One of the more frustrating things about open source software is the fact that many projects have little-to-no documentation.  William Shields, a software developer from Australia, posts about his experiences and concludes that he isn’t going to patronize projects that don’t pay attention to their documentation.

He is correct.  Any mature software project, whether open-source or proprietary, should have resources available to provide information, specifications, options, and assistance to users.  This doesn’t mean that every piece of software needs a manual and a call desk; there should be options available to provide assistance.

For a smaller, lesser-used product, a brief overview and contact information for further questions may suffice.  As the user base grows, group maintained resources (wiki, lists, forums) can allow those with more experience aid novices.

The ultimate goal with any software is for people to use it, and use it effectively to improve their lives.  Good information on using the software is part of that picture.  When you find an open source project that needs documentation, consider how you might be able to add your knowledge and experience to the project (i.e. when life hands you lemons, make lemonade).

found via What I Learned Today…

Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, has been asked to write a paper for the Obama administration on the benefits of the United States government using open source software for improved security and lower cost.

Yes.  With the right software, the right expectations, and the right training, open source software can benefit nearly any organization.

found via OSDir

Open Source Living is a directory of open source software. Directories are nothing new, with SourceForge and FreshMeat leading the lists.  However, most directories are chock full of software not fully fleshed out, or with so many choices that the average user cannot determine what will work best.

Open Source Living presents software that is widely used, and is considered to be of high quality. And that makes it very useful for all of us.

Special additional note about an Open Source Software directory that I still think is fantastic: Damicon.

found via Wired Blog Network

The World Digital Library is a project that is quite vast in scope, but is looking ready to take on the challenge of combining primary historical resources from many of the worlds great libraries.

This project was started by UNESCO and the U.S. Library of Congress just last year, and was the subject of a presentation at the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) 2007 conference last month.

Using PostGIS and MapServer, open-source programs that together join a database with mapping information, the library will allow users to search for and retrieve information via a well-thought-out, multi-lingual, world map interface, with a variety of tools for narrowing the search parameters.

I say “will allow users to search” because the library is not yet live. They do, however, have a demonstration video available, in two sizes:

• 500×365 pixels, 8MB
• 1010×720 pixels, 35MB

There is also a good article about the project in the Washington Post.

found on One Big Library

The Public Knowledge Project is a Canadian research initiative started nine years ago in order to develop “free, open source software for the management, publishing, and indexing of journals and conferences.” In doing so, they have found themselves at the forefront of both the open source and open access movements.

With the trend of increasing subscription prices and tightening budgets only getting worse, projects like this may play an ever greater role in our libraries in years to come.

from IT Manager’s Journal, via NewsForge

Libraries facilitate open access to information with open source software is an interesting article posted on Linux.com.

I have opened my Open Source Software and Libraries with the same observation that the open source movement and libraries share many of the same ideals.

from NewsForge

Need an introduction to Open Source Software (OSS)?  Want to understand what it can do for you?  Check out Make The Move, a site that gives you an excellent overview of the benefits and considerations for switching to OSS.

Software for Starving Students is simply that:  a collection of freeware and open-source software that is able to be distributed to whomever could benefit.

I have been creating distribution CDs like this for my presentations on Open Source Software, and TheOpenCD has been around for a few years.  These are great ways to discover what works and doesn’t work for you when it comes to no-cost software.

If you haven’t tried this stuff out, and don’t have the bandwidth to download TheOpenCD or SSS, send me an e-mail… I should be able to send you a CD loaded with the good stuff.

SSS from Gregarius