It was my great pleasure to attend POSSCON 2011 this year. I had the opportunity to do a keynote, a panel discussion, and a technical talk, wearing the hats of both developer as well as "FOSS expert." And that dual-hat nature defines the conference itself quite well. Imagine if OSCON and OSBC had a baby: its name would be POSSCON. » Read more
One of the talks at POSSCON's education track was John "maddog" Hall's presentation titled "FOSS Teaches You Twice or Three Times." A 42-year veteran of the computer industry, maddog has seen it all. He's since turned his attention to the field of education and the work of creating a nation of thinkers and self-directed lifelong learners. » Read more
POSSCON, now in its third fourth year has both grown and matured. The Columbia, SC conference pulls in a number of great speakers, this year including Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, Walter Bender, Leslie Hawthorne, and Jon "Maddog" Hall. » Read more
I presented at POSSCON this week on introducing and using open source software in your school or classroom. Now I’d like to take a few minutes to hit some of the high points and give you a look at how you can bring open source to your school with a minimal of effort.
First . . . why? Why would you want to use FOSS (free and open source software) in education? Let’s take a look at what we use computers for in a typical classroom. » Read more
