The Web Economy - Its Era and Impact to Open Source, A Practical Approach.
Open Source is a result of an online community that heavily depends on the Web's space of freely available tools and applications. It is also maturing with lots of anchor domains and ready and new audiences. The Web is also home to many commercial entities and interests crouching into the advantage and territory of Open Source. We have to grasp and appreciate as well as understand some of the forces that shape its form and strategy and importantly its future direction in order to thrive optimally.
This module is an important foundation that will govern the students' behaviour in being a future and successful Open Source ERP practitioner. Critical understanding of the principles that ensure better and faster evolving of a software product and knowledge base versus the traditional version. Among the subject matters covered are how software development is affected by Open Source, its pros and cons, community open source versus commercial open source, Total Cost of Ownerships, and critical issues facing users of OS ERP.
Consequences of the Web on global economy and human behaviour
^1 - The Web is The Computer. This topic exposes the impact of the web on the desktop environment, making it borderless as if it is in the same room.
^2 - The Web Changes Everything. This topic goes further to see how the web transforms both social and economic activity.
^3 - Attention Economy. This topic explains the main constraint upon the users and thus how it is used in determining a web based economic or social model.
Various Models of Web Economies
^4 - Traffic is King. This topic explains how some models assume that traffic is a sole determinant of success.
^5 - Content is King. This topic explains how content can determine user behaviour.
^6 - Community is King. This topic regards a political view that there must be leadership in the chaotic web.
Reinventing Yourself On The Web
^7 - Email and Mailing Lists. This topic looks at Email as a killer app that is ubiquitous to all users.
^8 - Forums and Blogs. This topic looks at how buletin boards has become a cornerstone in web social activity.
^9 - Second Life. This topic looks at to what extent can the web displaces real social activity and experience.
When Linux and Apache began to make an impact and serious challenge to proprietary software, it revolutionised the way software development is thought to be done.
However there are still difference of opinion as to what are the right ingredients to ensure quality software in the end.
There is also the question of priority, of which comes first - something good enough to kick-start the whole process, or the community that is expert enough to improve it.
(15 hrs)
^10 - Brief History of Open Source - How Software Development Was Originally Done. This topic allows the student to know the truth about the way software was learnt and evolved among the learning fraternity.
^11 - Linus vs Tannenbaum - Why Releasing Early is Better Than Releasing Better. This topic examines the context behind Linux's success from the creators' points of views.
^12 - Bazaar Culture and Policy - Why Giving Away Is Something Good. This topic examines some salient learning points in the famous Eric Raymond's article.
^13 - Microsoft vs The World - Dynamics of an Eco-system. This topic looks at how proprietary software is hitting back with their own version of Open Source Software and how it can impact the users and their adoption.
Open Source only furthers technology itself in disruptive ways.
There can be convergence of previous technologies or completely new unexpected areas.
When tools and reference source becomes readily available, a bottom up revolution of innovation can spring easily.
(15 hrs)
^30 - Era of Convergence. This topic explains to the student how various applications are converging on a singular window of experience for the users.
^31 - Google-ERP - The Single Window. This topic shows how an ubiquitous application may become everything to everyone.
^32 - IPhone-ERP - Sensory Computing. This topic looks at a particular scenario where the phone may be the window of experience in the web economy.
^33 - Universal Supply Chain. This topic looks at the future of web-based ERP where all players and products are in a common cloud of interdependent activity.
This course module requires no prior technical knowledge. However, this course ties into the intersections of Information Technology Planning Management & Sociology. <syntaxhighlight lang="html" line="1">