Thoghts on Open Source

Internet has allowed many people to share information at the same time. Now, more than ever, it is allowing people to not only share information, but to edit it and to learn from it. There has been no shortage of success stories of open source websites and software programs. Many programs allow free information to be passed onto those who need it. While the reliability of some of these sites such as Wikipedia.com has been brought to question on more than one occasion, its popularity proves that such sites are here to stay. I believe open source programs and systems are great assets to education. The ultimate goal of education lies in the greater good of humanity. Information, in academic context, should be free and available to all. Allowing free access to books (Gutenberg project) and in some cases exams and course notes (MIT) are incredibly advantageous for those interested in a particular subject. Furthermore, by putting the coursework and the books online, people around the world with similar educational or academic interests can share their ideas freely. In addition, because the information that is accessible is specifically geared towards those who are searching for them, there is no real danger from outside intruders abusing the system. However, if there is one down side to open source systems is that sometimes they can result in misleading information. For example, I know that Wikipedia is not a reliable source for research information because it can be edited by anybody. Nevertheless, if the system is well monitored and scrutinized for errors by a competent staff of experts, then I see no problems in allowing the usage of open source systems as legitimate research resources.