Open Source

The "open source" concept comes from the software industry and means the Teach Peace programs that are made available at no cost*, such as best practices, are made freely available to end-users who have various degrees of rights to modify and redistribute what we offer back into the community.

*We offer some programs (e.g., Leaders) that involve licenses and agreements with other organizations. These programs are not freely available. In all situations, permission is required to modify and redistribute Teach Peace Foundation content.

Practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's sources. Some consider it as a philosophy, and others consider it as a pragmatic methodology. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet and its enabling of diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. Subsequently, open source software became the most prominent face of open source.

The open source model can allow for the concurrent use of different agendas and approaches in production, in contrast with more centralized models of development normally the hallmark of non-profit and commercial organizations.

The concept as put in practice by the Teach Peace Foundation

Teach Peace makes available programs that are successful for Teach Peace chapters or affiliates and other organizations working to address the greatest threats facing humanity. Click here for our buttons and graphics that peace organizations can use to link directly to Teach Peace.

We seek to make the best of what is available to raise awareness and thereby bring about change. We are careful not to reinvent the wheel and therefore you will find links to other organizations on the Teach Peace site.

Open source culture versus free culture

The idea of an "open source" culture runs parallel to "Free Culture," but is substantively different. Free Culture is a term derived from the free software movement, and in contrast to that vision of culture, proponents of open source culture maintain that some intellectual property law needs to exist to protect cultural producers. Yet they propose a more nuanced position than corporations have traditionally sought. Instead of seeing intellectual property law as an expression of instrumental rules intended to uphold either natural rights or desirable outcomes, an argument for open source culture takes into account diverse goods (as in "the Good life") and ends.

*Source: Wikipedia

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