This week, we learned about open source software. Personally, I think open source software is genius. Using an expensive program and making it free and making it possible to customize it is a great concept. It helps the companies and the little people like us. Yes, the companies who originally design the program may lose money in the shortrun. However, this gets their name out there and people see what it's like and may cause people to use other items that the company makes which will be beneficial in the longrun. Open source software is great for users because it's free and it can be edited to make it better for typical users or even for customizing for certain uses. Anyone can edit it if you know computer code. This is a neat idea because you could make it better for someone else down the line or maybe think of a neat component that no one else thought of implementing in the software.
Before this week's lecture, I had not heard of open source software. Now I have the free version of Microsoft Office and free virus protection. I can use this concept in any field and for personal use. In education, however, I can use this idea to help kids use tools like Photoshop for promoting creativity without making them pay the ridiculous prices for it. Also, I could require students to have software that is Microsoft office compatible such as openoffice.org. This way we are all using the same software and papers can be sent over the internet instead of wasting so much paper.
This video introduces a console for open source gaming where you can edit/write games in plain English. Open source software is a great concept for gamers. You can make an existing game more challenging or even add more levels to a game you love!
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