iSchools bats for open-source in Software Freedom Day

The iSchools Project, a government-funded ICT for education integration initiative, recently made a push for open-source software during the Software Freedom Day (SFD) 2011 held at St. Paul’s University in Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley last September. Working on the theme “Smarter Communities Choose to be Free", this year’s SFD aimed to educate and convince technology users to choose open-source software instead of using proprietary software or unlicensed software. Open-source software offers a wide array of alternatives for proprietary or for-pay programs, free of charge. Open source-developers even encourages users to redistribute the software free of legal obligations as long as it is for non-commercial use. The iSchools Project sent Kairos dela Cruz, project content team member, to discuss the question “Why not Open Source?" during the LGU leg of discussions scheduled on the last day of the event. “The Department of Education, as a direct counterpart of iSchools, should recognize the benefits of using open-source. DepEd is too tied up with Microsoft through partnerships and MOAs," Dela Cruz said. The savings alone from the purchase of proprietary operating system, he said, can be used to purchase more computer units. “The iSchools project will never stop reminding them that it would not hurt to take a look at what our project achieved with open-source," Dela Cruz added. Computers from the iSchools project are distributed with an open-source operating system called EdUbuntu, which an Ubuntu Linux derivative designed to enhance the education “feel" of each grantee According to Dela Cruz, EdUbuntu and its software packages have proven to be compatible with other software, both proprietary and open-source. The OS also enjoys a very low incidence of virus and malware infection due to its complex in-house security features. EdUbuntu is also specifically made for educational purposes upon installment. — Newsbytes.ph