floss-advocacy.pdf

Transcript

1. Four freedoms JJ Merelo University of Granada Free Software Office http:/ /osl.ugr.es http:/ /identi.ca/oslugr
2. Freedom to choose
3. Freedom to switch
4. Freedom to spend
5. Freedom to innovate
6. Did I convince you?
8. Four freedoms JJ Merelo University of Granada Free Software Office http:/ /osl.ugr.es http:/ /identi.ca/oslugr
9. Freedom to choose It's about using the tools you want from the task at hand. Imagine you had to use backpacks from a single brand: JanSport, let's say. Oh, wait, everybody does that already... It's the same thing when a professor asks her students to submit a paper in Word. Exactly the same. Freedom to choose LibreOffice, OpenOffice, ApacheOffice, any other branch in the last two minutes, no? Ok... Abiword... wait, this one sucks anyways... OK, whatever. Freedom to choose.
10. Freedom to switch How many times have you heard “I'm using Matlab because I was taught Matlab and I prepared my classes with Matlab” And then their students will do the same... and so on ad infinitum. Let's teach the concepts, not the tools. Octave, Matlab, SciPy, Maxima; what's the difference? Are you teaching how to push buttons or Math? You're free to choose, you're free to switch!
11. Freedom to spend When you sit down to do the university budget, first thing you hear is “Make it 10% less than last year”. Second: you have to pay the racket to Microsoft, Oracle, Mathworks and the rest: cuarter million euros. Or else. Same happens at the Faculty and Dept. Level. Of course, there will be some licenses that you've just got to pay. No other way out. Maybe for research. But there's nothing magic in administration and teaching, most of the stuff can be done with open source software. And this gives you the freedom to spend it somewhere else. Avoiding to fire teaching assistants, for instance.
12. Freedom to innovate The worst thing about proprietary software it's not that it's expensive and hostage-creating. It's that it's closed. Finished. WYSISYG. Open source software leaves you freedom to innovate. To add stuff. To change it. It allows you to scratch your itch, but also creates that itch that you can later scratch. If you use Octave, there's lot of material available, but you can ellaborate on it, create your own. The interaction pattern with free software is absolutely different from closed software. It's about generosity and sharing, not about paying up and shutting up.
13. Did I convince you? The worst thing about proprietary software it's not that it's expensive and hostage-creating. It's that it's closed. Finished. WYSISYG. Open source software leaves you freedom to innovate. To add stuff. To change it. It allows you to scratch your itch, but also creates that itch that you can later scratch. If you use Octave, there's lot of material available, but you can ellaborate on it, create your own. The interaction pattern with free software is absolutely different from closed software. It's about generosity and sharing, not about paying up and shutting up.