Introduction

Free and Open Source software has come a long way over the last few years. Its now more usable, more accessible and its potentials for civil society organizations are limitless. But why should you care if you are steering people towards Open Source or Proprietary Software?

As an eRider, you are probably most concerned with the practical aspects of software and its ability to help your organizations increase their capacities and achieve their missions. Does it matter whether a piece of software is developed in an open source way or a proprietary way? For a civil society organization there are several reasons why open source software is preferable: namely, it is developed in an open and collaborative way. If an organization adopts open source software it is not "locked in" to a specific software developer or company for updates, modifications and enhancements.

Proprietary software requires adherance to strict licensing and copyright rules. Organizations that are not using licensed versions of proprietary software are extremely vulnerable to lawsuits and government intrusion. New licensing schemes used by proprietary software companies make their software less accessible and even more problematic in installing and running. Some proprietary softare even goes so far as to put into legal question the ownership of what you create in their software. Is it ultimately owned by the creater or by the company that created the software used to create it?

Since there are crucial differences in both the way that open source and proprietary software is created and the way that it can be used ? it is imperative that NGO's understand these differences no matter which kind of software they are using.

How to engage NGO's about F/OSS
Remember the golden rule of eRiding when approaching NGO's to utilize F/OSS: decisions about technology should be in their hands. Lay out the pro's and con's next to proprietary software solutions and by no-means try to sway or over sell them to F/OSS.

Matching F/OSS to NGO missions
Even without the recent advances in usability - F/OSS's nature of being built in a collaborative and community nature mirrors heavily values that civil society groups are promoting.

Good F/OSS Starting Projects
Small pilot projects are always the best when trying something new.

Examples of NGO's using F/OSS
Some case studies of how NGO's have used open source.

Resources for eRiders deploying F/OSS
For more on deploying F/OSS solutions with NGO's

This guide was made possible by a grant from the Information Program at the Open Society Institute.