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前言

自由/开放源码软件（FOSS） ，是近年才出现的现象，它有可能带来一场软件产业的革命。在服务器软件部分，它已经有了一个强有力的立足点，并在某些软件种类方面处于全球市场占有率的领先地位。在桌面电脑应用软件中它也占有一席之地，并预示了在不久的将来，它在桌面上的使用会有重大意义。

在全球范围内，特别是发展中国家对自由/开放源码软件的兴趣日益增加。各国政府正考虑政策，以促进其使用，企业开始认识到它的潜力，还有其他各种行业都对其呈现出的本地化的机会给予越来越多的注意力。

在很多领域都可以感受到自由/开放源码软件的影响。这本引论中，我们把专注于自由/开放源码软件在教育方面以及在中小学校，大中专和大学中所起的作用。

信息通信技术（ICTs）有提高教育质量的潜力。但是，教育机构往往面对财政拮据的情况。资源和高成本信息通信技术的竞争需求是为教育机构提供信息通信技术设施的一个重大障碍。开放源码软件具有通过减少软件成本从而降低总体成本的潜力。它是信息通信技术设施的一个重要要素。除成本效益外，在教育方面使用自由/开放源码软件还有许多其他优点，包括教学效益等。

这本引论旨在帮助政策制定者和决策者来理解在教育方面自由/开放源码软件潜在的用途。至于在何处使用它，怎样使用它，为什么应该使用它还有出版物都包括在内。尤其是在政府教育部门，中小学和大学的管理者，教学人员和研究人员应该会觉得这本引论是有帮助的。

这本引论是国际开源组织（IOSN）给您的自由/开放源码软件初级系列丛书的一部分，是联合国发展计划署亚太地区发展信息项目（UNDP-APDIP）的子项目之一。我们在此感谢参与制作本引论的所有人。同时还感谢加拿大国际发展研究中心（IDRC）慷慨的经济支持，否则，便这本引论就不可能面世。

Tan Wooi Tong
Kuala Lumpur
2004

鸣谢

作者感谢这本引论的评论家，Dr M Sasikumar (印度)，Dr Nah Soo Hoe(马来西亚)和 Dr Onno Purbo (印度尼西亚)，他们宝贵的评论和建议为这本引论做出了贡献。作者还感谢他在UNDP-APDIP的同事，Shahid Akhtar 和 Kenneth Wong的宝贵参与，以及其他所有为此付出努力的人，是他们使得制作这本引论变成可能的。

PREFACE

Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) is a recent phenomenon that has the potential to revolutionize the
software industry. It has already gained a strong foothold in the server software segment, with a leading
market share worldwide in some software categories. It is also gaining ground in desktop applications
and it has been predicted that its use on the desktop will become significant in the near future.
Interest in FOSS is growing globally, particularly in developing countries. Governments are considering
policies to promote its use, businesses are recognizing its potential and various other sectors are giving
increasing attention to the opportunity for localization that it presents.
The impact of FOSS will be felt in many areas. In this primer we focus on FOSS in education and the role
it can play in schools, colleges and universities.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to improve the quality of
education. However, educational institutions are often faced with financial constraints. Competing
demands for resources and the high costs of ICTs can be a major obstacle to providing ICT facilities in
educational institutions. FOSS has the potential to help lower the cost barrier by reducing the cost of
software, which is an important component of ICT facilities. Besides the cost benefits, there are numerous
other advantages in using FOSS in education, including pedagogical benefits.
This primer is intended to help policy-makers and decision-makers understand the potential use of FOSS
in education—where and how it can be used, why it should be used, and what issues are involved. In
particular, officials in ministries of education, school and university administrators, academic staff and
researchers should find this primer useful.
This primer is part of a series of primers on Free/Open Source Software brought to you by the
International Open Source Network (IOSN), an initiative of the UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Development
Information Programme (APDIP).We would like to thank all those who have been involved in the creation
of this primer. We would also like to thank the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of
Canada for their generous financial support without which this primer would not have been written.
Tan Wooi Tong
Kuala Lumpur
2004

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author would like to thank the reviewers of this primer, Dr M Sasikumar (India), Dr Nah Soo Hoe
(Malaysia) and Dr Onno Purbo (Indonesia), for their valuable comments and suggestions that have
contributed to the improvement of the primer. The author also thanks his colleagues at UNDP-
APDIP, Shahid Akhtar and Kenneth Wong, for their valuable inputs, and all others for their efforts
that have made the creation of this primer possible.