Phil Shapiro

2672 points
Smiling librarian standing in front of bookcase
Washington DC-area

Phil Shapiro has been an educator, teaching students from pre-school to graduate school for the past 35 years. He currently works at a public library in the Washington, DC area, helping youth and adults use their public Linux stations. Between 2007 and 2012, he blogged for PC World magazine on various technology topics and currently writes for Ars Technica, MAKE magazine, FOSS Force, TechSoup for Libraries, Computers in Libraries, Information Today magazine, and Opensource.com. Visit him at his antique ebook store.

Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award, 2024

GoFundMe for medical expenses

And see his library dance videos on YouTube.

Octave Ukes

Stories menu (old)

New stories menu (new)

Pairs Math Game

Updated resume (2022)

WashPost - The Man Who Gives Computers to Kids (May, 2000)

PCWorld - Does Free Software Restore Dignity?

PCWorld (original article)

I like to teach. David tenor guitar

The Day My Mind Became Open Sourced

Professional associations and organizations I support:

Internet Press Guild
Women in Film & Video
Washington Apple Pi
Northern Virginia Linux Users Group
Virginia Macintosh Users Group
Omaha Linux Users Group
Columbia Area Linux Users Group
Let's Play America
HacDC
East Harlem Tutorial Program
Higher Achievement
Small Things Matter
Carpe Diem Arts
Vietnamese American Services

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Journalism I support

MAKE magazine
NPR
Hackaday
CoolTools
FOSS Force

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"All of the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today." - Chinese proverb

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." - Eden Phillpotts

Authored Content

Does open source boost mental health?

Open source is as much a philosophy of living as it is a method of creating software. Part of this philosophy is that everything designed by the human mind is improvable. This…

Open storytelling to boost literacy

I'm in love with open source, but I've been dating open content for many years. You would think these two would jump at the chance to cross-promote, but too often that doesn't…

Recording open culture songs

My friend Mary, a folk singer, stopped by to visit spontaneously this evening. "What are you up to?" she inquired. "I'm recording a music video for a new folk song," I…

Authored Comments

Someday students and teachers will wonder, "Why didn't we move to open source before?" And the answer to that question, when probed deeply, is - "Because we didn't possess the courage and compassion to do so." No shortage of courage and compassion in the West Branch School District (and the Penn Manor School District.) They have blazed the trail -- knowing this is what is best for students, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers alike. In time, the light will spread. Are school districts capable of learning? We better hope they are.

I'm a big fan of Simple Screen Recorder. I love the way it lets me easily record the 1920 x 1080 pixel desktop from the 23-inch monitor attached to my Core2Duo ThinkPad laptop. It just occurred to me that this 1080p video could even be broadcast on a PEG cable access channel. Video created using free software tools -- distributed over a civic television infrastructure. I like that. Very inclusive. If you hear any PEG access channels doing that, please tell the rest of us here on Opensource.com in a blog post.