Digital Equity, Open Source, and Web 2.0

I recently read this blog posting from Lucie deLaBruere at Infinite Thinking Machine, a rather interesting blog that I recommend.  Lucie mentions quite a few interesting things, mainly focusing on the idea of digital equity, providing opportunities for all learners, regardless of socioeconomic class.  She mentions the alternatives to much commercial software that appears on the web as “Web 2.0 tools”.  For example, Google Docs replacing Microsoft Office, or Picnik replacing Photoshop.  But, the point is also made that many students do not have internet access at home, thus can not access these tools while at home.  One further way to lessen the divide is the use of open source software in schools.  This software can legally be put on a disk and sent home with the child.  Thus, as long as the child has a computer at home, they can access and use powerful learning tools such as Open Office, Gimp(Photoshop alternative), or Free Mind(Inspiration alternative).  Thus, at this point, the main issue is getting computers in the hands of all learners.  I am not quite sure what percentage of students, especially those in the lowest socioeconoic classes,  have access to computers, but with all of the talk of the $100 laptop, you would think that being able to provide a computer to every school aged child would become a priority as we move forward in the 21st century.

The Economics of Technology Sharing: Open Source and Beyond

The article with the above title, from Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole in   The Journal of Economic Perspectives-Volume 19, Number 2-Spring 2005-Pages 99-120,  gives a solid introduction to the world of Open Source and specifically open source software, where many of the major advances in this movement are focused.  The article highlights some of the areas where open source is already employed significantly, an example being Linux running 23% of servers as of 2005. I am sure this number is even higher.  In fact, I recall reading elsewhere that Linux has also made headway in running on many mobile gadgets and other platforms and that the disaster of Windows Vista is making many other potential users opt for others possibilities.  Linux, and specifically Ubuntu, is going to make significant impacts throughout the industry in the years to come.

But, one of the questions remain.  Why are programmers spending time writing code for free?  Lerner and Tirole give some explanation, highlighting a few of the possible incentives for programmers to do so, including opportunities to work on skills that will be valuable when looking for other job opportunities.  In addition, the challenge and interest of working on these projects can not be underestimated, many of which are worked on while these programmers are being paid at their respective jobs.  Some argue that they are developing skills more quickly that are in fact valuable to their present employers.  There are a myriad of other reasons that Lerner and Tirole go on to explain and I do  not plan to rehash all their arguments.

 

Wired Magazine’s #1 Business Trend of 2008

Check out this article at Wired Magazine, where they continue to discuss the business model of the Open Source movement.   I continue to be very curious about the business model being described.  It seems quite a bit more stable than the bubble that developed around the Web in 2000, yet it still seems a little questionable.  Open Source Software companies that are giving away their products are being sold for millions of dollars, and this trend is only getting stronger, as the article notes that the sales during January of this year exceeded those of all of 2007.  I certainly hope this bubble does not burst.  I like free software!  Especially when thinking of the benefits of free software that can be reaped by our economically dsyfunctional school systems, any products that can be delivered for free to those institutions is a total boon!  I think about Art programs that could not possibly afford Photoshop, but could employ Gimp in those classes to enable students to use excellent software and develop useful skills for the 21st century.  We will continue to monitor the situation and hope that the river runs its course.

Why do schools pay for software??

After browsing the web and looking at all the the free alternatives to expensive software packages like Microsoft Office and the Adobe Creative Suite, it makes me wonder why we don’t see a lot more integration of free software packages in both public and private education.  From my perspective, free software is the future, with the business model revolving around support and services for the software.  We’ll see how this plays out.Just to get a sense of the options, Jimmy Atkinson notes 50 pieces of software that have free alternatives. (That blog post did not have a trackback option) 

To practice the trackback feature, I am going to link to Linux’s Open Source Blog, with an entry containing some quotes about the difference between Free and Open Source.