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After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
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Free / Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS): Understanding the Global Debate

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Summary

This brief article traces global trends concerning Free / Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) - "a new and growing phenomenon, which is much discussed these days as it implies a radically new method of production, cooperation and exchange." FLOSS, also referred to as simply "OSS", is a software whose source code (the knowledge embedded in operating systems and programmes to make them run) is made available so that it may be used, copied, and distributed with or without modifications, and offered either with or without a fee.

"Although the open source movement goes back to almost forty years, OSS has become a mainstream-topic only recently. Worldwide, more and more organisations and governments are using open source...The (still dominant) closed format of software seems to suit corporate interests well, but at the same time it appears to be increasingly at odds with the current shift from 'tangible' (concrete products and services), towards 'intangible', (i.e. knowledge-based) production..."

According to this article, these trends are of particular relevance to the field of communication for development: "by putting knowledge (the source code) in the public domain, [OSS] offers much more opportunities for sharing and co-operation between all players in the field, reduces dependencies, hinders the rise of monopolists, and fosters healthy competition...The principles of transparency and participation for example are embodied within FLOSS. This means that FLOSS provides tools that are in line with the goals and intentions of development cooperation projects."

Web link
for the full article on the i4d website
Source

i4d Monthly Digest, October 2004. This article is taken from the manifesto produced during a workshop on the role of OSS in the development cooperation organised by Waag Society and Hivos, 2-4 June 2003 in Amsterdam.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/16/2005 - 02:11 Permalink

NO, NO, NO!!!, OSS is *not* public domain. None of the open-source licenses deprive the original source code writers of ownership over their code. The GNU General Public License (GPL) is particularly strict about this because if you modify, then re-distribute the program, you have to include the source. The BSD license doesn't require that, but it does require that you acknowledge the original project.