Open Source in Education

Check out this additional Linux resource that I found at Crunchgear written by Peter Ha.  It’s another good blog post helping us all better understand Linux.

The Orientation: Linux

There are thousands of freely available software programs waiting for you to download and try out. Here are two links where you can learn about and download software that interests you. There is no cost to you and you can share with anyone you wish.

Open Source Living: Archive of Open Source Sofware

Open Source Victoria Catalog of Free & Open Sofware for Education

If you want to learn more about thin-client solutions (creating a network of workstations running of one server), you need to check out the open source server software distributions K12LTSP and Edubuntu. Using older computers and free operating software for your school thin-client environment can save your school thousands of dollars.

We know that you will be satisfied with the quality and service which usually are provided without cost. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is licensed under the GNU GPL license.

I just had to share this image that I stumbled upon. More than anything else, I like open source opportunities simply for the freedom that they offer.

Thousands of open source software programs are available and most people do not even know about them. Some people think that since they are free that they are “cheap”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Check out OpenOffice.org (a quality office suite) that can do everything that the typical person wishes to do. It is user-friendly and can be learned by simply using it.

Hopefully this blog can present new options for people who want new software. In future posts and the blogroll (the weblinks in the sidebar), we will share FLOSS (free/libre open source software) repositories where you can learn about and access the downloads of your choice.

After a few weeks of using the Linux distribution Ubuntu, I am ready to fully abandon the M$ Windows computing environment (Yeah, right! most of my extra time at school is helping colleagues fix or figure out problems they are having with their Windows computer.) Regardless, I am totally comfortable with using open source software including a computer driven by a free, easy to use, operating system.

Linux refers to Linus Torvald’s operating system kernal that is free and available for all to use. Free means more than as free in “free popcorn”. It also means that the source code in which the software is written is available and freely accessible. FLOSS (free/libre and open source software) and FOSS refer to all the software programs that have been written for free consumption. This includes Linux distros (distributions) that serve as the internal operating system of a computer and software that one might use to wordprocess, view video, chat, web browsers, etc.  With FLOSS/FOSS software, you can copy it, change it, adapt it to your needs, and even sell it. The source code is available to you to use or change it as you wish. You can learn more by going to Wikipedia’s descriptions of Linux , FLOSS, FOSS, and the GNU GPL.

We hope that this blog and linked wikis can assist educational decision-makers as consider open source solutions.  Free does not mean cheap.  Free does mean that you own your software and can do with it what you please just like most things that you buy.  Proprietary software does not allow the same privileges.  Those vendors only allow you to use it and even limit the number of  computers on which you can load THEIR software (that you paid for!!).