Just a quick note on Open Source

27-April-2005

There are an increasing number of project producing Open Source applications for education and training. In the UK all the projects under the Jisc e-learning programme are being required to make products available as Open Source. I applaud this - I have never understood why public funding should be used to produce software - or anything else for that matter - and release it under a closed license.

It does raise questions of sustainability though - the 'traditional' Open Source model of releasing and hoping to build a community around it may not offer enough space or support to allow further development and testing of products.

I also worry that Source Forge may not be an easy environment for education people to find applications which meet their needs.

there seem to be lots of people talking about setting up new services for OSs in education in this area - but no one seems quite sure how to proceed. Would welcome any thoughts or ideas - have I missed something?

Extended text for this entry:

I also worry that Source Forge may not be an easy environment for education people to find applications which meet their need.


Graham Attwell; 27-April-2005 14:15:31;