Urgent need for open source author/editor and references

[Bruce Slater]

Hi all ... anyone still out there? the list has been very quiet lately.   Here is a paragraph I am putting into an implementation plan as a result of an AHQR grant. Please offer edits or a re-do and/or literature and on-line references to supplement it. Audience is non-computer health policy type people.   Thanks,   Bruce Slater   The Open Source approach to system development has a rich history from the beginnings of the modern computer age. The Linux/GNU operating system was developed by a group of people interested in creating an operating system that could be modified by users as needed for their own needs, yet used unaltered by the majority of users. No one person or entity owns the Linux/GNU operating system. It is used by virtue of a General Public License (GPL) which stipulates the source code (human readable) of the project must be available at no additional cost to users. Most commonly source code is delivered along with object code (computer executable) for free or nominal cost for the media in open source projects. The value of open source initiatives comes from the dynamic interplay of users helping each other solve unique and common problems with shared computer code writing duties. All parties benefit from this collaborative approach which has more in common with health research than proprietary software promotion. Because the whole country must develop a solution that any user anywhere in the country must be able to exchange information with any other user, it is a perfect fit for the open source approach.