The latest N-TEN Report is "Realizing the Promise of Open Source in the
Nonprofit Sector," by Jonathan Peizer, Chief Technology Officer of the Open
Society Institute, http://www.soros.org, sponsored by OSI and distributed by
N-TEN. To read the complete report, please see the N-TEN Reports page at
http://www.nten.org/reports.


EXCERPT: "One of the latest technology protocols to benefit from the magic
bullet buzz is Open Source. I am deeply concerned about this because the
Open Source methodology does show a lot of promise in helping non-profits
take advantage of technology in new ways. In fact it is happening as I write
this article. The idea that applications can be licensed to use or modify
freely has a very powerful attraction. The Open Source methodology is
certainly a viable choice for some of the technology I use, recommend and
fund. However, I don't see it as a magic bullet that will revolutionize the
software development and deployment process for non-profits as some pundits
do; at least not unless it's dealt with in a far more strategic and
realistic context by civil society actors...


"The fundamental question to be answered is how one underwrites and sustains
the development and continued maintenance of mission critical Open Source
applications designed specifically for the non-profit sector. Applications
for monitoring, case management, customer relationship management, advocacy,
knowledge management, web publishing, analytics, etc. that support the
unique missions of NGOs. There are literally millions of non-profits all
over the world with software application needs. How will Open Source assist
in the development, implementation and maintenance of low cost, easily
maintainable core applications that meet these needs? And how will these be
underwritten long term?"