Use Of Free Software Research Articles

Um estudo sobre as opiniões de consumidores não especializados, no município de São Paulo, acerca da utilização do software livre e do software proprietário

The aim of this study was to construct a scale to assess attitudes and opinions on free software and proprietary software, to analyze the opinions of students of Higher Education Institutions (IES) about the use of Free Software (SL) and Proprietary Software (SP), representing two types of software on the market of information technology. To conduct this study was used a literature review and a field survey with 400 respondents by the trial samples, which provided grants and theoretical models to compare these two types of software. Thus it was possible to identify nine factors for the comparison between the SL and SP from the view of students of courses of administration, accounting and others, who knew the two types of software, but were not experts in the subject and were established in the municipality of Sao Paulo. The overall results showed advantages for Free Software in relation to Software Owner. The literature review and field survey allowed the identification of discrepancies between some factors in the opinions of the authors and students, which can be explained by the bias of the works consulted and also by preference of students from the sample by a type of software or other. Keywords : Consumer behavior, Free Software, Proprietary Software.

Laboratorio virtual de software libre para bibliotecas

The selection of a library management system is often affected by social, economic and political conditions that may result in an inappropriate choice for a library’s needs, characteristics and functions. Free software, or freeware, is one of the more often selected solutions, given the freedom to copy, modify and distribute it in addition to free licensing and the possibilities for integration with other applications. This trend is reflected in librarianship curricula, in which automation software, repository management software, and even Linux/GNU , among others, are explained in a variety of courses. This combination of organizational needs and freeware trends led a group of professors from the Faculty of Library and Information Science ( UB ) and members of the Work Group on Free Software for Information Professionals ( Cobdc ) to create a virtual laboratory for the use of free software for library applications, as a contribution to the professional community.

Software libre en las bibliotecas de la UPC

We reviewed projects and outcomes in the implementation and use of free software in the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) libraries. Free software is a growing movement with steadily increasing significance, especially in university environments. The use of standards improves the possibility of integration with other systems and enhances the efficient management of library data. At the moment UPC libraries are developing their institutional repositories, using open source software like DSpace to disseminate the institution’s teaching and research activities. The UPC libraries will continue to implement this cost effective software and promote its use among library users and the university community.

Simple and inexpensive hardware and software method to measure volume changes in Xenopus oocytes expressing aquaporins

Water channels (aquaporins) family members have been identified in central nervous system cells. A classic method to measure membrane water permeability and its regulation is to capture and analyse images of Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing them. Laboratories dedicated to the analysis of motion images usually have powerful equipment valued in thousands of dollars. However, some scientists consider that new approaches are needed to reduce costs in scientific labs, especially in developing countries. The objective of this work is to share a very low-cost hardware and software setup based on a well-selected webcam, a hand-made adapter to a microscope and the use of free software to measure membrane water permeability in Xenopus oocytes. One of the main purposes of this setup is to maintain a high level of quality in images obtained at brief intervals (shorter than 70 ms). The presented setup helps to economize without sacrificing image analysis requirements.

Modeling the fate of down-the-drain chemicals in rivers: An improved software for GREAT-ER

GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers) is a model system for predicting chemical fate and exposure in surface waters. The GREAT-ER approach combines a series of well-studied models (for sewers, waste water treatment plants and rivers) with spatial information managed by a GIS. A new version of GREAT-ER (version 2) has been developed which has a number of improved features compared to its predecessor. All components are now implemented as Free Software and make use of Free Software where possible. This simplifies the distribution, use and extension of the system and its components for scientific applications. In addition, two new platform-independent user interfaces have been developed. The first is a simplified web-based interface for easy access without installation and the second is a full-featured desktop version. The model system has been re-designed to increase its flexibility for the modification and extension of its component models. In addition, the file-based data storage system used in version 1 has been replaced by a database management system with a flexible Application Programming Interface (API). This makes it easier for users to share their results, using a new repository (also with web-based and desktop versions) serving as a central communication tool. The output from the new system has been successfully tested against the field-validated models in GREAT-ER 1.0.

Coding Free Software, Coding Free States: Free Software Legislation and the Politics of Code in Peru

December 2001, a legislative proposal was introduced to the Peruvian Congress that would have mandated the use of free software on government computers. The introduction of the bill, dubbed the Law for the Use of Free Software in Government Agencies, or Proposition 1609,1 added Peru to a growing list of countries pursuing legal measures for the adoption of free software by government. Similar measures had begun in Brazil, Argentina, France, and Mexico-and within a year, they would be joined by dozens of other national-and local-level efforts in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Vietnam-all seeking to establish official alternatives to the use of closed, proprietary software by government. But it was Peru alone that uniquely managed to capture international public attention in the work surrounding its legislative efforts. Much of the publicity was spurred through the online circulation of a letter-mediated exchange between Microsoft's General Manager in Peru-who attacked the bill as a danger to the nation's security and to corporate intellectual property rights-and the congressional sponsor of the bill, Congressman Edgar Villanueva, who staunchly defended its support. The letters later became the focus of a wave of international media coverage around the South American nation and its legal proposal. Unlike any other nation considering similar legislation, Peru's proposal and its Congressional author were suddenly transformed into prominently visible players in the global movement for free software. Or as one reporter from the online news publication Linux Today prophetically narrated: In the course of everyday business and politics, once in a while something truly significant happens. At such a time, letters become road maps for change and a politician from a small mountain town in Peru can become a hero to those who believe in a cause: both amongst his countrymen, and around the rest of the world... Congressman Villanueva's reply [to Microsoft]... raised him practically to folk hero status over night (LeBlanc 2002). Envisioning Free Software Despite the unusual media attention captured by the Peruvian legislative efforts, and the rapidly expanding adoption of similar initiatives by national and local governments worldwide, the dominant reaction of free software proponents to the bill in the months following its proposal was to treat it as simply further evidence of free software's continued global spread. Minimizing the local specificity of actors and contexts surrounding the emergence of legal proposals like Peru's, the prevailing reading of such developments in the developed North was as one extraordinary achievement within free software's history of other, similarly extraordinary achievements. For many free software practitioners, it was the seemingly uncontainable momentum of their movement and the sheer technical strength of free software itself-more than any particular local actions or activities-that were to credit for its global successes. Yet a closer examination of the practices that surround the emergence of free software legislation in Peru reveals a distinctly different account. Far from presuming free software's steady advancement, the proponents of Peru's free software legislation undertook various forms of local and non-local work, advocacy, and activism to propel the visibility of their movement. Further, their practices departed from the language of technical and economic rationality that had been repeatedly invoked to explain free software's adoption. They insisted instead on a new framing of free software as necessarily engaged and invested in processes of governance and political reform. And while prominent factions of free software had previously read social linkages to formal political bodies as unnecessary or even counterproductive, Peru's free software advocates actively sought to build relations with bodies of governance, demonstrating a willingness to engage with traditional political channels. …

Teach Yourself Thesaurus: Exercises, Readings, Resources

SUMMARY A rationale for self-instruction in thesaurus-making is presented. Some definitions of a thesaurus are given and sources suitable to begin self-tuition indicated. A sound grasp of grammar is emphasized and appropriate readings and exercises recommended. Readings in classification, facet analysis, and subject cataloging are described. An approach for deconstruction and reconstruction of sections of classification systems and thesauri is proposed and explained. Procedures for using exercises in thesaurus construction are detailed. The means of examining individual thesauri is suggested. The availability and use of free software are described. The creation of opportunities for self-learning is considered.