Supporting Open Source Software for Education
I just read an interesting post from Larry Augustin about the differences between open source businesses in the US and those in Europe. Larry was at the Open Source Think Tank in Paris this week and I’m disappointed I had to miss this one. It’s the first European location for the event that’s normally in Napa. As Larry says it’s a tremendous event.
The post constrasts key concepts driving open source business and adoption such as the primary driver for adoption, the driver for os business creation, dual licensing, sales models, etc. In the US, for example, we adopt open source primarily for the cost benefit. In Europe the primary driver is freedom from vendor lock-in. I suspect this varies a bit by industry sector. In Education (my world) I see the freedom from vendor lock-in as a much more significant driver than cost here in the US.
Check out Larry’s post. It’s a short and very worthwhile read.