The kids at Slashdot have been discussing the OpenCD Project and a recent article by Dr. Paul Cesarini on the OpenCD and Monocultures.
Cesarini writes about the dangers of a monoculture. As in biology, where the lack of diversity can spell trouble for populations, Cesarini argues that a Microsoft-only world stifles innovation. He points to the stagnated development of Internet Explorer and Office. Open source, and specifically the OpenCD, is the alternative.
The OpenCD brings together Windows versions of open-source software in an effort to make it easy for non-technical users to obtain and install the software. They make a point of only including one program in a particular space, so the user doesn't have to figure out which app to use. OpenOffice and Mozilla are the big names on the disc.
And, if all of that wasn't enough to make this interesting, the OpenCD project sees education users as a target audience. Cesarini writes:
While specifically hoping to attract "non-techies" to OSS, secondary and higher education institutions are also a key target group for this project. They have kept this in mind during the development process and have consciously excluded certain programs that schools or parents might object to such as games with violence and peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing software clients.
Posted by Karl
November 20, 2003 04:10 PM