Role of Open Source in Higher Education

Abstract

Because of the rise in popularity and consideration of open source applications in all markets from education to government to business, it is critical for all decision makers to understand what open source applications are and what the implications are for their organization. This is especially true in the education market where budget pressures make the right decision an imperative. This paper describes what is open source, its comparison with proprietary source, attributes and its role in context of higher education.