Why non-profits should use free software (and it's not why you'd think)
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| How does free software address this call for professionalism? We know that
| free software can be as “professional” (if not more so) than some proprietary
| counterparts. Also, good free software is often based upon “doing it right”
| as well. An example of this the way styles are central to the use of
| OpenOffice.org. It’s a departure from the way MS Office does it; it seems
| more cumbersome at first, but as you get used to it you realise why they help
| so much—particularly on longer documents. The security, stability and other
| oft-trumpeted advantages of free software stem, in part, from decisions
| to “do things properly”.
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http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/why_non-profits_should_use_free_software
Recent:
UK children's charity says goodbye to Excel
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| Cognos TM1 will house the charity's budgeting and financial planning data
| currently held on 2,000 Excel spreadsheets.
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http://www.computerbusinessreview.com/article_news.asp?guid=98CC4FA6-BE3D-487F-B5C2-CAAE1489A516
Related:
Free software for non-profits?
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| It was essentially the "No one gets fired for hiring IBM" idea. Yes,
| I'm mixing metaphors... sort of.
|
| The non-profit community touches the lives of one in three of us
|
| Charities get great discounts from Microsoft (up to 90%!). So, the
| high cost of Microsoft products is less of an issue for them.
|
| What would it take, then, to convince charities to make the switch?
|
| The answer is simple, and yet not so obvious: good adaptable case
| management software for human services non-profits.
|
| The only generalized case management applications for human
| services non-profits are expensive and proprietary
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http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/free_software_for_non-profits
Tactical FOSS
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| ...a non-profit in Amsterdam that calls itself the Tactical
| Technology Collective which has begun creating packages of FOSS
| specifically for non-profits. Funded by the Open Society Institute,
| Omidyar, USAID, Hivos and UNDP/APDIP, the collective aims to assist
| socially oriented organizations around the world by providing FOSS
| packages, consulting and training.
|
| [...]
|
|
| I still feel this sector lags behind in understanding the value
| inherent in the FOSS approach, but it should be interesting to see
| how "NGO in a Box" catches on. I believe Tactical Tech is working
| in the right market, in Africa and Asia. The entreprenurial spirit
| is very strong amongst third world non-profits, coops, communities
| and micro entreprenurs and FOSS will make a big difference in helping
| these non-profits assist with their missions and connect to a larger
| world. Africa after all is the birth place of Ubuntu.
|
| The FOSS philosophy is very communal, very social and highly
| collaborative - three perspectives also promoted by the
| non-profit sector.
|
| All things considered it should be an interesting future.
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http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/tactical_foss
Charities' Microsoft decision riles open source group
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| Late last year, the Charities Commission, established to develop a
| formal register of charitable organisations, went to tender for
| service providers to implement a Microsoft-based online
| registration system. However, the decision to use Microsoft's
| software was never put to tender.
|
| [...]
|
| Harrison says taking registrations for charities would be equally easy in
| either Microsoft or open source technologies.
|
| "In fact, Apache has a better than 60% market share in web servers, so it
| seems unusual that the recommendation of a consultant would eliminate a
| majority market player from the project,? Harrison says.
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http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/2DDACAC8F60F0EFCCC25726F000A64BA
Declaring Open Source
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| Open source software is what made the Internet possible, which in
| turn made all sorts of new companies possible. From Microsoft to
| Google, our modern Internet was built on open source software.
| Last year, the Center for American Progress decided to see if
| we could get the phrase "open source" introduced into the U.S.
| Code. We set ourselves a simple goal: get some legislation introduced.
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http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/02/open_source.html
Will Microsoft's Katrina Goodwill Go Bad?
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| The first benefit really goes to Microsoft and its reseller partners rather
| than to the larger group of small businesses seeking aid. What kind of
| hurricane relief is that?
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http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/will_microsofts_katrina_goodwill_go_bad.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
http://tinyurl.com/2neepw
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