It seems as though governments on both sides of the border have taken an interest in free software in recent days. While neither government has taken the initiative to start replacing proprietary systems with free software solutions, the fact that governments are at least looking at the idea is an encouraging sign. The Canadian government put out a call for information on free software last month and the Americans have included money for a free software study in the stimulus package that was recently passed by congress.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, free, or open source, software makes its source code (the language used to program the software) available for anyone to view and modify. Rather than just being free of charge, anyone has the freedom to modify and redistribute copies of the software. Think free speech rather than free beer.

The benefits of free software for the public service and education are quite apparent. Not only can the taxpayers save money by not paying license fees, they can also get the benefits of having a free market for development and support. Under the proprietary software model, users are often forced to buy support packages through the software vendor. Since free software's source code is available to the public, companies can compete to provide support for the application. Likewise, since anyone can modify and redistribute copies of the program, the application can be tailored to the specific needs of the institution and institutions can open the bidding for software development to multiple companies.

Using free software in the classroom would allow schools to redirect funds from licensing fees to more important areas, such as teachers, textbooks, and computer hardware. Since the state pays a substantial amount of the cost of primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in Canada, using free software in the classroom would help to save taxpayer dollars.

Using free software in the classroom also helps students save money. Teaching students with proprietary software means that students often have to go out and buy that software either because it saves files in formats that other applications cannot read, or because students are trained in using that software and don't have the expertise to figure out how to use alternative pieces of software on their own. Using free software means that students can download and use the program on their personal computers free of charge.

While more needs to be done to get free software into our schools and other public institutions, I have been impressed with the number of free software packages in use at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism. I was happy to see that a number of the school's websites run on open source content management systems. Their flagship website TheThunderbird.ca, which showcases the work of students in the iJournalism course, runs on Wordpress. Since the students are trained in using Wordpress, a number of them have used that knowledge to create their own blogs, using either the free wordpress.com service, or by installing it on their personal web space. Likewise, instead of using a proprietary web application like Blackboard, the school has opted to go with the open source Sakai Project to facilitate communication between staff and students.

In terms of using free software in the computer labs, the school has opted to go with Audacity for audio editing. Since the application is available on multiple platforms, students are able to use it on their home computers, giving them the ability to edit audio projects without coming into the computer lab or paying for an expensive piece of software. The computers are also installed with a number of other open source applications, including the Firefox web browser and the OpenOffice.org office suite. While it would be nice to see some other applications replaced with open source alternatives, the school is certainly off to a good start.

There are a number of other arguments for implementing free software in public institutions. Richard M. Stallman recently gave a talk at the University of British Columbia, where he outlined his case for free software in education. His arguments can be heard via the player below. However, if we focus solely on the economic argument, it can be seen that free software has the potential to save tax payer money. In an era of economic uncertainty and massive government deficits, this can only help to serve the public good.

Related: The Open Source Policy Community in Canada

Further Reading: Free Software Links

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