Open Source and Education Examples and Business Models

Open Source and Education: Examples and Business Models James Dalziel Professor of Learning Technology & Director, Macquarie University E-learning Centre of Excellence (MELCOE) james@melcoe. mq. edu. au www. lamsfoundation. org Presentation for INT@J Open Source Conference 27 th July, 2005, Amman, Jordan

Overview • Background to Open Source Software (OSS) and Education • Examples of OSS in Education • Training for OSS • Case Study: LAMS (Learning Activity Management System) • Business Models for OSS – First/Second generation & alternative approaches – Lessons from LAMS business model – Reflections for Jordan IT industry considering OSS

Background • Open source software or “free software” (free as in freedom) has its origins deeply rooted in education – Key role of universities and researchers in the earliest developments in software and the internet (MIT, Berkeley) – More recently, both Linux and Apache (and many other projects) and OSS licenses have university/research origins • Today, some areas of education are open source, others are mostly closed, and others are changing – Mainly open: Research software (eg Grid), various infrastructure – Mainly closed: Finance/HR, Student Information, Desktops – Changing: Learning Management Systems (LMS), Browsers

Background • Despite the recent success of open source in commercial contexts, the education sector has been central to OSS since the beginning • But… this doesn’t mean education as a sector has used only open source – far from it – Very mixed within the sector, depending on type of systems – Significant recent flux, eg LMS • Will open source grow in education? Likely… – Alignment with the values of the education sector – Open source development like scientific progress

Examples of OSS in Education • Desktop – Limited operating system and office productivity adoption (but growing number of trials) – Growing browser adoption since Firefox release – Limited collaboration (email, calendar, etc) – Various niche applications (eg, encryption)

Examples of OSS in Education • Infrastructure – Apache web server dominant – Linux operating system widely adopted – My. SQL and Postgres becoming common databases for small-medium scale use – Tomcat, JBoss, Zope and other similar systems becoming common for application platforms – Perl/PHP/Python programming languages – Various open source utilities common (Eclipse IDE, Squid proxy cache, CAS/Libproxy/etc for single sign on, Open. LDAP for directory, Federated Identity and Access using Shibboleth, etc)

Examples of OSS in Education • Core education applications – Learning Management Systems: Moodle, Sakai, . LRN, ATutor, etc – Portal: u. Portal – Content Management Systems: Plone, LON-CAPA – Community systems: Open. ACS/. LRN, Drupal – Content authoring: Reload, e. Xe – Repositories: DSpace, Fedora – Learning Design: LAMS*, Coppercore – Others: Blogs, Wikis, etc

Examples of OSS in Education Summary: • Desktop – limited OSS impact, some trials • Infrastructure – significant OSS adoption, dominant in some areas • OSS Educational applications – mixed – Limited in some areas (Finance/HR, Student Information Systems, Library) – Changing in other areas (LMS, CMS, Portal) – Already dominant in some (Repositories, Learning Design)

Training for OSS • Apart from education sector use of OSS, training in using/developing OSS is growing • Technical training and certification examples – O’Reilly books and manuals for OSS – Red Hat certifications – 68 courses at http: //www. opensourcexperts. com/Training/list. html • Training for teachers/lecturers in use of OSS educational software – Moodle. Moot, Sakai, JA-SIG, Unfold conferences – LAMS training

Case Study: LAMS • LAMS (Learning Activity Management System) is a new generation of e-learning software • Based on the evolving field of “Learning Design” • LAMS helps teachers/lecturers to create and run “digital lesson plans” – Sequences of content and collaborative activities • LAMS sequences can be shared and improved – LAMS Community and “open source teaching” • Originally developed as commercial software, shifted to an open source business model

Case Study: LAMS • Why was open source a good decision for LAMS? – Encourage rapid widespread adoption of the Learning Design approach – Foster open source development of new activity tools (as well as extend the core platform) – Combines open source and open content approaches – LAMS as open source helps inform future open standards development for Learning Design – Non-profit foundation: www. lamsfoundation. org Commercial services: www. lamsinternational. com Software/resources: www. lamsfoundation. org/CD/

Open source business models • “First generation” open source models – Installation services – Technical support (ad hoc, one-off) – Integration – Custom development – Training, etc • Appropriate if… – You have technical expertise in a specific area • NB: Don’t have to own or be a lead developer for OSS – You have business expertise to ensure sustainable margins and quality service delivery

Open source business models • “Second generation” open source models – “Dual licensing” for GPL systems you created – Packaged technical support (repeatable, scalable) – Unique offerings: • Training accreditation (eg, Red Hat certification) • Certified platform (eg, Spikesource, Red Hat, Su. SE) • Appropriate if… – You created and own a specialised OSS product or service that is being rapidly adopted – You have business expertise to maintain leadership and rapidly grow open source business offerings • Two key articles on OSS business models: – 7 Open Source Business Strategies: http: //management. itmanagersjournal. com /management/04/05/10/2052216. shtml – Second generation OSS: http: //www. mysql. com/press/release_2004_10. html

Open source business models • Alternative open source models are not about making money directly from open source software itself, but using OSS for business advantage – Using OSS as components in non-OSS software • NB: Review license issues if you distribute your software BSD/LGPL usually okay; GPL – seek dual license (eg, My. SQL) • 2 models: Build on OSS from others; or open part of your system – Using OSS for non-software businesses (Amazon, Google) • Key article by Tim O’Reilly (CEO, O’Reilly Publishing) – http: //tim. oreilly. com/lpt/a/4868 • Generally involves using OSS for areas of your business (software or non-software) that are not central to your unique selling proposition (USP)

Lessons from OSS LAMS • Need significant energy and/or funding to get initial OSS product to a stage that it creates interest – Only working software counts, not just good ideas! • Important to leverage all available first and second generation OSS business model opportunities – Margins on services can help offset development costs • Going open source (for software you develop) is great for word of mouth marketing and encouraging trials – Saves on software sales/marketing costs • Recent analysis suggests 76% of new enterprise software license costs are for sales/marketing – old model broken anyway! – Easier market penetration from a distance (Australia, Jordan? )

Reflections for Jordan IT • Open source provides new strategies for entering the global software/IT services market • If you target existing OSS areas: – Seek a reputation for strong tech skills and delivering what you promise – Become a sub-contractors to larger OSS partners for overseas connections (eg, IBM, Novell, Red Hat, etc) • If you build new OSS software: – Need to achieve “buzz” from a working system that fills a current gap that matters to IT managers – Exploit all first and second generation opportunities – Consider larger partners & “franchising” opportunities