patents & freedom
- Too much PR from big companies, too much politics
- Learned about uses for free software
- Differentiated between free and open source
- Overall very informative
2. The number of respondents who had a decision making role when purchasing IT solutions: 50%
3. The number of respondents said they would be interested in participating in future events relating to FOSS: 95%
Comments
- Interests in the approaches and problems with delivery
- Interests in learning more about FOSS
4. The number of respondents interested in joining an all-island FOSS Business network: 60%
Comments
- Students felt they cannot join
- Promoting the development of free software is a worthwhile goal
- Education should be involved / aware
- Continent wide network would be better
5. The percentage of respondents who would find a vendor–independent centre for advice on FOSS solution useful to their business: 55%
Comments
- Convince management of the reasons for FOSS
- Education sector should be more involved / aware
Additional comments and suggestions about the conference
- No employment opportunities
- Feelings that Richard Stallman was a bit preachy, the other speakers were very good.
- Presentation from Birmingham libraries was very interesting.
- Other examples of FOSS in education would be useful
- Learning more about GPLv3
- We need to explore the ‘real business opportunities'