Open Source Assignment
Software is big business. Microsoft is a very wealthy company and Bill Gates is a pretty rich fellow.
Here is a picture of the Microsoft team in 1978.
Can you find the CEO?
Microsoft makes money by designing, writing, and selling software. But there are people who do this for free. In
fact there is a whole movement devoted to it. It's called the “open source” software movement. In fact, if you
use the Firefox browser or Wikipedia you are using software that was designed and programmed by many people
all over the planet, all for free. Your assignment is to research and write about this movement.
Start by reading about Richard Stallman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3uX5XwdN_8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJUDx7iEJw&feature=related
Read about the Open Source Movement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_movement
Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NorfgQlEJv8
See here for a discussion about how two kids wrote the Firefox browser in their spare time:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/firefox.html
Watch a video about the ideas and technology behind Wikipedia:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/37
Can anyone make money with open source software?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vthdc42WaAE&feature=related
Question: From the above sources (and whatever else you might have found) discuss the history, impact, and
likely future of the “open source” software movement by answering the following 5 questions.
History of the “open source” software movement:
1. What were the contributions of the two different groups established in the 1970s to the Open Source
Software Movement?
a. The GNU project and the Free Software Foundation from the U.S. east coast.
b. The Computer Science Research Group from the U.S. west coast.
2. What is the history of the “open source” software movement in the 1980s,...