Supporting Open Source Software for Education
With spring having officially arrived, the CLE team is hard at work on the upcoming release of version 2.8 of the rSmart Sakai CLE. It’s based on Sakai 2.8, which the Sakai community has tentatively scheduled for release at the end of March. If this schedule holds, we plan to release version 2.8 of the CLE in late May or early June 2011.
In keeping with our typical practice, we are allowing for additional time between the Sakai release and the CLE release. We use this time to integrate new features and perform extensive testing, as well as develop additional documentation. As always, our goal is to ensure that the CLE provides the best combination of functionality and reliability, and that users have all the support resources they need.
In "The Bygone Decade of Definition, Distance"--a recent Viewpoint piece for Campus Technology magazine--rSmart Chairman and founder John Robinson examines how higher ed has been responding to the changing demands of the digital age.
Starting with a look at the relatively slow progress of the past decade, he then focuses on the importance of open collaboration between institutions as a way to increase innovation and realize new goals. To read the full article, click here.
In a pair of recent blog posts, rSmart CEO Chris Coppola explores the ways in which organizations can be successful in adopting open source solutions. You’ll find both posts on the rSmart web site:
December 20, 2010
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from external blog: http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/12/20/why-do-some-open-source-companies-create-their-own-software-distribution/
In my role with rSmart I regularly engage in conversations about rSmart’s approach to solving the last mile problem for the Sakai and Kuali communities.
Our approach, like Red Hat, Moodlerooms, and other open source software companies, includes participating actively as a part of these communities, developing a product based on the community software, and engaging with the market to facilitate widespread adoption.
December 15, 2010
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from external blog: http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/12/15/the-last-mile-making-open-source-software-accessible/
In the communications industry the “last mile” is the final leg connecting a customer to the global information and communications network. The last mile is often the most difficult and costly part of the infrastructure to make robust connectivity accessible to everyone.
Last month, we released the first service pack for the rSmart Sakai CLE 2.7. This new release contains 180 bug fixes and many important enhancements, including integrations with a variety of third-party solutions:
Part of our mission at rSmart is finding new ways to expand what can be accomplished with Sakai. Toward that end, we’re pleased to announce a partnership with Kaltura, provider of an open source platform for creating, managing, and storing video and rich-media content.
A Sakai integration—which is included as an option in the CLE 2.6.4 service pack and will be part of the 2.7.1 release of the CLE—will let users access the platform directly from within course sites. This solution avoids the upload limitations of the CLE and offers many useful features for creating and sharing content:
September 28, 2010
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from external blog: http://xolotl.org/blog/xolotl/taking-high-value-road-innovation-open-practices
I've long believed the open practices we follow in the Sakai community result in more, better, faster functionality, code, security, accessibility, standards-compliance, and innovation generally. But lately, evidence has been mounting to demonstrate the high value and wide acceptance of the open path more clearly than ever.
September 28, 2010
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from external blog: http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/09/28/an-open-path-rsmart-and-sungard-higher-education-partner-to-deliver-sakai/
If uncertainty is one of the most significant barriers to widespread adoption of open source software, then the barrier just got a lot lower. This morning my company (rSmart), and SunGard Higher Education announced a partnership that promises to have a real impact on the adoption of the Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE).
August 12, 2010
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from external blog: http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/08/12/apples-oranges-and-open-source/
Comparing open source vs. proprietary software is like comparing apples and oranges. It’s a comparison that just doesn’t make sense for anything other than the basic comparison of licensing rights.
There are great variations among open source options, and among proprietary options. Yet many conversations about open source software tend to use very broad generalizations and treat each of these (open or proprietary) as a distinct thing. I’m involved in a lot of conversations about adopting open source software and I’m always struck by the black & white view of proprietary vs. open.
