Anne Margulies from MIT just gave an amazing presentation on MIT OpenCourseWare. Max Spevack is now giving our closing keynote, “State of the Fedora,” with a lot of momentum provided by Ms. Margulies. MIT’s work in opening knowledge to the global community is very inspring, and we can be proud of our FOSS community heritage, both in helping to make that work possible, if only on a conceptual level, and in how we are still leading the charge for freeing global knowledge assets.
In the “information economy” — however time-worn that particular appellation might be — the value of an idea lies not in how it helps hoard, but how it helps distribute the basis and tools for creating and transmitting knowledge, and having a lasting effect on our world. I have no doubt other people have better made this assertion, and for some time now. But hearing how MIT has taken some of the very fundamental core concepts of open source, and applied them to its mission, has shown me personally how wide-ranging and high-impact this idea truly is.
By the way, Thomas Chung of FedoraNews.org has been videotaping some of the intriguing sessions held here, and I am betting you will see these videos online very soon.
This event has been a fantastic opportunity for me, not just as a new Board member, but as a Fedora user and contributor. I’ve met people who are important to me whether or not they know me — people like Warren, Jeremy, Seth, Jesse, Paul, Karsten, Nalin, and Greg. You guys ROCK. Not just because you do cool work, but because your cool work makes my cool work possible. And also because the stuff you have helped build has contributed to my personal knowledge, and my ability to distribute that knowledge into the world. Seriously, thank you.
Now, on to FUDPub!