Community to Gilliard: 'Consider Open Source'
The Australian Open Source community has called for the consideration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the implementation of the Rudd Government’s Digital Education Revolution Policy.
In an open
letter that was submitted last week to the Deputy Prime Minister Julia
Gilliard, members of the community expressed its support of the
Government’s investment in Australian ICT capabilities, education and
training.
The letter is signed by nine leading FOSS advocates,
including: Open Source Victoria’s Education Spokesperson Donna
Benjamin; OLPA Australia Director Pia Waugh; Red Hat Australia General
Manager Max McLaren; and Samba Developer Andrew Tridgell.
Central
to the FOSS argument is the low cost associated with Open Source
Software, which could enable more flexible use of the $1000-per-unit
National Secondary School Computer Fund (NSSCF).
“We aimed to
get the letter out in time for the Council of Australian Governments
meeting last Thursday, because the computer fund was on the agenda,”
Benjamin told iTnews.
“I'm usually the first to say that cost is
not a winning argument when advocating free and open source software to
the education sector, but for now, in relation to the NSSCF it really
is,” she said.
“I wanted to keep the focus tight and the message
simple: ‘Consider open source’ -- the hope being there would be time
for more discussion later.”
A May 2005 report by U.K. government
advisor Becta found the use of Open Source Software to reduce hardware
costs by 53 percent in primary schools and 32 percent in secondary
schools.
Furthermore, Benjamin expects current FOSS systems to
be more attractive than those at the time of the Becta report due to
improvements in manageability.
Open Source advocates have also
identified potential benefits for schools in teaching ICT skills,
licensing costs and interoperability of IT infrastructure, and enabling
students across the socio-economic spectrum to access licensed software
to use at home.
“There's a lot of misconception out there about
Open Source, and we're finding that some of that starts and is
perpetuated in schools,” Benjamin said.
“Open Source software
runs most of the world’s super-computers,” she pointed out. “It's no
longer an emerging technology -- but it doesn't have a marketing
strategy, or budget.”
The open letter has yet to receive a
response from the Government, but already there have been discussions
in the Open Source community about potential Government initiatives for
the future.
