For nearly ten years, FutureU has been advising organizations on the selection of software for virtual collaboration and distance learning. Questions increasingly arise about the long-term efficacy of the most popular collaborative tools. Concerns include:

• The cost of products and support
• Steep learning curves
• Complexity (Many more features than the average user will ever master)
• The difficulties of customization (The need to first learn a complex proprietary programming language)

The search for alternatives is ongoing. One promising direction is open-source software. For a comprehensive definition of this phenomenon, go to http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php. To summarize, open-source software is written in such a way that the user may easily view the source code from which the product has been created. There is an implied expectation that the user may modify and/or distribute the product and its source code at will. In fact, most proponents believe most fervently that users should actively share open-source software and continuously strive to improve it. This is the opposite of the proprietary approach, in which the source code remains a well-guarded secret, and sharing is punishable by law. Software developers who have made a large investment of time and money, and are hoping for a return on their dollar, tend to hold their source code particularly close to the chest.

In the fall of 2004, FutureU Chief Learning Officer Claude Whitmyer undertook to identify and test the most promising open-source products with the help of FutureU client colleagues who were also information technology experts. His goals were to:

• Clarify whether and how open-source products might meet the need for virtual collaboration.
• Identify which open-source tools, if any, are the most efficient, cost effective and easiest to learn.
• Identify the current limitations of open-source products and gauge the likelihood and possible timing of significant improvements.
• Reduce the long-term software expenses of FutureU clients and colleagues.

Since 2004, Whitmyer and FutureU associates have continued to monitor the open source market place. In 2006 FutureU will publish the results of this research and make them available to the public for a nominal fee. Among the early findings:

"Yes, Virginia, there is a case to be made for open source, in business and academia alike."

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Copyright © 1997-2006 by Claude Whitmyer and Gail Terry Grimes. All rights reserved. Published by The University of the Future, LLC.