Mr Alewine

This seemed obvious until I spoke with Doug Cofer, Director of Information and Technology with Oak Ridge Schools. My original plan was to speak with Mr. Cofer and write an article for the Oak Ridge Observer (my former employer) describing the possible benefits Open Source can provide for education. He told me his department has explored these possibilities, yet decided against them. While explaining his reasons, (which were all understandable) he said, "There's a reason a free product is not dominating the market."

I thought for a long time about this statement, and it makes a lot of sense. If Open Source was as competitive as they claim, then why aren't Ubuntu and OpenOffice driving Microsoft prices into the dirt? It doesn't make sense to pay for what you get for free.

There are several theories, but one Mr. Cofer brought up was Open Source software's glaring flaw; the lack of tech support. For those in the technology field, this is not the traumatizing issue it is for novice computer users. Even for computer professionals, the lack of direct tech support (in Mr. Cofer's situation) leaves a department losing productivity and results in more money and time spent than if they had simply gone with conventional software.

I am not making a judgement call one way or another, and I plan to explore some of these issues more in order to write the article/essay if I choose to not publish it (or I get rejected). It does, however, pose an interesting question to ask those creating Ubuntu, Firefox, and OpenOffice. For the general public to get on board with this, it must be accessible. This translates to, "When something goes wrong, I need someone to help me." In regard to Oak Ridge schools, they need a lot of someones to help when disaster strikes.