Kiwiblog creator David Farrar has joined the judging panel for the New Zealand Open Source Awards 2010.

Nominations are now open for the awards and winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in Wellington on November 9.

The amateur blogger and professional pollster rounds off the judging panel. The full line-up, beyond Mr Farrar:

Rachel Hamilton-Williams: Recently-appointed president of the NZOSS
(New Zealand Open Source Society); General manager of Katipo

Wellington’s open source software conference buzzed from initiative ideas and international keynote speakers last week.

The Linux conference is one of the largest in the world and the second time it has been held in New Zealand. More than 650 delegates descended on Wellington last week, more than organisers expected due to the recovering global economy.

Details of the State Services Commission’s 2009 pan-government deal with Microsoft remain confidential. But an internal SSC presentation has plenty of harsh words for the software giant. It advises government agencies to ditch two Microsoft products altogether, and buy others before the previous agreement expires.