At 3:05 PM -0500 2/19/04, Mark Bucciarelli wrote:
On Tuesday 17 February 2004 11:53 am, Katrin Verclas wrote:NOSI, the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative, announces the release of its new guide "Choosing and Using Open Source Software: A Primer for Nonprofits." It is available for download at http://www.nosi.netDid anyone else read this? I read it quickly, and I didn't see a single mention of software freedom. Saw RMS speak on Tuesday night, and he said he thinks that people who coined the term "open source" have succeeded in turning the discussion away from the philosophical and ethical concerns that led to GNU and the FSF. Based on what I saw in this publication, he is certainly correct.
As the major author of the primer, I thought I'd chime in. Like others, I don't want to start an open source vs free software flame war. But you should understand my perspective so that you have a better idea of why we used the approach we do in this primer.
There is a section on the distinction between the terms free software and open source, and I even mentioned the valuable contributions of RMS.
I've worked for close to 10 years helping nonprofit organizations (in the US) with technology issues. I've spent almost that much time (first npo linux install: 1995) helping them adopt open source software. And I have come to have a rather pragmatic view of the use of FLOSS, F/OSS, whatever, in that sector. There are a number of issues here.
1) The philosophical issues are mostly lost on people who are spending as much time as they possibly can on trying to carry out the mission of their organization (I've primarily worked with human service and women's rights organizations). There are a number of sectors (alternative media and environmental groups, for sure) that grok the concepts, and choose their technology solutions with that understanding, but most just want to make their jobs feeding people, taking care of the homeless, or protecting women's rights easier. And that's my job: find them the most robust, cost-effective and long-term sustainable technology solutions available.
2) The word "free". Everyone on this list knows the distinction between the two forms of free. 98% of the non-techies (and probably 90% of the techies) in the nonprofit sector ONLY think about beer, and try to explain what free software is besides without cost is a challenging task (which we try to address in this primer).
3) Like many political movements (I do see this as part of a larger political/philosophical movement about intellectual property and the collective ownership of innovation), it takes both purists on the radical side, and pragmatists who help move people to make constructive change. And I think that the slow adoption of open source software in the nonprofit sector, and the increasing awareness of why it's important, and why they should want to use F/OSS, besides just that it's better and costs less, is only going to move things in a better direction, can't make it worse than it already is.
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