EDUCAUSE REVIEW | March/April 2005, Volume 40, Number 2

Mitchell Kapor has published a new article on Open Source software. Something I have said is that everyone doing Open Source has a discipline to follow and is checked by the utility and functionality of the software. There are a million amateur theologians. What keeps them in check? What helps them work through problems so that in the end they have made a significant contribution instead of merely going off on a rant? As often is the case, I'm raising the issue but I don't know that I have the answers.



EDUCAUSE REVIEW | March/April 2005, Volume 40, Number 2: "The Good, the Bad, and the Community

For me, the good things about open source are summed up in the two-word mantra “Anyone can . . . ” In open source projects, anyone can participate, anyone can play a role, anyone can shape a project. If people don’t like the way the code is going, they can fork the code (create a variant), or they can start their own project. By saying that “anyone can,” I don’t mean that literally. Obviously, one needs to have appropriate technical skills, and there is a whole set of subtle barriers to participation in open source communities. But especially when compared with the way proprietary software projects work, open source is indeed an “anyone can” universe. That’s the big upside. That’s why it’s worth investing in and getting involved in open source."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In The Hours

Image
In The Hours Words by Helen L. Parmelee Music by Kevin Twit http://www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/lead/inthehours.pdf This song by Indelible Grace is one that really moves me. I think it moves me because it reminds me of my own story. The words remind me of God's work in my life through the blessing of suffering. A lot of my best days walking with my Lord has actually been days of suffering. Verse one reminds me of growing up when I felt rejected by others but God was my song. 1. In the hours of pain and sorrow, When the world brings no relief When the eye is dim and heavy, And the heart oppressed with grief While blessings flee, Savior Lord we trust in Thee! While blessings flee, Savior Lord we trust in Thee! Verse two talks about my drifting from the Lord when I was caught up in pride and the sin of self-sufficiency. 2. When the snares of death surround us, Pride, ambition, love of ease Mammon with her false allurements, Words that flatter, smiles that please Then ere we yield, S
Read more

Was the New Testament Letters Only Written to Male Brothers?

  Question:   Was the Bible written to men only and not to women?   Some teach that the New Testament letters address brothers exclusively.      Executive Summary Answer:   Women and men share in the blessings of the gospel, Scripture was written for both women and men. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27 ESV) Answer:   The Bible recognizes differences between genders but also recognizes the commonality between male and female genders.   The book of Proverbs is written to sons to gain wisdom.   “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”   (Prov. 1:8-9 ESV) The book of Proverbs was written in order to teach young men wisdom.   Even so, often it is the female gender that teaches wisdom.   Early in the book, the male gender, a son, is to embrace the teaching from a member of the
Read more

Bridging the Chasm

My good friend the Jollyblogger has been writing on Bridging the Chasm , meaning the church communicating with the secular world. In the early 80's YWAM put out a pamphlet on missions prayer. One of the things they encouraged Christians to pray for was different areas of influence: * Government * Business * Media/Journalism * The Arts * Education * Entertainment (I'm not sure that is the complete list.) As I prayed for these areas of influence, I found that Christians really wrote about a couple of these in the early 80's; Government and Business. For government you had movements like the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family writing actually about a very narrow aspect of government; moral issues. Yes, I'm grouping all Focus on the Family's issues in the area of moral issues. The government is so much more than moral issues. The business issues were mostly addressed by Bill Gothard, Larry Burkett and later Ron Blue. I'm not sure how ade
Read more