The Potential of Open Source Approaches for Education
01 January 2006
Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) refers to any software distributed under a licence that allows users to change or share the software source code. The three most important characteristics of FLOSS are that:
- it allows free (unrestricted) redistribution
- the source code is available at minimal cost
- derived works may be redistributed under similar non-restrictive terms.
The paper does not discuss the pros and cons of schools adopting open source software systems, but examines the possibilities opened up by pursuing an open source philosophy.