Next Steps for dotOrganize
Upcoming dotOrganize Projects:
The previous section identifies strategies designed to help organizers better achieve the promise of new technologies.
In addition, dotOrganize aims to launch some specific projects in the coming year to address the needs outlined in this report. For a further description of these efforts, please go here.
This report compiles insights from more than 400 social change groups, technology providers, and nonprofit technology capacity builders, examining the needs of organizers working to utilize new technologies, and offering recommendations for how to meet those needs more effectively.
October 19th, 2006 at 11:16 am PST
It’s a shame that the writers of this report either ignore or are unaware of the free and open source software movements. Not only do the tools that these movements make available for the download a solution to the limited budgets of many organizations, but the co-operative efforts that produce them are likely to have a deep appeal as well.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:58 pm PST
Hi Bruce,
We are big fans of all things open source. How can you not be? Where would the Internet be without Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Ruby on Rails, to name a bare few? Not to mention (as you point out) the gazillions of open source applications out there available for use, tweaking, etc.
But \”open source\” refers to a process, ideology, and type of license (of which there are multiple variations). Not necessarily a result.
From my perspective, when it come to nonprofits looking for software, the issue is not how the software was designed, but whether the tools are useful, bug free, affordable, and have some kind of ongoing support.
Some open source software is great, and some is not so great.
If all the software tools that nonprofits need were as good as Firefox (an open source web browser, for those who don\’t know), the nonprofit sector would be in great shape.
When it comes to more complex, enterprise class applications, however, it is almost never \”free.\” What you avoid in liscensing fees you pay in configuration, bug fixing, etc. I\’ve seen far to many NPOs seduced by the \”free\” and then stuck with a huge pile of buggy code that they can\’t afford to fix, much less customize to meet their needs.
It is THAT scenario, in particular, that we need to avoid.
Cheers,
Leda
October 27th, 2006 at 11:16 am PST
I think you under-estimate the current state of free and open source software, and exaggerate the difficulties.
Free software has come a long way in the last five years, and enough free software is “as good as Firefox” that it can be used without difficulty for everyday office needs.
As for configuration and bug fixing, how is that any different from proprietary software? These hidden costs affect any new software introduced into an existing system, and in general I’ve found that the support for free software is usually quicker and more expert than the help that people pay for from proprietary companies.
The difficulty, of course, lies in knowing where to find that support. But that only brings me back to my original point — non-profits should be aware of the free software community. Often, the two groups share a similar set of ethics, and both would benefit from interacting with each other.
The problem lies in the fact that those that run non-profits are generally non-technical, and free software is new and often misunderstood. Still, these problems should not detract from the fact that many of the needs of non-profits could be solved or at least greatly alleviated by free software.