What is ‘open’ source software? Why it is ‘open’? What makes it different from ‘free’ software? When did the movement for ‘free’ and ‘open’ software start? How did they start? Many such questions come to our minds. To search for the answers of all these, readers can use these links which may or may not quench their thirst, but it is sure, they will look for something more, once they will get into the open field of open source.

Articles

• http://www.openknowledge.org/writing/open-source/scb/brief-open-source-history.html (A brief history of Free/Open Source Software Movement is available online)
• http://www.opensourcesummit.org/open-source-200408.pdf (‘Open Source - open learning’, an article by Chris Coppola explaining why open source makes sense for education)
• http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html (An article explaining Why Free Software is better than Open Source)
• http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html (An article by David A. Wheeler entitled ‘Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!)
• http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2054746 (‘Governments like open-source software, but Microsoft does not’ – an article based on government policy)
• http://www.digital-review.org/ahp08.htm (The article ‘Open source: Empowering the Asia Pacific’ by Pindar Wong)
• http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue9_4/levesque/ (Fundamental issues with open source software development)
• http://www.developer.com/open/ (Numerous articles on open source software)
• http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0253.pdf (Article ‘Open-sources Learning’ by Anne H. Moore)
• http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_6/newmarch/ (“Lessons from Open Source: Intellectual Property and Courseware” by Jan Newsmarch)
• http://www.iosn.net/foss/foss-general-primer/ (This primer introduces Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), its philosophy, history and benefits/disadvantages of FOSS, including developing-country specific issues.)
• http://www.aei.brookings.org/publications/abstract.php?pid=296 (Government Policy toward Open Source Software is a book by Robert W. Hahn that addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent and copyright policy.)
• http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/documents/QinetiQ_OSS_rep.pdf (Contents of the book ‘Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software’ written by Dr Nic Peeling and Dr Julian Satchell, published in October 2001 is available online)
• http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources Alternative_Routes_ in_the_Digital_World.pdf (Alternative Routes in the Digital World elaborate on the role Open Source Software can play and plays in the African context.)
• http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources Free_and_Open_ Source_Software_In_Africa.pdf (Free and open source software in Africa)

Projects/ Case Studies

• http://www.khmeros.info/ (OSS project in Cambodia)
• http://opensource.muanglao.com/index.htm (OSS project in Laos)
• http://www.ganeshas-project.org/ (Information technology lessons to school children of Nepal)
• http://www.jhai.org/jhai_remoteIT.htm (Jhai Foundation’s project with Linux)
• http://richtech.ca/cgi-bin/seul/case/caseview0.pl (Case studies of schools that have used open source in their classrooms.
• http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources/Open_Source_in_ South_African_Schools.pdf (Open Source in South African Schools: Two Case Studies)
• http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources/Opensourcesoftware.pdf (Case studies of open source implementation in situations as diverse as the US postal service and rural India.)
• http://www.kuenselonline.com/article.php?sid=4531 (Dzongkha computing on Linux in Bhutan)
• http://www.computerbank.org.au/ (An Australian initiative to supply free GNU/Linux systems to low income individuals, community groups and disadvantaged schools.)
• http://www.iosn.net/l10n/projects/ (Localisation projects in Asia)
• http://leb.net/blinux/ (To improve usability of the LINUX operating system for blind)
• http://luminance.sourceforge.net/resources_linuxedu.php (Link to lot of projects and resources on the use of Linux in education)

News, reports and other resources

• http://linuxtoday.com/ (Recent news on open source software)
• http://www.flosspols.org/ (Description about the FLOSS: Policy Support project coordinated by University of Maastricht – MERIT.)
• http://www.bridges.org/FOSS/choice.html (Bridges.org is doing extensive research around the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in developing countries to provide the missing unbiased information.)
• http://www.opensource.org/ (Latest news on Open Source)
• http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12034&URL_DO=DO_ TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html (UNESCO’s free software portal is a single interactive website giving articles, resources, news, events and the latest in free software movement)
• http://www.infodev.org/symp2003/publications/OpenSourceSoftware.pdf (Open Source Software: perspectives for development is a report to help decision-makers in developing countries to understand the dynamics associated with implementing open source software solutions.)
• http://www.netaction.org/opensrc/oss-report.html (The Case for Government Promotion of Open Source Software - This paper explains the open source concept and attempts to show how government can use open source as a vehicle for promoting economic development and as a policy tool.) <