Open Options | Getting started

As educators consider open source or start to explore some solutions, they should look to the expertise of current users. Here are some additional tips for getting started.

Schools are unique
Talk with stakeholders
Join the open source community
Choose a distro carefully

Schools are unique

Most of the research and discussion about open source is focused on business, especially large corporations and their needs. Government also receives some attention, although the United States has been relatively slow to consider open source. Schools have unique needs, goals, and resources. It's not always easy or valid to judge the value of open source software using business or government evaluations. States or large districts may have the needs and the technology literacy to study solutions on the enterprise/ERP/CRM scale. But most schools need to evaluate open source on a smaller scale.

Own your technology decisions. You already get the consequences.

Fortunately, schools have resources business and government lack. The open source community is eager to help schools, and many LUGs are helping educators experiment and migrate. The community includes a thriving subpopulation of educators. They are eager to welcome other schools and build their collective capacity.

Schools may also want to involve students. Students can build computers with inexpensive or recycled hardware and open source software, learning valuable skills and understanding while creating technology they can use. Students may help deploy and manage solutions, especially in high school. In all such instances student work should be an educational experience, not just "slave labor."

The OSI certifies true open source licenses. Such licenses usually favor schools. Schools should be familiar with the OSI certification and look for it. Most license stipulations are unimportant for most schools. Some licenses prevent future commercial use. If a school is creating marketable learning objects, they may need to be wary of such licenses (e.g. GPL). (This isn't an issue if the objects will be open courseware.)

OSI

Image: the OSI certification.

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Talk with stakeholders

Schools need to keep stakeholders informed and involved. Some educators may use open source already. Others may be dismayed by any foreclosure on possible savings or other advantages. Business journals are advising corporate leaders to have open source plans. Even if the plan is watch and wait, every school should be discussing open source with interested or affected stakeholders.

More: "Sample memo: Why we're choosing open source"
More: "Sample memo: Why we're not choosing open source"

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Join the open source community

The open source community is welcoming, lively, and helpful. People skills are important to joining the community: humility, patience, a cool temper, and a sense of humor about technology. Educators need to be able to describe their problems clearly, and sometimes they have to learn enough to make sense of the answers.

Asking questions reveals your ignorance. But it's necessary to learn the answers to better support your stakeholders.

A community of mutual aid is very different than a vendor-client relationship. The community thrives on the initiative and creativity of programmers. Members respect hard work and ingenuity, and vocally despise lazy, stupid, or ungrateful people. Current users explain that many open source proponents want to help schools and the subpopulation of educators is growing. So it can be easy and rewarding to find help. The community is more than an ideal: most members strive to "share and share alike" and "pay it forward."

Some other tips:

Share information. Every person brings a unique perspective, so you may know of a Web site, article, or solution that other people are interested in.
Let the community know who you are and what you're doing. Any use of open source in schools is exciting to the community.
Say "thank you." You're getting something for nothing.
Use meaningful subject lines. Advanced users may delete messages just based on the subject.
Many people in the community go home for the weekend. Questions on Friday might not be answered until Monday.
Laud the help you get. The community even has formal systems for gratitude and building prestige. (See: http://www.affero.com/ and http://www.linuxfund.org/)
Programmers like interesting and challenging problems.
If your problem isn't interesting or challenging, explain why it's important (e.g. improving the education of children).
An answer may be too technical. Try to demonstrate what you do understand to get a clearer explanation.
You may have to study. The community answers intelligent questions voluntarily but can't always shelter novices.
An answer may be condescending (e.g. "read the f***ing manual"). Try to find email lists populated by educators and other sensible, helpful people.
Ignore stupid and/or angry people. Remember your goals and pick your battles.

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Choose a distro carefully

Open source eliminates most license concerns, but software management still matters. Most open source software is available in several progressive versions. Furthermore, each Linux distribution has unique features. The most current version of a distribution (or "distro") will be the most feature rich, but a slightly older version will probably be more stable. Schools should try to standardize on a single distro and version, and keep track of what's on each computer. Schools should change or upgrade all copies of the software at the same time, if possible. (Thin client servers make all this very easy.)

Educators should talk to other educators when considering open source software, and especially when considering a Linux distribution. The community favors certain programs and distros. Since community help can be important to a lower TCO, the community's preferences are viable criteria for decisionmaking. If many people use a specific program or distro it will be easier to get help.

Schools should only choose Linux distros that comply with the Linux Standard Base (LSB, http://www.linuxbase.org). "Red Hat 8, SuSE 8.1, SCO Group OpenLinux 3.1.1 and MandrakeSoft 9 ProSuite all comply with the LSB's guidelines, according to the Free Standards Group, which oversees the LSB certification process." (Shankland, 2002, Standardised) Red Hat is leading the industry by providing a certification program for technicians, which may make it easier to hire and train staff. Some other distros may follow Red Hat's lead.

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Open Options is a product of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These materials are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. The following acknowledgment is requested on materials which are reproduced: Developed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon.

This Web site was developed and maintained by the Northwest Educational Technology Consortium. The federal funding for the regional technology consortia program ended on September 30, 2005, and no further updates are planned unless additional funding becomes available. However, much of the content is still useful and NWREL will continue to provide access to this site to support educators and to meet its own technical assistance needs.