It is hard to predict the future, but many of today’s programmers who are part of a rapidly growing global community of highly motivated volunteers may be changing the world, especially how we buy, use, and support software today. There is a movement going on, and it is no longer underground. OSS in the form of Learning Management Systems has already deeply penetrated higher
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Over the past few years, software development has raised OSS from obscurity, criticism, and skepticism to enthusiasm and productive use by millions around the world. OSS is a collective name for software for which the source code is freely available and distributed. In contrast to proprietary or commercial soft- ware, OSS is source code that is made available to the public, allows anyone to copy, modify, and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees, and evolves through community development, contribution, and cooperation.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) http://www.opensource.org/ a non-profit
corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition, states that OSS will:
• Permit free redistribution • Distribute source code • Allow derived works
• Ensure integrity of the author’s source code
• Not discriminate against persons, groups, or fields of endeavor • Provide distribution of license
According to the OSI, the
“…basic idea behind open source is very simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of soft- ware, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, and peo- ple fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing. We in the open source community have learned that this rapid evolu- tionary process produces better software than the traditional closed model, in which only a very few programmers can see the source and everybody else must blindly use an opaque block of bits.”
(Source: http://www.opensource.org/)
Critics suggest that open source software may be too risky to implement be- cause it is not a proven product, and may be too costly to administer if it de- pends on a large pool of changing resources, hidden costs, and a need to man- age evolving upgrades and patches. In other words, OSS can become just as inefficient as proprietary software if it is not a mature, well-tested product and if it is not managed appropriately, efficiently, and cost effectively.
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People often tout many Open Source advantages, including less dependence on vendors, lower costs, ease of customization, and better security. In contrast, other critics suggest that OSS are too often works in progress, not ready for the mainstream desktop, and only suitable for niche markets of expert users with programming experience. If a particular OSS is not easy to use, does not have documentation, and is too feature rich, then it may not be ready for the main- stream user. Regardless of the extent to which these statements are true in general, there are several million enthused mainstream users who might dis- agree because of the many opportunities generated by the more popular and mature OSS applications.
Despite the criticism, around the world, governments are moving towards open source software, especially Linux, one of the most prominent examples of open source software. Since its development in 1991, Linux has grown in popularity to emerge as a powerful alternative to proprietary systems, and has received contributions from thousands of programmers. More and more gov- ernment officials are changing to open source software. (source:
http://osddp.org/files/issues/White%20Paper%20Working%20Second%20Draf t%202-26-05.doc). “Worldwide, more than 75 IBM government customers – including agencies in France, Spain, UK, Australia, Mexico, the United States, and Japan – have now embraced Linux to save costs, consolidate workloads, increase efficiency, and enact
e-Government transformation.”
As the then Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, said in a speech in 2003, “ [we need to] control [our] technological destiny and do not wish to place the func- tioning of government in the hands of a commercial vendor with proprietary standards which is accountable to shareholders rather than to citizens.”
(source: http://www.mail-archive.com/clug-
[email protected]/msg06483.html). In this highly independent move, the government’s computers now run on Linux.
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What is Moodle?
Moodle is an increasingly popular course management system (CMS) offered as a free, OSS package with a long list of developers devoted to Moodle im- provements. Moodle development started in 1999 by Martin Dougiamas. One might argue that where Linux was ten years ago, Moodle is today. The Moodle
site (www.moodle.org) shown in Figure 140, states “There are 41 sites with
more than 20,000 users. The site with the most users is moodle.org with 43 courses and 198,428 users. The site with the most courses is HSU Moodle with
12,288 courses and 42,121 users.” (source: http://moodle.org/stats). Supporters
say that Moodle helps educators create an effective collaborative online learn- ing community using sound pedagogical principles for a very low cost. It can be easily and quickly installed, can scale up to accommodate a large user base, and provides typical LMS features present in most similar commercial prod- ucts. Moodle updates are common, the development community is very sup- portive, and its worldwide use is rising rapidly.
Figure 140 – Moodle Site at http://www.moodle.org
Curious to know what “Moodle” means? The word Moodle is an acro-
nym for “modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment.” It is constructed from “muse” and “doodle.” “Moodling is a process of crea- tively meandering
through the vari- ous activities of a
course–tinkering towards insight and creativity.”
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