Open Source Policy and OSS
Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge
| Title: | Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge (ID: CSD5502) | | Edited by: | Toru Iiyoshi (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) and M. S. Vijay Kumar (MIT) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (09/16/2008) | | Type: | Books and Monographs | | Abstract: | Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available—from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for students, self-learners, faculty, and educational institutions—we have yet to take full advantage of shared knowledge about how these are being used, what local innovations are emerging, and how to learn from and build on the experiences of others. Opening Up Education argues that we must develop not only the technical capability but also the intellectual capacity for transforming tacit pedagogical knowledge into commonly usable and visible knowledge: by providing incentives for faculty to use (and contribute to) open education goods, and by looking beyond institutional boundaries to connect a variety of settings and open source entrepreneurs.
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Software and Collaboration in Higher Education: A Study of Open Source Software
| Title: | Software and Collaboration in Higher Education: A Study of Open Source Software (ID: CSD4633) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2006) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | In recent years over a dozen open source software (OSS) projects have been launched among higher education institutions with the aim of meeting the community's needs more effectively and at less cost than do commercial options presently available. There is, however, a concern in the community that its adoption is hindered by uncertainty about future support for and improvements in the software. The creation of a new organization, which we refer to with generic term "OOSS" (Organization for Open Source Software), has been proposed to address this need. This concept has received significant interest from the community and from a group of senior college and university administrators. There is a desire for further exploration of the need for such an organization and for a clearer definition of what its mission and areas of activity would be. Paul Courant, Professor of Economics and former Provost at the University of Michigan, has agreed to lead a study in collaboration with Ithaka. Michael Carter, a consultant with decades of experience in academic computing and instructional technologies with major universities and leading companies in the technology sector, is also assisting in this effort. The goal of the OOSS study is to evaluate the landscape and market environment for open source software (OSS) created by and for the higher education community, to assess the need for an organization to promote the support and adoption of these OSS projects, and to define this organization's mission and service model, should we determine that such an organization is desirable. | | View this resource: | |
Open Source: National Frameworks
| Title: | Open Source: National Frameworks (ID: CSD3728) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Presentations/Speeches | | Abstract: | Open Source: national frameworks was a one-day conference held in central London that addressed the following topics:
* e-Government in the UK, and the status of current government recommendations about open source in software procurement
* the position of the JISC, and other central research funding bodies, on open source licensing, copyright etc
* the picture from other European countries
* what the academic study of open source is teaching us
This site includes presentations from that conference. | | View this resource: | |
The Penguin in Peril: SCO’s Legal Threats to Linux
| Title: | The Penguin in Peril: SCO’s Legal Threats to Linux (ID: CSD3707) | | Author(s): | Ishtiaque Omar (Australian National University) | | Source: | First Monday | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2005) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | This thesis reviews the novel licences employed by open source developers. The paper examines how the success of the open source Linux operating system has led to conflict with traditional closed source software firms through the case study of SCO v. IBM, currently before the United States Federal District Court. Apart from exposing weaknesses in open source licensing, the case highlights the need to consider the intellectual property laws governing inputs into software development. The thesis further explores future intellectual property legislation that may forestall open collaboration. It is argued that proponents of such development methods must engage in policy discussions to limit the exclusionary authority of intellectual property licensors, by ensuring broad user rights to protected works. | | View this resource: | |
Opening the Sources of Accountability
| Title: | Opening the Sources of Accountability (ID: CSD3591) | | Author(s): | Shay David (Cornell University) | | Source: | First Monday | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2004) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | This paper scrutinizes the concept of accountability in light of free and open source software. On the view that increasing accountability grants value to society by motivating those most likely and able to prevent risk and harm to do so, the author argues that while developing software collaboratively, licensing it openly, and distributing its source code freely are promising first steps in the long journey to rehabilitate accountability in our highly computerized society, our very understanding of what accountability is changes too. This paper analyzes the concept of accountability in an open environment and explores the implications in two mission–critical application fields in which software plays a significant role — electronic voting, and electronic medical records. It further considers the potential remedies to accountability's erosion that free and open source software offer, and the ways in which accountability can be generalized to collective action if we understand it less as punishability and more as a culture that encourages the prevention of risk and harm. | | View this resource: | |
Free and Open Source Software: Policy and Development Implications
| Title: | Free and Open Source Software: Policy and Development Implications (ID: CSD3440) | | Origin: | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2004) | | Type: | Articles, Papers, and Reports | | Abstract: | Free and open source software (FOSS) has become an inseparable component of the global technological ecosystem as well as of the current debate on information technology anddevelopment policy. Much of the Internet and a distinguished list of technology businesses use FOSS-based infrastructures for mission-critical tasks. Nevertheless, FOSS is ofteninsufficiently understood from an economic, human capacity and intellectual property perspective, issues with important development implications. Given a greater awareness andbetter understanding of FOSS, Governments may need to adjust their policies, primarily through their e-strategy. The notion that FOSS can have positive externalities makes it animportant consideration in countries with strong development agendas. FOSS has substantial potential for business and commercial use, and for-profit entities may benefitfrom exploring FOSS-based solutions. FOSS has triggered thinking on and consideration of issues relating to content provision and consumption in other areas of human activity suchas education, science and creative endeavours, where its contribution is making available a spectrum of solutions for creative work, research and development and knowledgedistribution, in between the proprietary model and the public domain. | | View this resource: | |
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