Open Source is my “new found knowledge” of the moment. The first look at “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” was overwhelming but with the help of Paul Smith’s “Cliff’s Notes” version, the concept became clearer. In addition, “The Future of Music’s” analogy of music vs. the software was extremely helpful. Obviously, there is a whole world out there that we as educators haven't had the time in which to dig and delve.
When visiting www.opensource.org, I found the following introduction summing up nicely the concept of open source. “The basic idea behind open source is very simple. When programmers on the Internet can read, redistribute, and modify the source for a piece of software, it evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of the conventional software development, seems astonishing. We in the open-source community have learned that this rapid evolutionary process produces better software that the traditional closed mode, in which only a very few programmers can see source and everybody else must blindly use an opaque block of bits.”
While it's a heady concept, there are some implications for the school setting. In my 17 year experience, evolving from Apple's DOS 3.3 operating system to Windows ’98, I've had some recurring themes over the years when software was utilized by the school population.
1. Not often does a software title completely fit into the schools curriculum. Minimally, wouldn't it be worthwhile if teachers could huddle with the programmers and have a say as to what was included in the program? Or better yet, could the users be able to make changes themselves?
2. In the same vein, specified grade levels in the programs are not always accurate. The Math Majors drill and practice program grade levels necessitate the teachers having the students choose a lower one so they may be able to handle the mathematical concepts presented. Tom Snyder’s Great Ocean Rescue is a wonderful program but it's a bit over the heads of the grade level where oceanography is taught in my school district.
3. What about giving software users the ability to provide, at the very least, feedback to the programmers about ease of use? For example, I think creating tables in WordPerfect is much more user friendly than in Word. Why couldn't the Microsoft programmers take a lesson from those at Corel and make life easier on the user?
4. Last, I'm growing weary of the constant expense of updating software. While its difficult for the home user, trying to keep up in the school scene is daunting! The Cathedral mentality may be fine for big business with its endless supply of resources, but in the educational setting there is a limit as to how far those resources will stretch. In the ideal world wouldn't it be thrilling to be able to update a program at no cost or just for a nominal fee, instead of having to “bust the budget” each time there was a new version?
While just in the beginning
stages of understanding this complex concept, I feel that open source might
be able to answer some of the concerns listed above. Those concerns are
not going to go away and need to be addressed immediately. Enough
of "the Cathedral" and now, let's contact Linux!