Why...?
Why Now -In the last five years, Open Source tools have passed from the domain of experts into the realm of top quality, user friendly tools used in businesses, governments and schools around the world. The One Laptop Per Child initiative is about to launch Open Source into millions of homes in developing countries. Schools are desperately in need of funding and rarely has the United States needed to foster international outreach and cooperation as it does now.
Why Us -Experience and passion are the two characteristics that qualify the Center's staff to lead this effort at this time. The Executive Director of the Center, Bryant Patten, has the unique, twin perspectives of twenty years experience in the educational software field and the entrepreneurial drive that has carried him through launching and running several successful businesses. He is an invited speaker on this topic at regional, national and international conferences. But perhaps more important, he is passionate about this issue. Having been frustrated by the Digital Divide and the lack of opportunity particularly for rural students, Open Source represented a career changing epiphany for him. To quote Eric Raymond, author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar which is one of the seminal works in the Open Source field, "If you want high quality work, you want people motivated by passion, not by money."
Why Here -Why start a National Center in northern New England rather than in a major urban area or Washington DC? While the Center will be available to help all schools in the U.S., the first focus of the Center will be helping rural schools understand the unique opportunities FOSS provides to solve their problems. Rural schools, because of low population densities and lack of commercial tax base tend to have very few resources. Furthermore, these communities suffer from population drain by young people because there are no jobs. By placing the Center in northern New England, we have direct access to our target audience – particularly for on site training and demonstrations.