InformationWeek for Mach 19, 2007 had an interesting article titled “What Will Drive Open Source?” by Charles Babcock, which discussed the controversy that has been created with the proposal of GPLv3 (General Public License 3). A GPL is (according to Wikipedia) “a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman (his personal page is here) for the GNU project.” Basically it’s a license that was written to go along with the GNU project which aimed at unifying similar licenses so that code from different versions of GNU could be shared freely.The GPLv1 was released in 1989, and it aimed at preventing the two main ways in which software was made restricted to users, by making them only executable, but not modifiable, and by adding legal restrictions to the license. This first version wanted to make the source code available to users, and prevent restrictions from being added to the license. GPLv2’s main difference from the original once was the “Liberty of Death” clause which stated that if a distributor was legally obligated to restrict the source code to users, then it couldn’t distribute it at all. This version was released in 1991.The article I read focused on GPLv3 and the controversy around it. GPLv3 is currently being worked on by Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, and others. GPLv3 has run into disfavor by proposing a prohibition on the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology along with GPLv3. (DRM prevents users from copying, copyrighted material.) Another aspect of GPLv3 tries to foresee all future attempts to patent it, and forbid this, a move some say is unrealistic and will instead make the license too restrictive. Another main aspect of GPLv3 is its “giveback provision”, which will affect huge internet corporations like Google and Yahoo. The provision aims at addressing the fact that companies like Google and Yahoo have greatly benefited from GPL code and have modified it to their benefit without being forced to make these alterations public, since they do not distribute products based on this code. This particular provision would also affect all other kinds of private companies.

GPLv3 is still in the works, and in the mean time it’s creating a lot of tension within the Open Source community; we’ll have to wait to see how this plays out.

(This post was originally used for my technology class.)

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I was just reading “The Case for Open Source: Open Source has Made Significant Leaps in Recent Years. What does it have to Offer Education?” by Miguel Guhlin, in Technology & Learning, February 2007. The article discusses how open source has succeeded out in the world, and how educational institutions, including K-12 and universities can benefit from this technology. The author ponders how education may be revolutionized if educators were allowed to modify and adapt the content of curriculum to their specific needs, and then share this information with others, just as it occurs with open source. Another good reason to embrace open source in educational institutions revolves around all the money they can save in the process. With open source schools wouldn’t have to purchase expensive software, and then have to pay licensing fees. In a large school district this can add up to millions saved.As enthusiastic as Guhlin is about the possibilities, he also acknowledges that the transition would require a lot of work. Educators and staff in general will need training in these new systems, along with explanations as to what exactly open source is, and what benefits it brings. Another obstacle can be IT support, since, currently there aren’t too many IT professionals specializing in open source. Yet the solution to this seems to already be here; online tutorials. The website NewsForge offers a variety of articles relating to open source along with case studies, as well as tutorials on how to implement this technology and how to use it. There is also an entire blog titled OpenOffice.org dedicated to teaching you how to use OpenOffice.

Open Source in it’s variety of existences may not have yet ironed out all the glitches, but the ability to expand it’s usage and create entirely new applications, more than compensate for this. Besides, the code is public so changes and adaptations can be made on the spot!

(This post was originally used for my Technology class.)

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I’m still not over my fascination with open source, so here is more on the subject…

I just learned about the OpenCourseWare which “is a free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses.” Basically, through open source software it aims at providing anyone who can get online the highest quality of education available on this planet at absolutely no charge; Amazing! The Open Course Ware Consortium, which administers this initiative, states that their goals are to encourage the adoption of this systems, develop new courses, and ensure the program’s long term sustainability.

Currently for educational institutions to participate in this program, they must commit to publishing material from at least ten courses, under the institution’s name. In some cases, educational institutions have gone much further. MIT has joined OpenCourseWare and currently make ALL their course content available to everyone. Basically you can get an MIT education for free, you just don’t have access to professors, nor do you get the diploma at the end. In MIT’s case, some professors have eagerly embraced the program, while others are very upset about this, feeling that this initiative in undermining the university’s main role, which is that of selling intellectual property. You can listen/read NPRs Market Place report on the matter here.

Currently educational institutions in 17 countries world wide, plus a variety of NGOs have joined OpenCourseWare to help promote education. Among those participating in the USA are MIT, Harvard’s Law School Berkman Center for Internet and Society, The University of Notre Dame, and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Around the world you can find courses from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Colombia), Kyoto University (Japan), Universidad de Monterrey (Mexico), and the University of Klagenfurt (Austria), among many others. Some of the NGOs involved include the African Virtual University, Creative Commons, and China Open Resources for Education (CORE).

(This was initially used as a post for my Technology class.)

Todavía no se me pasa la fascinación con el movimiento de “open source”, así es que aquí hay un poco mas sobre el tema…

Me acabo de enterar del proyecto OpenCourseWare, una plataforma de contenido educacional de alto nivel, abierto a todos, y organizado como cursos académicos, todo completamente gratis. Básicamente, por medio de software abierto el proyecto estará ofreciendo a todo quien tenga acceso al Internet, una educación de la mas alta calidad, sin costo alguno. ¡Simplemente sorprendente! El Consorcio de OpenCourseWare, quien administra este proyecto, explica que su meta es la adopción de este sistema, la continuación del desarrollo de cursos, y trabajar para que el proyecto sea viable a largo plazo.

Actualmente para que una institución académica pueda participar, esta debe comprometerse a ofrecer el contenido de por lo menos 10 cursos, bajo el nombre de dada institución. En algunos casos, algunas instituciones académicas han ido mucho mas lejos. MIT se unio al OpenCourseWare de lleno, ofreciendo absolutamente todo su contenido académico. A lo único que no tendrá acceso será a los profesores, ni tendrá diploma al final del curso. En el caso de MIT, algunos profesores han visto el proyecto con muy buenos ánimos, mientras otros no esta de acuerdo, alegando que el punto de la institución es vender su propiedad intelectual, y que si se regala esta, la institución dejara de tener una razón para existir. Usted puede escuchar el programa radial de NPR, Market Place tratando el tema, aquí.

Actualmente 17 instituciones alrededor del mundo, además de varias ONGs se han unido al proyecto de OpenCourseWare para ayudar a promover la educación de todos. Entre aquellos que participan en EEUU están MIT, el Berkman Center for Internet and Society, La Universidad de Notre Dame, y la facultad de Salud Publica de la Universidad John Hopkins. Alrededor del mundo podrá encontrar cursos de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Colombia), la Universidad de Kyoto (Japón), la Universidad de Monterrey (México), y la Universidad de Klagenfurt (Austria), entre muchas otras. Algunas de las ONG participando son la Universidad Virtual Africana, Creative Commons, y China Open Resources for Education.

(Esta entrada originalmente fue escrita para mi clase de tecnología.)

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