The four freedoms of Free Software The four
- Slides: 57
The four freedoms of Free Software
The four freedoms of Free Software
The four freedoms of Free Software This requires the source code
The four freedoms of Free Software
The four freedoms of Free Software This requires the source code
Free vs proprietary Sourcecode Open Obfuscation
Free vs proprietary Revenue adding value scarcity + software itself has value
The world of business is not simple! often
Ray Noorda, the founder of Novell a situation where businesses compete in some areas and cooperate in others
Approaches – The organisation uses existing FOSS tools, such as GNU/Linux, and does not contribute to their development. Product • Use existing • Adapt existing – The organisation makes minor adaptations of existing tools to serve its own peculiar business needs. • Join a project – The organisation puts resources, either money or a software developer, into an existing project. • Sponsor a project – The organisation sponsors an external agency to create a tool on its behalf, and may assist that agency to locate other sponsors who could join the project. • Create a project Process – The organisation creates a new project, puts its own developers onto writing the software and seeks other sponsors or others who may join the project.
Education Civil society Have a need for software Government
Procurement Have a need for software Education Civil society Government
Have a need for software
Flux
Product orientation Process orientation
This system cannot be understood by. .
… knowledge of this system
Building capacity to develop, deploy, and support software in African higher education institutions through Free Software collaboration
Free Software The cost of participation in AVOIR is thus low… …and the potential benefits are high
Key ecosystem processes
Key ecosystem processes Key role players
Key ecosystem processes Key role players
The ecosystem as a network of nodes
Principles • nodes should grow through their own processes – for example, by creating opportunities for student projects • nodes should be able to replicate – for example, by providing training and support to institutions wishing to establish new nodes • the ecosystem as a whole should work towards sustainability beyond research funding Sustainability also includes: Institutional process creating business opportunities
Sustainability
Driven by users and practitioners, not by technology
Completely modularized design Module Data access Logic Templates Controller Database Model Object Engine View Helper modules e. g. html. Table html. Forms layer get. Icon, etc
Collaborative design • Educators • E-learning projects in Africa – Net. Tel@Africa – National Information Society Learnership in Environmental Informatics • • E-Learning support Students E-learning research Software developers & computer scientists • Social network researcher studying our own processes as a network Process over time, not a product at one time
The real potential… • E-learning platform & a team that can expand build on it; • Process to design, develop, deploy and support world class software; • How can we build synergy with other projects that involve e-learning, especially in the developing world to create something that is really great? – Your ideas welcome!
AIMS & AVOIR / KEWL. Next. Gen? • Making KEWL. Next. Gen more useful for mathematics teaching – Math Markup Language – Other math tools?
What else is UWC doing? • Established Free Software Innovation Unit • Established Free Software student lab (as well as some dual boot labs) with others in planning • Integrated Student enrollment Management system – R 10 million • A preference for solutions that involve deploying Free Software
http: //kngforge. uwc. ac. za/kng_unstable
Support FREEDOM. Say no to the Non. Commercial restriction! This presentation can be used in whole or in part, and may be copied and redistributed for any purpose as long as this license subsists in any derivations or copies. Original artwork available under the same license on request to dkeats@uwc. ac. za Thanks to the following for funding and project support: IDRC, Department of Science & Technology, USAID, UNESCO, IOC, Microsoft, UWC, and the AVOIR partner institutions