Open Source, Open Horizons

Just came back from a 2-hour talk at Tech. Edu. Inst. of Athens, department of Informatics.

It was nice to see a full room and meet old friends, exactly 20 years after I first stepped my foot in those buildings.

The talk was called "Open Source, Open Horizons" and showcased the learning and professional opportunities presented to computer science students through the world of opensource development. The argument goes like this:

1. Studying, extending and building upon OpenSource software is the best way to learn, and produce something useful on the way.
   
2. OpenSource software nowadays is everywhere, so the future computer professionals will find it in their path, one way or another.
3. OpenSource software presents a unique opportunity for computer geeks to show to the world what their are capable of and even make a career out of it.

The classroom was packed so the interest is there. But we need to get more academics involved, as they are the ones to drive adoption.

Many thanks to Michalis Grivas and George Meletiou who organized the event.

Cheers
/Dimitris