The Department of Computer Science (CS) of Central University of South Bihar (CUSB) marked a thrilling celebration of Software Freedom Day (SFD). Organised under the esteemed guidance of CUSB Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kameshwar Nath Singh, the event was a vibrant showcase of innovation, collaboration, and the power of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) in transforming the future of technology. The event was kicked off with an inspiring address by Dr. Prabhat Ranjan, Head, CS, who emphasized the revolutionary potential of FOSS in breaking down barriers and unlocking creativity for the next generation of tech innovators. Software Freedom Day is a global initiative celebrated annually in the third week of September to raise awareness about the importance of open-source software and its users' freedom regarding access, usage, modification, and distribution. SFD fosters collaboration and inclusivity by encouraging people to engage with open-source technologies.
Faculty members meticulously coordinated the day’s action-packed events, ensuring a seamless experience for the more than 170 enthusiastic participants and visitors from the different departments of the university. The day was packed with a series of competitive events namely quiz competition, distro display competition, coding competition and poster presentation competition in which the students from across departments showcase their skills and passion for technology. In the Quiz competition, coordinated by Dr. Piyush Kumar Singh the first, second and third place were secured by Om Prakash (Bioinformatics), Kaushal Kumar Singh (Computer Science) and Abhineet Kumar (Computer Science) respectively. In the Distro Display Competition Coordinated by Dr. Mrityunjay Kumar, showcasing 8 different Linux-based Operating systems like (Kali, Fedora, React OS, Ubuntu, Mint etc.) the winner was Om Prakash (Bioinformatics), while Shivam Kumar & Ashish Kumar (Computer Science - AI) secured second place and third place holders was the team of Abhishek Kumar & Md. Nehal Saim (Computer Science-AI). In the Coding Competition (Coordinated by Dr. Nemi Chandra Rathore) the 1st Place holder was Shivam Kumar (Computer Science - AI), 2nd Place was secured by Aryan Raj (Computer Science) and 3rd Place holder was Vivek Kumar Sharma (Computer Science).
In the Poster Presentation Competition (Coordinated by Dr. Jainath Yadav) individuals and groups presented on different open source topics, tools and technology like Audacity, Blender, GIMP, Libre-Open Office, MySql, Open Source for Social Change etc. The winner of the competition was Akankcha Kumari and Sristi Raj (Computer Science - AI), while second place holder was Arti Kumari, Aryan Raj, Shalini Kumari & Sunny Pratap Singh (Computer Science) and third place holder was Mohini Madheshiya (Economics). In keeping with the spirit of FOSS, winners were awarded both physical and secure, digitally verifiable e-certificates through the "Certified" platform developed by Algoristan Research, Gurugram. This cutting-edge system embodied the technological progress and transparency that FOSS champions. A dedicated team of students from M.Sc. Computer Science and M.Sc. Artificial Intelligence worked tirelessly under the expert guidance of research scholars Aman Kumar Routh, Dheeraj Kumar, Purnendu Prabhat, Aditya Kumar, and Debasis Mohanta. As the event drew close, Dr. Piyush Kumar Singh expressed his heartfelt gratitude in the valedictory session, applauding all participants, faculty members, and volunteers for their contributions.
