May 27, 2002
Open source: joint ventures
THIS EDITION of NetSpeak examines a novel service that tries to use the `Open Source' method to build a community of development experts, activists and technologists willing to participate in solving design challenges related to subjects including clean water access, cholera treatment devices and agricultural technologies.
The tremendous potential of the Net in facilitating and performing collaborative ventures has been proved beyond doubt. The Net paved the way for collaborative open source software movement that provided a range of free software packages including operating systems, full-fledged application packages and numerous specialised utilities. The Net infrastructure lets us deploy computing power that lies idle with millions of PCs worldwide to solve complicated computing tasks. After these successful collaborative projects, an attempt is being made to harness the knowledge and expertise of skilled people to solve developmental and governance problems.
The tremendous potential of the Net in facilitating and performing collaborative ventures has been proved beyond doubt. The Net paved the way for collaborative open source software movement that provided a range of free software packages including operating systems, full-fledged application packages and numerous specialised utilities. The Net infrastructure lets us deploy computing power that lies idle with millions of PCs worldwide to solve complicated computing tasks. After these successful collaborative projects, an attempt is being made to harness the knowledge and expertise of skilled people to solve developmental and governance problems.
