THE NEW LITERACIES AND

THE FREE SOFTWARE

Marius Stoica, Arad County Public Library

What involves the new literacies?
● New ways to access knowledge through
the use of Information and Communication
Technologies:
– Using computers
– Using the Internet
– Using all other related technologies
 What is the essence of literacy?

● Apart from the social and practical aspect of

literacy...
● "Have courage to use your own
understanding!" - I. Kant
 Figuring out computer literacy!

● The ability to use a computer (hardware)

– The ability to use an operating system
● The ability to use application and system
software
– The ability to read and write software code
(programming)
 Proprietary software
● Software is a commercial product
● The access to software must respect the rules
applied to any merchandise
 Free software
● Software is a community effort
● No proprietary restriction in using it and
distributing it
● You get access to the source code
The UNIX operating system (70's)

● Research OS at Bell Labs made by

employees
● A vehicle of free knowledge among
researches and hackers
● Not a commercial software up until 1983
 Free Stoftware Foundation (80's)
● The GNU (Gnu's Not Unix) Operating System
– Free tools to build a Unix like system
– Lack of kernel for a functional OS
● The GNU General Public Licence
– A truly free, non-proprietary license, but anti-
commercial...
 The Linux kernel (90's)
● Started by a student, supported by an impatient
community
● The birth of the first complete functional GPL'ed
OS through the proliferation of GNU/Linux
distributions
– Debian
– Red Hat
– Suse
– Slackware
– Etc.
 Open Source Initiative
● Open-source vs. free software - the bazaar vs.
the cathedral
● Open Source Initiative and the Open Source
Definition
● Copyleft licenses (commercially restrictive) and
Permissive licenses (less restrictive)
 What about libraries?

● Free software as:

1.A strategic IT infrastructure
2.A great way to empower librarians
3.A new library resource and service focusing on
new literacies among library users
 IT infrastructure
● Free OS for
– Desktop use
– Intranet network
– Server use
● No monopoles: software as service not as
product
 Application software
● Office suite: OpenOffice, Gnome Office etc.
● DTP : GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus
● Multimedia: Audacity, Cinelerra
● WWW:
– Browser, Online communication software etc.
– CMS: Drupal, Wordpress
Library and collection management
● ILS:
– Koha
– Evergreen ILS
● DLS
– Kete
– Greenstone
– Invenio
 Reevaluation of library science

● Information is a decentralized resource

● The user is a source of information
 Professional support in software
development

● Libraries support for the development of

technologies related to information
management:
– Standards of data communication
– Managements system software
 Semantic web technologies

● Integration of all library system requirements

with the semantic web tendencies:
– Machine readable meta-data used for
classifying library resources directly inside the
Web pages
 Free software for the public

● Software code and packages as resources for

the public
● Mirroring free software websites on public
library servers
 Empowering the user
1.The freedom to run the program for any
purpose.
2.The freedom to study how the program works,
and change it to make it do what you wish.
3.The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
help your neighbor.
4.The freedom to improve the program, and
release your improvements (and modified
versions in general) to the public, so that the
whole community benefits.
 Saper aude!

● Educative, scientific and creative software for

the public. Some distros:
– Debian junior, Skolelinux, Scientific Linux
● Making a customized distribution of the
library :
– Using live distro frameworks: Debian Live,
Linux Live