Open-Source Technology

Statement of the Problem: Many schools today are facing a financial crisis.  More money is needed in all areas.  Add to this concern the fact that the cost of technology continues to increase while schools are expected to add more and more computers to their classrooms every year.  Open-source products offer an attractive alternative to the higher-priced proprietary products of the big corporations, but these alternatives come with trade-offs and pitfalls.

Identification of the Issue: Should open-source technology be used in place of proprietary products?

Overview: Open-source technology is based on a belief that technology should be free and open for all to use.  Many of the core technologies used to run the Internet were originally created using open-source technology.  As with any field, someone found out that you could charge money for programming, and proprietary programs soon followed.  Many of these proprietary products can be very expensive, keeping them out of the hands of the average computer user – as well as the average school district.  Students need to learn how to use these computer programs in order to keep up with society.  Many districts simply can not afford the cost associated with providing the entire district with adequate current technology.

Assumptions:  One of the main assumptions made by the computer world in general is that open-source technology is less developed and inferior to proprietary products.  This assumption is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of open-source technology.  Most open-source products are widely released to the public while they are still being developed.  This allows more people to work on the project.  This also makes early versions less developed, while at the same time making later versions very sophisticated.

Arguments For:  The use of open-source technology in educational settings is not very well documented.  Arguments for or against the use of open-source technology in education usually are the same as arguments for or against open-source technology in general.  The arguments for include:

  • Open-source technology allows users to have local ownership of programs. (Gonzalez-Barahona 2000)
  • Institutions that use open-source can customize that technology to fit individual needs. (Gonzalez-Barahona 2000)
  • Open-source technology is usually offered for free (or for a very low price). (Lineweaver 2003)
  • Anyone who wants to learn open-source technology can find free online lessons, or inexpensive books that will show them how. (see http://www.w3schools.com for examples of free lessons and book advertisements)

The arguments against include:

  • IT departments will have to learn new skills to make open-source work. (Lineweaver 2003)
  • The main argument against open-source technology is lack of documentation and support:  open-source documentation is inconsistent, if any support or documentation is offered at all. (Levesque 2004, Bogue 2005)
  • Due to the fact that some open-source programs are not compatible or comparative with their proprietary counterparts, students who learn to use open-source alternatives in some areas may be at a disadvantage when they graduate. (Bogue 2005)

Analysis of the Validity of Arguments:

  • Support in the open-source technology is usually different.  Most large open-source projects have support communities.  For example, users will go on to a discussion board and post a question.  Someone in the community will usually answer the question.  Even though this is not guaranteed support, the user can end up with a better answer more quickly in a good community.
  • Documentation is an issue in some open-source projects, but most people do not read the documentation that accompanies proprietary products, either; that is why most companies stopped printing them.
  • Most large organizations (and even smaller ones now) have IT staff now.  The staff has to provide support for the existing technology.  The only thing that would stop them from learning the new technology would be lack of desire.

Values Emphasized and Compromised:  Those who favor using open-source technologies emphasize the values of efficiency, equity, and liberty. Those who oppose open-source technologies believe that excellence is compromised.

Personal Position:  I am for using open-source technology in place of proprietary products in the educational setting.  I personally think that the ability to customize open-source technology is the biggest selling point.  If a user does not like the way some feature works, the user can find a way to change it.  The fact that open-source technology can save money is also a big plus mark in its favor.  The biggest problem is that using open-source technology requires a major paradigm-shift for the IT department (or person) of an institution.  In my opinion, most arguments against using open-source technology will really come from this area and not from the actual use of the technology.  My experience has also taught me that bugs and glitches in open-source programs are usually fixed in a matter of hours after they are discovered, whereas proprietary products may never fix bugs or glitches.

Suggestions for Problem Solutions:  Many of the criticisms concerning open-source’s inability to deal with dominance of certain proprietary products are valid.  Using an open-source web programming language will not hinder the end user, but using an open-source word processing program might.  For example, what if the open-source document can not be read by Microsoft Word?  Institutions that use open-source technology should investigate the technology they use to ensure that it does not cause potential future hindrances.  Open-source programmers can also be encouraged to develop products that operate similar to their proprietary counter-parts, at least for educational purposes.  Students can also be taught the difference between the two products.

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