I recently ran across a neat concept that I’d really like to see spring up in more places. I’m not sure how to accomplish that exactly, but it does have me thinking.
The Seneca College Linux Club created a kiosk where folks can walk up, select a Free/Open Source Software package, and burn it to a CD or DVD that they bring with them. Based upon the FreedomToaster project in South Africa, this spreads high-quality software throughout the community with very little effort and no real cost (blank CDs and DVDs are typically a few cents apiece). All boats rise with the tide, and this is a huge positive for everyone.
What about commercial software vendors, you may ask? Well, the more people use quality software, the more their use of technology and software increases overall. In short, the more they can do, the more they want to do. Quality commercial software fills gaps, races ahead, provides depth of support, and offers profit opportunities – it’s always been that way and will likely never change. The growth of the software industry often pits commercial against FOSS, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for both. 🙂
Click here to read about the Seneca College Freedom Toaster and see what you think. Ready to start building?
K
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Tags: FOSS, freedom, machine, open, software, source, toaster, vending