Open Source

WOW did I learn a lot about Open Source software...I think.  From what I read and watched OS is most of the time free software with the source codes available to change the software in order to suit the users needs. Never having written code, this is very difficult for me to wrap my head around.  But one example I saw was if your printer has a bug and you have the code available you could go in and fix it, just as if you can with your cars engine. One confusing think was a lot of the examples of the Open Sourcing software that I saw were more like editing programs, photo, music and art software. It didn't look like you worked with the code you just modified what you were working on. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you can change the code how you wanted also. There seems to be two camps, one is called the Open Source group and they don't like to be called "free" software because free sounded cheap when they were marketing it.  Then there is the Free Software group that wants all software, codes included to be available for free to everyone.  They don't seem to want anyone to make money on software. The Open Source group seems to be the one that is taking a leadership role, since they are licensing and keeping track of all the available software with open sourcing.  The proprietary software is what we have all been used to using since personal computers have become to main stream.  It's the software that comes with your computer or you buy after market and have no way to change or update it without paying more or installing changes someone else made.  There are some great examples of open source software out there, some I have used myself and some I've seen used.  For education, Moodle is a great course management program for online learning.  They can be found at moodle.org

Firefox is a very well known OS web browser.  It can be found at mozilla.com.  They say they are a faster and safer way to surf the web.  Which would be good in an education environment.  Gimp.org is an image manipulation program and I can see kids in high school newspaper or yearbook classes learning a lot from it. Inkscape.org  is a graphics editor, which allows people to draw freely.  Audacity is an audio editor and recorder.  You can make your own music or be your own DJ.