[OS:N:] Open source article, quotes

[Jed Donnelley <jed nersc gov>]

> At 09:00 AM 4/1/2004, open-source-now-list-request redhat com wrote:
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu,  1 Apr 2004 10:56:49 +0100
> From: "Marco Fioretti" <m fioretti inwind it>
> Subject: [OS:N:] Wanted: quotes on OSS and education
> To: "open-source-now-list" <open-source-now-list redhat com>
> Cc: "m.fioretti" <m fioretti inwind it>
>
> Greetings,
>
> I am writing an article about Open Source and education.
> For it, I need as many quotes as possible which point out how
> using open source software in place of black box solution is
> perfect, education-wise, because:
>
> it allows self learning
>
> it strenghtens characters and self reliance, making possible to
> improve the existing tools or build whole new ones if needed
>
> it gives an active, not passive attitude to young people
> it teaches the strenght of cooperation and friendship, by sharing
> efforts and results
>
> All kind of quotes are needed and welcome, ie both from famous people like
> Stallman, Linus, Eric Raymond, etc.... and normal, more or less unknown
> guys like you and me.
>
> I'd prefer, however, "public" quotes, ie something which already 
> said/written on a
> web page or in some speech/presentation: the reason is to demonstrate that the
> OSS community is already aware of the issues above, and is already publicly
> working to bring OSS benefits to young people.
>
> Thank you in advance for any feedback. I'll let you know when the article
> is published (online!)
>
> Marco Fioretti

I think this quote from:

http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-solar/

is pretty compelling and of course already "published":
___________________________________________________________
Flexibility
Linux source code is freely available. Any developer who has struggled with 
debugging a problem that involves someone else's proprietary code knows how 
much easier it is when you can actually see for yourself what that code is 
doing. And if you find a problem there or want a feature added, you can 
modify Linux, provided you follow the provisions of the GNU General Public 
License. You aren't forced to wait for an operating system supplier to work 
on your problem for you. This isn't just a theoretical advantage. Users 
such as business software vendor SAP have exercised the option of making 
modifications to the Linux source code and point to this valuable option as 
one of the reasons they support Linux. Find out more about how SAP is 
taking advantage of Linux in SAP's Linux Technology FAQ (see Resources for 
a link to this and many of the other sources mentioned in the following 
sections).
___________________________________________________________

Of course you may have to face the issue of IBM copyright on the above 
quote ;-)

--Jed http://www.nersc.gov/~jed/