[LIS-Forum] Cost of training in open source software

[Jai Haravu]

Dear All

I would like to add our experience of conducting several training programmes on NewGenLib, another open source library management software.

These workshops have to be sponsored by one or other organization who have to pay for the cost of meals and refreshment and in some cases free (or subsidised) cost for accomodation, transportation, fees for guest faculty. In some cases our sponsors have donated to the support of NewGenLib so that it can continue to improve and meet new needs. The charges per participant has been in the region of Rs. 2500 to 3000 which just about covers costs and is not exhorbitant by any means.

The Open Source movement can only succeed when it is community-driven and community-supported. Institutions should be willing to pay reasonable fees for ongoing support. Open Source does not mean FREE, it is really about freedom. A good example of how libraries in the US and Australia have provided support to Koha and Evergreen is worth mentioning. In fact, Koha support is now provided by commercial firms in US and even in India. 

I would also like to point out that, not only in the library field but also in open source products such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache, Linux distributions, etc., community support is vital to their success.

I believe that librarians in India should actively champion the cause of open source solutions by offering their moral and technical support to endeavours such as Koha and NewGenLib. 

Managements of Instns., should be told of the long-term cost-benefit of the movement and its benefits to society in general.

Thanks

L J Haravu
Trustee, Kesavan Inst. of Information and Knowledge Management (KIIKM) 
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