Open Sourced Advocacy

1

• Open Sourced Advocacy
• Michelle Murrain
• MetaCentric Technology Advising
• Nonprofit Open Source Initiative
• Politics Online 3/5/2008

2
What is Free and Open Source Software?

• Software that is freely available, can be used
  for any purpose
• The source code can be examined and modified
• Modified versions can be released

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Features of FOSS

• Free to acquire can provide a very inexpensive
  way to get access to good technology solutions
• Modifyable can provide a cost-effective way to
  build custom online political and advocacy tools
• Robust Web server fundamentals (Linux, Apache,
  MySQL) are well-developed, robust, secure, and
  scalable

4
Features of FOSS, cont.

• Cant be owned by a particular company
• Many companies support it but since the code is
  available, and modifications can be released, it
  assures the ongoing availability of software
• Is often community-driven
• Community of users and developers determine the
  direction that the software moves in
• Depends on open standards

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Examples of FOSS

• Firefox
• OpenOffice.org
• Thunderbird
• Drupal
• Joomla
• Plone
• MediaWiki (the engine of Wikipedia)?

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How to decide whether FOSS will work for you

• Three considerations
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Strategic Value
• Mission Based Philosophy

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TCO

• TCO includes
• Software acquisition costs (which is generally 0
  for FOSS)?
• Hardware
• Installation/customization
• Training
• Upgrades/Maintenance

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Strategic Value

• Flexibility
• Can modify applications
• Can make changes as needs change
• FOSS generally leans toward the more
  powerful/flexible
• Control
• Control of data (open standards)?
• Long term control of application (not dependent
  on a vendor)?

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Philosophical Considerations

• Free Software Definition (from the Free Software
  Foundation)
• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
  The freedom to study how the program works, and
  adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code
  is a precondition for this. The freedom to
  redistribute copies so you can help your
  neighbor. The freedom to improve the program, and
  release your improvements to the public, so that
  the whole community benefits. Access to the
  source code is a precondition for this.

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Philosophical Considerations

• Values Syncrony
• Issues of corporate intellectual property, and
  its effect on culture and democracy
• Availability of software to people and
  communities with low resources
• Community-built and driven software

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Speaking of Values Syncrony

• In 2004 It became known that John Kerrys
  campaign was using free and open source software
  (FOSS)?
• George Bushs campaign (and the RNC) was using
  Microsoft-based software on their webservers

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In 2008 ...

• Both RNC and John McCains campaigns both using
  Microsoft web servers
• DNC and Barack Obama are using Linux/Apache
• Interestingly, Hillary Clintons campaign website
  uses Microsoft.

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Find the Balance

• In order to figure out whether or not to choose a
  FOSS solution, look at all of the issues
• Feature set of available options
• Availability of paid technical support
• What is the community of users and developers
  like?
• Ability to change and modify the code if your
  situation warrants it (and other forms of
  strategic value)?
• Cost (acquisitionimplementationtraining...)?
• Philosophical alignment with FOSS and your mission