About

Lynne Pope is a consultant with Axian Ltd, specialising in web-based software solutions. She has been involved in developing free, open source software (FOSS) since before it had a name and was an early adopter of Internet technologies. Lynne worked in Information Technology roles for a number of years before moving into corporate management, but IT gradually exerted its hold and following a stint as an IT lecturer, she returned to her roots.

Lynne is a community leader and in 2002 was elected as a city councillor in Palmerston North, New Zealand. She held that position until stepping down from local government in October, 2007, the same month she was elected as President of the Mambo Foundation, Inc. She is passionate about FOSS and has seen how free software levels the playing field for small and large businesses, and for people everywhere. Her disastersearch.org web site was instrumental in reuniting thousands of people who were displaced following hurricane Katrina. Built on a Mambo open source content management system (CMS) base, the disastersearch site is still being used today.

Much of this blog relates to the work Lynne has been doing in her local community. Lynne’s decision not to seek re-election following two terms as a city councillor means that this blog is now being used to discuss the other things she is passionate about - such as FOSS. Her other FOSS-related website is osprojects.info, a site dedicated to the collection of research into Open Source software, and the gathering together of case studies and best practices to assist others who, like Lynne, are involved in leading open source communities.