Freeware!

“These apples are delicious…”

Those are the lyrics to a song that was stuck in my head when I began creating this blog. I wanted a title for the blog that was more about the fantastic resources that we have available to us here in APS, rather than about me. I also thought about everything we have available to use in this district that is often overlooked. These things are really delicious. The full lyric is “These apples are delicious!… Can all this fruit be free?” I now realize that the last part of the lyric is where this blog is heading. Students and teachers have an overwhelming amount of free and open resources available to them. My goal is that this site will help students and teachers quickly find some of the most useful applications available.

I like to imagine a day when students can work on projects at school and at home using the same software. If they can get their hands on an older computer, they can load a fast, free operating system called Xubuntu on it and it will run faster than ever and they can accomplish most of their computing needs. Whether students want to browse the Internet, word process, vodcast or manipulate images, they can do so for virtually nothing.

My neighbor threw her Windows 2000 computer to the curb. I brought it in loaded Xubuntu on it and now my 5 year old daughter has a computer that she can play educational games on (Edubuntu). So for the cost of electricity my daughter has access to a full suite of educational applications.

Here are some of my favorite Open Source applications.

“Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.” NETS: 2b-communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

“Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.” NETS: 1c-use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

“Dimdim is the world’s free web meeting where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate, chat, talk and broadcast via webcam with absolutely no download required for attendees.” NETS: 2a-interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

“Edubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with community based support.

The Edubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Edubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.” NETS: 6b-select and use applications effectively and productively.

“The Firefox Web Browser is the faster, more secure, and fully customizable way to surf the web.”

“GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.” NETS: 1c-use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

“Moodle is a course management system (CMS) – a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities.” NETS: 2a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

“OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers.” NETS: 6b-select and use applications effectively and productively.

“WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.” NETS: 2a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

I love that it is free and I love that the source code is open and available for others to read. I can’t read the code but there are lots of people who can and do. I also can’t fix my own car but there are lots of people who can and do, like Glen Gow at Complete Automotive Repair & Service (CARS). He can take a look and a listen to my car, do a few tests and know exactly what to do do get it fixed. Imagine if there were a box welded around the engine and underside of my car. A black box that only my car dealership could unlock. Yikes! I bet he could still come up with a great hypothesis as to what the problem is, but he wouldn’t be able to fix it. He wouldn’t have access. That’s how proprietary software is. With Open Source, people are free to see what makes it tick and make changes. What a great way to encourage innovation!

Thanks to Ben Gondrez for introducing me to Ubuntu. He introduced me in September of 2007. Since, then I’ve started using Open Source software for nearly everything I do. At home on my desktop and laptop, we use Open Source software. I use this software, not because it’s free but because it’s faster (not bloated), safer and more customizable. I love choice!