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"Throughout history, every generation has had to stand up for freedom. Now it's our turn"
Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is now the largest encyclopedia in the world. The Bangla version of the wikipedia is evolving slowly since its inception in January 2006. BdOSN take this open content based encyclopedia to build the Bangla Encyclopedia. In Bangladesh, the main thrust sector in Open Content Development has been the development of the Bangla Wikipedia and the thrust was Bangla Wiki. The project aims at developing a free, open access encyclopedia in Bangla language.
The Bangla Wiki project is loosely organized using Internet based mailing lists and informal "Wiki Adda" at BdOSN office. Most of the participants are students in Bangladesh and West Bengal, or expatriates living in North America, Europe, and Japan. We are actively promoting Wikipedia and open content development activities in Bangladesh. Bangla Wiki has conducted several workshops to familiarize the new users with techniques and skills related to the project. To promote public awareness, Bangla Wiki organized rallies during the Bangla New Year, and also observed August 2006 as the "Bangla Wiki Month".
Bangla Wiki will set up an office in conjunction with BDOSN for people with limited Internet connectivity. Also, people from other regions of the country can send articles via postal mail, which is later added to Bangla Wikipedia by Bangla Wiki volunteers.
Besides articles, Bangla Wiki has also focused on creating a free repository of images and other multimedia content. As of October, 2006, more than 400 images on various topics have been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation licenses.
Since its launch in late March, 2006, the Bangla Wiki project has been extremely successful. Although the Bangla Wikipedia was initiated in 2004, it only had 540 articles till March 2006, with very little actual content. Initially, a target of 10,000 articles in one year was set. The project has been able to attract a large number of editors. As of October, 2005, the total registered editor count is 865. The number of articles in the Bangla Wikipedia has grown initially at a rate of 800 articles per month, with occasional burst of activity raising the rate beyond that. As a result of these activities, the Bangla language Wikipedia crossed the 10,000 article mark in September 2006, becoming the 50th Wikipedia, and the 2nd language from South Asia to achieve this.
The project has also gained a lot of media coverage. Bangla language newspapers such as the Daily Prothom-Alo, Ittefaq, and Jai Jai Din have published articles focusing on the Bangla Wikipedia. BBC Bangla World Service broadcasted an interview of one of the organizers of the Bangla Wiki project on May 2. Yahoo! news and many other news organizations covered the 10,000 article milestone of Bangla Wikipedia.
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Other Affairs
Dinajpur Open Source Network formed
With much enthusiasm Dinajpur Open Source Network (DJOSN) was formed on 11th May 2009. The president of Bangladesh Computer Samity, Mr Mostafa Jabber formally launched the network. The network will work along with BdOSN to promote Open Source philosophy and outsourcing in grassroot level. Mr. Shekhor Mazumder and Mr. Golam Mostafa were elected as Convenor and co-convenor of the network. IRT (Institute of Research and Training ) of HSTU will host the network for the time being.Dinajpur, May 11, 2009
Day long workshop at BdOSN Office
A workshop on freelance outsourcing was held in Bangladesh Open Source Network office at Jamil Sarowar Trust Auditorium, Dhaka on 1st May,2009. The day long workshop was conducted by Mr.Jabed Morshed and Mr.Manish of BdOSN. Different topics were covered about the various opportunities of the freelance outsourcing, required skills and getting the payment after completing the project etc.Dhaka, May 01, 2009
BdOSN online support celebrated 500 support request!
Bangladesh Open Source Network Support Service recently saw 500th email transaction. On this great achievement the support team members thank everybody who helped and guided them to operate a real time quality support service free of cost. Achieving such level of trust in Bangladeshi community was really difficult and the team is always thriving to excel in terms of depth and breadth. The support system is an email lists where experts listen to the problems shared by users who are facing problem with open source software and solutions.Dhaka, April 22, 2009
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Open Source volunteers celebrate Bangla new years
The Open Source Volunteers celebrated Pohela Boishak in a colourful way. Like the previous few years, the volunteers under the banner of Bangladesh open Source Network gathered in front of the Central Public Library, Dhaka and appeal the audience to make "Bangla Digital". This year they bear the banner with a slogan "একটাই সুর একটাই তাল- বাংলা হোক ডিজিটাল". They brought out a procession in the TSC area and ended the programme in front of the national museum.Dhaka, April 14, 2009