What is free software? What is it and what are the implications of a free program licence? How is free software developed? How are free software projects financed and what are the business models associated to them that we are experiencing? What motivates developers, especially volunteers, to become involved in free software projects? What are these developers like? These are the sort of questions that we will try to answer in this book. Because although free software is increasing its presence in the media and in debates among IT professionals, and although even citizens in general are starting to talk about it, it is still unknown for many people. And even those who are familiar with it are often aware of just some of its features, and mostly ignorant about others.

 

Evolution of this book

The FTA has reused existing course materials from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and that had been developed together with LibreSoft staff from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. In 2008 this book was translated into English with the help of the SELF (Science, Education and Learning in Freedom) Project, supported by the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme. In 2009, this material has been improved by the Free Technology Academy. Additionally the FTA has developed a study guide and learning activities which are available for learners enrolled in the FTA Campus.

Translations

This material can be found in the following languages:

• Spanish: Introducción al Software Libre (UOC)
• Catalan: Introducció al Programari Lliure (UOC)

Note that the materials in different languages might have minor differences between the different version.

Participation

Users of FTA learning materials are encouraged to provide feedback and make suggestions for improvement. A specific space for this feedback will be set up and referenced from here. These inputs will be taken into account for next versions. Moreover, the FTA welcomes anyone to use and distribute this material as well as to make new versions and translations.