This document summarizes a presentation given by Sameer Verma on facilitating a digital commons using free and open source software (FOSS). It introduces San Francisco State University and provides an overview of FOSS, including definitions of free software and open source software. It discusses FOSS licensing and provides examples of popular FOSS applications and projects. It also addresses FOSS adoption policies in Southeast Asian countries and the use of FOSS for educational purposes.
Ensuring Technical Readiness For Copilot in Microsoft 365
Facilitating a Digital Commons with FOSS
1. Facilitating a Digital Commons with Free
and Open Source Software:
Paving the Way for Generations to
Come
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Colloquium Associate Professor
Research,Teaching and Service
Information Systems Department
The University of the West Indies,
Mona Campus, Jamaica San Francisco State University
Sept 18, 2008 San Francisco, CA 94132 USA
2. Introduction San Francisco State University
● Part of the California State University system
– 23 campuses, 450,000+ students, 24,000+ faculty
● San Francisco State University
– 8 colleges
– 30,000+ students
– Undergraduate: 24,000 +
– Graduate: 6,000 +
– Faculty: 1,800 +
http://www.sfsu.edu/
4. Software Freedom Day
● Software Freedom Day 2008
– Celebrated by 600+ teams worldwide
● UWI Mona Team
– Thursday, September 18, 2008
– http://softwarefreedomday.org/teams/centralandsouthamerica/Jamaica
– FOSS for Windows
● http://www.theopendisc.com/
– UWI SFD 2008 Flyer
8. Analog to Digital
● A paper book is analog
– $$ for every extra copy
– A copy of a copy of a copy ...degrades each time you
make a copy
– Last for a few hundred years
● An PDF book is digital
– Near zero $ for extra copies
– A copy of a copy of a copy ...is as perfect as the original
– Last forever
9. Going Digital
● Thousands of books on a thumb drive
● Replicate freely
● Easy storage and retrieval
● Translatable
– Language
– Script
– Audio
– Video
10. Digital Repositories
Paper Books Vinyl Records
01010101010101
1010100100101
CassetteTapes Digital Celluloid Movies
10010100001001
1010101001101010
Paintings
Photos
11. DRM: Who's rights are these?
● Digital Rights Management
– Protect copyrights
– Do users have no rights?
– Whose rights are being protected?
● Digital Restrictions Management!
– What if Apple/Microsoft/Adobe/... went out of
business?
– Your book will no longer “open”
12. ● sustainable
● long term
● representative
● accessible
● ...
● futureproof
Digital Commons
16. Free and Open Source Software
● Two viewpoints:
– Free Software (http://fsf.org)
– Open Source Software (http://opensource.org)
● FOSS: A public commons approach
● Who's involved:
– Individuals
– Community groups
– Nonprofit foundations
– Software corporations
17. Four Freedoms
● Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program, for any
purpose.
● Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works,
and adapt it to your needs.
● Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
help your neighbor.
● Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and
release your improvements to the public, so that the whole
community benefits.
18. The Open Source Definition
1. Free Redistribution
2. Source Code
3. Derived Works
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
7. Distribution of License
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
10. License Must Be TechnologyNeutral
19. Software Licensing
● Why is a license needed?
– Public domain implies no control over intellectual
property rights
– License defines the terms and conditions for use of
intellectual property
● Copyrights apply to expressions
● Patents apply to ideas
– Copyright enforceable via a license
41. FOSS: Policy and Implementation
● ICT Policy
● Infrastructure
● Availability of Software
● Software Piracy
● Localization of nonEnglish languages
42. ASEAN
Singapore
● 10 countries in ASEAN
Malaysia
– Association of SouthEast Asian Nations
Brunei D.
● UNDP:
Thailand
– “The vision is that developing countries in
the AsiaPacific Region can achieve rapid Philippines
and sustained economic and social Indonesia
development by using affordable yet Viet Nam
effective FOSS ICT solutions to bridge
Cambodia
the digital divide.”
Myanmar
Laos
UNDP International Open Source Network: http://www.iosn.net/
43. Methodology
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
OSS adoption in
ASEAN nations
Indonesia Indonesia
Singapore IT Infrastructure
Malaysia Software Industry
Thailand Geographic spread Adoption Survey
Vietnam Local involvement
Cambodia Government actions
Laos Localization efforts
Brunei
Philippines
Myanmar
48. Multimedia Applications
● The experiment
– Software needed for the class: Approx. $200
– Will a student at a public university spend $200 on
software for a semester?
– Can FOSS tools adequately fill the need?
● Important: Choice of tool should be based on
the curriculum and not the other way around.
49. Applications
• GIMP – Bitmapped graphics
• Blender – 3D rendering
• Inkscape – Scalable Vector Graphics
• Audacity – Audio editing and manipulation
• Scribus – Desktop Publishing
• Tux paint – Fun for kids...and grown ups!
• Kino – Nonlinear Digital Video Editor
• Drupal* – Web 2.0 CMS
Total: $0.00
*Server-side
50. Assignment
● ccmixter.org
• Audio assignment
based on ccmixter.org
samples and loops
• Students download
vocals, drum loops,
effects, etc. and use
Audacity to mix and
recreate tracks.
• Learn audio tools and
legal aspects via
Creative Commons
licenses
51. Assessment
● Are students really satisfied with a FOSS
platform?
● Are we providing education or training?
● We are conducted surveys using a “user
satisfaction” instrument.
52. Lessons learned
● FOSS must meet curricular needs.
● Advocacy works. Evangelism does not.
● Innovative technology.
● Collaborative software development.
● Ethics and legalities of the digital domain.