*R.K. Singla1 and Poonam Bansal2
1. Department of Computer Science & Applications, Panjab University, Chandigarh
2. Amity School of Engineering and Technology, New Delhi
*Corresponding author : rksingla@pu.ac.in
Abstract
The choices of software in an educational environment are based upon a range
of issues; much of which involve weighing the risks against the benefits
about the purposes to which the software is to be put. The educational institutes
are interested in increasing the interoperability between software systems
for teaching and learning and administrative purposes. The question of how
to achieve interoperability hinges on the nature of the standards upon which
the software is based. This is akin to determining the nature of the foundations
upon which a house is to be built. Open standards that allow the standard
to be seen, provide the capacity for interoperability between both open
and proprietary software. Open source software (OSS) provides a concrete
way of developing open standards. Rather than making open standards theoretical
exercises, OSS provides the practical means for determining these standards.
This paper looks at open source, a new model of software development that
brings millions of developers into a collaborative, productive community
and provides an introduction to OSS in the context of higher education.
It is intended to provide the basis for developing some shared understandings
about what OSS is; its benefits; its limitations; and it provides a brief
description of popular open source licenses common to educational applications.
We also focus on the use of OSS in computer science education. The Indian
Department of Information Technology has announced that it wishes to move
the whole country to Linux as its’ ‘platform of choice’.
This paper may provide the basis for future discussions at state and national
levels.
Key words:.: Open Source, GNU, Linux, Web browser, Apache.
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