Welcome - Free Software and Open Source Symposium

Articles

"Why 'Free Software' is better than 'Open Source'", Richard Stallman
"Open source methods and their future potential", Geoff Mulgan, Omar Salem, Tom Steinberg
"Really Open Source", Scott Jaschik
"Open Source Software and Schools: New Opportunities and Directions", Gary Hepburn
"What Education Can Learn From Open Source"
"Designing a Course in Linux System Administration", Dr. Mike LeVan
"Linux in the Classroom: an Experience with Linux and Open-Source Software in an Educational Environment", Joe Ruffolo and Ron Terry
"Putting Linux in Classrooms around the World", John Biggs
"The Cathedral and the Bazaar", Eric Steven Raymond
"A guide to participating in an open source software community", Stuart Yeates
"The Unacknowledged Convergence of Open Source, Open Access, and Open Science", John Willinsky
"Wake-Up Call: Open Source LMS", Sam S. Adkins
"Tech firms to tackle Linux desktop standards", Alorie Gilbert
"Debate About Open Source Versus Proprietary Software Is Over", Education.au

Open Source Initiatives at Seneca

CDOT (Centre for Development of Open Technology)

Organizations

CanOpenER - Canadian Open Source Education and Research
Opensource.org
Free Software Foundation
OSS Watch, "OSS Watch provides unbiased advice and guidance about free and open source software for UK further and higher education."
Linux User Groups - see below.

Linux Downloads (distributions)

Fedora - spin off from red Hat for non-enterprise apps
Suse - focus is on desktop (like GNOME and KDE) and desktop applications
Mandrake - focus is on making the OS easy to install and user friendly
Debian - requires more in depth hardware knowledge
Knoppix (Linux on a CD/DVD, based on Debian distribution)

Open Office Downloads

OpenOffice home page

Browser Downloads

Firefox (browser) and Thunderbird (email)
Mozilla (browser and email together)

Linux Help

Linux User Groups (LUGs)- an excellent way to find local help. Most of these LUGs run regular installfests, during which experienced users will install Linux on your machine. We run two-three each year at Seneca.
- Seneca's Linux Club.
- Linux User Groups - Canada.
- Linux User Groups - Ontario.
- Linux User Groups - Toronto Area
  - NEWTLUG - Toronto Linux Group specifically for new Linux users; monthly meetings.
  - TLUG -group for more technical topics; site includes information on installfests, where you can have Linux installed on your compute
Help for newbies
- Linux Questions: "Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org. You can visit our forum where Linux newbies can ask questions and Linux experts can offer advice."
- ReallyLinux.com: "Making the switch from Windows to Linux? Read our latest article for beginners. There are many reasons to try Linux and software like Open Office. Beginner help. Brand new to Linux and need FAST help? Please take a look at our exclusive articles by clicking here. For personal answers to your questions please visit our message boards."
- Linux Forums: "Welcome to Linux Forums Dot Org. We are a lively community website dedicated to help with GNU Linux. Everyone is welcome to participate within the "newbie friendly" Linux Forums and to use the other essential resources Linux Tutorials, a Linux IRC Channel and much more!"
- Linux Links: Has a section for beginners. See the search category drop down, select Beginners, and click Go.
Help for more experienced users
- Linux Forum: "Linux Forum is a large community of Linux users, developers and enthusiasts that are here to help each other with FREE Linux Support, Linux Questions, Linux Help, Linux Problems, and anything else related to Linux."
- The Linux Documentation Project. "LDP is a loosely knit team of volunteers who provide documentation for many aspects of Linux. There are several forms of documentation: Guides, HOWTOs, man pages, and FAQs."
- Linux Google Search.

Other Resources

Open Source Beer Recipe
For a printable PDF announcing the symposium, click here.