Well, the CIT (Conference on Instructional Technologies) has come and gone for another year and my presentation on Open Source Technology was a hit! Although I walked into that computer lab late and saw, quite literally, wall-to-wall bodies, and thought, 'I must be in the wrong room'. The reason for my lateness was this: My wife and I just had a newborn and of course, like all dads, picked up the little guy right after he was done feeding and my shirt looked like an abstract piece of art. I changed my shirt before heading off to my presentation - and of course, showed up late.

Now, I didn't think I had generated such a huge response with my topic on alternatives to commercial products. But apparently, I did. Don't get me wrong, I do have my share of commercially produced favorites. But truth be told, they are expensive and with marketing ploys of generating a newer version on an annual basis or having multiple versions at various prices is quite absurd.

Open source has become a "buzz" that does not seem to be losing steam. Since Microsoft announced it was going to release Vista - many people thought that perhaps migrating to a Mac platform might be a good idea. Then Apple announced, that it too, was going to release an new operating system. So, what were people going to think now? The spotlight then re-focused onto a Windows and Mac alternative - Linux.

Linux, for those of you out there who don't know, is an operating system, very similar to both Windows and Mac, yet different in other ways.

Let me explain...

An operating system is an environment that allows you to surf the web, check your email, IM, listen to music or watch videos. It usually has a good-looking screen with icons to the most widely used programs when you turn on your computer.

Windows has several versions of its operating system, Vista, at various prices and Mac only has one version, OS-X Leopard, for everyone ranging from the student to the Fortune 500 CEO. These operating systems (o/s), cost money, yet most of Linux is FREE! To see for yourself how many versions of Linux operating systems are currently available, please click Distrowatch.

To some, this may be overwhelming, while others may find some relief that there are other options rather than the "big two".

Differences in o/s, includes, the inability to run proprietary applications native to either Windows or Mac. For example, on Linux you cannot run Windows Media Player or QuickTime simply because these technologies are referred to as "closed source" and are owned by Windows and Mac respectively. To work around this, we use a cross-platform tool - VLC media player. Now, VLC media player IS open source. And since it is open source, there are downloads available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

"So, why don't instructors/teachers tell us about this kind of stuff?", is the common question asked by many of my students. The answers may fall under the following:

a) The instructors/teachers may not know what Linux is or that it even exists. For that matter they may not know what open source is altogether.
b) People believe that just because Linux and open source are free that it is flawed; can cause systems to crash; do not have tech support; are inferior to commercial products because they are developed by amateurs.
c) If you are not paying for software, then how good could it possibly be? Who actually uses this free stuff anyway?

Here is my response to the above:

a) Linux is open source. It is free. It can be copied. It can be shared through P2P file sharing systems. It can be burned to disks and given away. (And you won't get arrested for it either.)

b) Now there are other programs that are referred to as open source. Does that mean that you can only run them on a Linux computer? The short answer is 'no'. Here's why:
True open source software is not owned by anyone person or group. Open source technology, per se, is developed by professional computer programmers who love to work on these types of projects. These programmers belong to communities where the share their ideas and contributions with each other. They donate their time to produce products that can run on existing Windows or Mac machines and of course, many, if not all, will run on Linux computers.

This spreadsheet will give you an idea of what a commercial product such as Photoshop or CorelDraw (and others) are up against in the world of open source equivalents. In a previous blog, I mention various alternative to commercial products.

c) Although you are not paying for the free open source software (FOSS) it is a good idea to contribute what you can, when you can. Believe it or not, this does encourage the programmers to develop better tools and fix "bugs" or problems that already exist in a particular program. 'If you are not paying for software, then how good could it possibly be?' Well, when articles are written about how mainstream industries are utilizing the power of open source, it stands that we should listen and listen carefully.

For example, Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Publisher serve to produce Desktop Publishing (DTP). Both Adobe and Microsoft are corporations which need to turn a profit by selling both products and support. There are numerous articles written about these programs, their pros and cons as well. An open source equivalent to these two programs is Scribus. These are some articles written about Scribus and how industry is using this open source DTP - Small Business Forms using Scribus and PDF , a 3-part article in PDF format: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and an article on open source in general.

As for 'who is using this free stuff?' Take a closer look:

Open source has been around for some time now, but I have never seen the media take to it the way it has been lately.

Before there was the iPhone, there was OpenMoko. Here's an article on OpenMoko. Computer manufacturer Dell, is now selling both laptops and desktops with Linux already pre-installed. And the video game industry is also behind open source. Here are some lists of open source video games: First-person shooter games. Open source games. Freeware games. There are even books available for game developers on how to work with open source. Hollywood has even embraced Linux and other open source technologies. (Articles to read: "Why Open Source Rocks Hollywood", "Open Source Jahshaka Sets Sights On Hollywood", "Barbarians at the Gate" , and "Open Source: Ready for Its Close-Up")

You can also download a full set of tools and applications from FOSSTOOLS.org . (When you get to the site, click on FOSSWIN.zip and download.) This package has virtually everything covered from office suites to graphic design to educational software to security applications and much more. And they are all free.

Why do I emphasize free?

When someone sets out to start their own business, the motto is, "spend money, to make money". Eliminating the cost of the software one needs to operate a business now-a-days, helps in lowering business expeditures. Students understand how difficult it is to simply buy textbooks. Asking them to buy software is never easy for the student. Schools with on a shoestring budget or on no-budget can now be competitive with schools that have commercially produced products by utilizing open source technology. Non-profit organizations cannot stay on the cutting edge if they begin to focus on upgrades and licenses. Staying on the cutting edge does not mean you have to bleed your wallet dry.

The freedom of...

- Downloading software and not being charged with committing a crime.
- Sharing software via P2P and not get a subpoena in the mail.
- Producing high-quality work that can rival the caliber of those commercially produced products.
- Being recognized by the work produced and not by the software used.
- Actually understanding what "financial freedom" is all about - since open source won't cost you a cent.
- Upgrading without spending any money.
- Installing software on any number of desktops and/or laptops without fear of not aqcuiring multiple licenses.

Currently, I'm looking to do a "lunch-time" discussion with my colleagues at SUNY Plattsburgh. Hopefully, this discussion will lead into developing professional development workshops around open source technology. I'm also going to tweak and add more open source resources and software to my website. In October, I will be giving another presentation on open source at the AECT Conference at Anaheim, Ca.

Well, til next time...