Course:IntroFS

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[edit] Description

What is free software? What is it and what are the implications of a free program licence? How is free software developed? How are free software projects financed and what are the business models associated to them that we are experiencing? What motivates developers, especially volunteers, to become involved in free software projects? What are these developers like? How are their projects coordinated, and what is the software that they produce like? In short, what is the overall panorama of free software?

These are the sort of questions that we will try to answer in this module. Because although free software is increasing its presence in the media and in debates among IT professionals, and although even citizens in general are starting to talk about it, it is still unknown for many people. And even those who are familiar with it are often aware of just some of its features, and mostly ignorant about others.

[edit] Current Tutor

[edit] Moutaz Mohamed Haddara

Moutaz is a research fellow in Enterprise Systems at the University of Agder (UiA), Kristiansand, Norway.

[edit] Past tutors

[edit] David Jacovkis

I'm from Barcelona (Spain). I am co-founder of the Free Knowledge Institute, the organisation that coordinates the FTA. I am involved in several of the teams that are working on setting up the FTA, including development, materials creation, communication and IT infrastructure. I also work as a tutor at the UOC (Open University of Catalonia), which is one of the partner universities of the FTA. Since 2 years ago I teach an introductory course in the UOC's Master degree in Free Software that is quite similar to this one we start today.

I have been a user of Free Software since around 1998, and almost exclusively since 2003, more or less. I have worked as a systems administrator and IT consultant using Free Software for almost 10 years. Besides the technical part, I'm interested in the social, political and ethical aspects of IT, specially regarding the implications that the so-called "information society" has for personal freedoms, civil rights and privacy.

In this course I expect to apply the experience acquired at the UOC in a different environment. I would be satisfied with the course if you end with a clear idea of what Free Software is and what it is not, and how it can be useful for you, now or in the future.

[edit] Course topics

Myths about Free Software

Deployment of FS in public bodies

Free Software projects

External resources