NewsForge: Study Aims to Measure Benefit of Open Source Software on Schools

“Last Tuesday, the Open-Source Software Institute announced it
was joining a couple of Mississippi education institutions to
sponsor a Ph.D-level study on the viability of using Open Source
software in public schools.

“Organizers, which include the North Mississippi Education
Consortium and the University of Mississippi’s School of Education,
believe the study will show cost savings and other benefits of
using Open Source software in schools, where budgets are often
tight.

“John Weathersby, OSSI founder and chairman, says the goal of
the study is for it to be a ‘logical and practical’ guide for
schools looking at Open Source software as an alternative. ‘I keep
going back to practicality, because I think that’s extremely
important,’ Weathersby says. ‘Technology for technology’s sake is
not worth a lot to me, but technology that’s applied, that’s where
the true value comes in…’

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