Explore FOSS Alternatives

Title	Explore FOSS Alternatives
Overview	Learners will gain an understanding of the open source alternatives to major proprietary software applications.
Prerequisites	None.
Learning Objectives	After successfully completing this activity, the learner should be able to: Search for FOSS alternatives to proprietary software packages. Evaluate FOSS alternatives for a package.
Process Skills Practiced	Critical Thinking Information Processing

Background

One of the main benefits of open source software is that it may be used at no cost. In fact, there are FOSS alternatives for most of the major proprietary software applications including Office, Internet Explorer, and more. However, there are tradeoffs for using the FOSS software. This activity requires you to explore and evaluate alternatives to several proprietary applications.

Directions

Part 1 - GitHub

1. Go to the Open Source As Alternative site.

One of the best known of these FOSS project hosting sites is GitHub. In this activity you will search for projects on GitHub based upon category.

Deliverables

Students: Hand in a paper with answers to the questions above. OR: Wiki posting describing your explorations of FOSS alternatives.

Notes for Instructors

The remaining sections of this document are intended for the instructor. They are not part of the learning activity that would be given to students.

Assessment

• How will the activity be graded?
• How will learning will be measured?
• Include sample assessment questions/rubrics.

Criteria	Level 1 (fail)	Level 2 (pass)	Level 3 (good)	Level 4 (exceptional)
The purpose of the project
Why the project is open source

Comments

• What should the instructor know before using this activity?
• What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?

Suggestions for Open Source Community

Suggestions for an open source community member who is working in conjunction with the instructor.