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Open source development is great in theory…yes, I said it.

This big ole movement for open source development is great…yeah. But really what is this movement? I was exposed to the idea of open source development about 4 years ago. It was when I joined a start-up company and every dollar was important. We were distributing video messages via email and needed a cost effective solution to manage the email distribution. So PHPlist was used as an open source solution. It was available to download, tailor to our needs, and provided the framework for the core part of the business. As a part of the GPL license, we had to “give back” to the community to make this community based software solution a richer offering. What do I mean by giving back, well offer findings, new code, ideas for updates, etc. that would allow others to adapt and improve this software.

So…from this software, I was exposed to other pieces of open source, web-based platforms like Joomla, WordPress, Moodle, Drupal, PHPlist, and the list goes on. All available to download and install in our server based environments to use. Numerous projects, numerous solutions, free software, open source software…maybe?

So…how many of us that download this open source software give back to the community. How many of us are takers and not givers?

I hear all the time, large companies trying to find new ways to save dollars…tired of paying large dollars for word processing and other office-based solutions. Oh yeah, there is Open Office by Sun Microsystems. Free to download, free to install, free to use, open-source software? But is it open and are we giving back to keep the community alive?

So does open source mean community?

Many people are touting the Android mobile market because of the open-source offering. What they mean is they want the flexibility to alter the source code to fit their needs. Maybe people interpret open source software as the means to alter the source code to fit their needs. But I thought the idea was to alter the source code and share this with the community. Are people sharing in this movement to make the community better or is it just leverage free software…to hack Motorola products in order to avoid paying fees for access. It is happening on Apple products as well, accessing and altering the base code to fit our wants. But what is the point? Oh yeah, for personal gain.

OK…I am not getting on a soap box, I speak from experience. But how many of us are just downloading this open-source software and not adding the the community project?

So is this open source movement really an open source movement? Are we really educated about the open source movement, the benefits, the burden, and the commitment to further the movement. Well, education is key. The point of this little post, there are places out there talking about open source software, talking about the community. Interested in learning more? POSSCON 2011 is in Columbia, SC on March 23, 24, and 25 and you can register here: http://posscon.org/register/

If you want a discount code, read this blog post and request a discount code. Yes…I did not mean to try to sell you a conference…but to raise your awareness about my thoughts and offer a logical solution. I will be there learning more about this community of open source.

Do You Like Open Source? See you at POSSCON!

Do you like Open Source Software and Development? Well…you should check out POSSCON! What is POSSCON, well it is the Palmetto Open Source Software Conference held in Columbia, SC. There are going to be a host of presenters from four different program tracks that pertain to you: LeadershipTechnicalHealthcare, and Education.

Whether you are a student, CIO, CTO, work in healthcare, a developer, a professor, a teacher, or just and Open Source enthusiast…there is something here for you when it comes to Open Source Software.

Worldwide industries such as IBM, Oracle and Google will be presenting, along with a long list of other impressive businesses.

Open source software continues to be one of the hottest and most relevant topics in information technology as organizations strive to meet the increasing demand for innovation while struggling with shrinking budgets.

POSSCON 2011 will feature an executive forum, hands-on workshops and networking events. This one of the largest open source software conferences on the East coast.

More than 500 attendees from across the country are expected to attend this event. Registration is still available for both students (who are admitted for free) and for other people interested in open source technology.

Interested in registering…you can use the QR Code to the left or CLICK HERE to REGISTER for POSSCON.  Also…POSSCON will be giving away Three Free Galaxy Tabs at this event…so you should register for a chance to win. To see more about the Galaxy Tab, here is my review, CLICK HERE to READ MORE.

Also…I will be there, so we can meet and hang out! And if you comment on this blog post and leave your email address (and you are not a spammer), I will send you a discount code for the event! I want to meet you!

Also…If you would like to read the Press Release for POSSCON, CLICK HERE to download the PDF!