Open Source Software is rapidly developing, and new alternatives for
nonprofit organizations are emerging and maturing. We have described
here the types of software now available to nonprofits, and how they
are being implemented it in their organizations.

As we have articulated, there are many places where OSS is not as mature
or ready for use in nonprofits as older proprietary applications. But
it is our opinion that in the next 2-5 years, the maturity, stability
and ease of use of OSS will rival, if not exceed that of standard proprietary
solutions.

This will not happen by accident. In a paper recently published by
the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, Jonathan Peizer argued
that to realize the full promise of OSS in nonprofits, “a proactive,
well thought out strategy by a collaborative of progressive funders,
developers and technology service providers” is required. (http://www.uploads.nten.org/gems/RealizingthePromiseofOpenSou.pdf)

And that is also why we at the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative (NOSI)
are engaged in a series of activities to better educate the community.
These activities include the NOSI open source café, a publication
of additional case studies on our website, the development of a nonprofit-focused
OSS mailing lists, in addition to dissemination of documents like this
primer.

We hope that this introduction to the potential of OSS within nonprofit
organizations will make it possible for you to participate in this movement,
whether it be through NOSI, or other organizations of which you are
a part. Thanks to the power of collaboration, the full potential of
open source software in the nonprofit sector is only beginning to be
realized.

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Mailing Lists, Websites and IRC channels available for support of
OSS

http://www.justlinux.com/

http://www.tldp.org/ - the
Linux Documentation Project

http://www.linuxhelp.net/

http://www.linuxchix.org
– multiple mailing lists

irc.us.freenode.net
- many distribution specific channels, like #debian, #gentoo

mozilla.org – support for using
mozilla

nosi-discussion@nosi.net
- discussion of open source software

nosi-desktop@nosi.net
- discussion of open source software for desktops

riders-tech@npogroups.org
- circuit riders technology discussion

CTCNET (www.ctcnet.org)
– A network of community technology centers serving urban and
low-income areas

Free Geek CTC (www.freegeek.org)
-developing a tech assistance project using OSS

Free SW Foundation (www.fsf.org)
- advocates for free software, enforces GPL license

Gilbert Center (www.gilbert.org)
-strong advocate of open source

Idealist.org (www.idealist.org)
- online directory of nonprofit consultants

LINC Project (www.lincproject.org)
- open source for low-income comm.

LSTech.Org (lstech.org)
-A technology assistance provider serving legal assistance communities

Tactical Technology Collective (http://www.tacticaltech.org/)
- an international organization working to bring technology (including
OSS) to NGO sectors in developing countries

Media Jumpstart (www.mediajumpstart.org)
-- tech nology collective for nonprofits employs OSS

NTEN (www.nten.org)
– provides a directory of nonprofit consultants

One Northwest (www.onenw.org)
– environmentally focused provider includes open source options

Organizers Collaborative (www.organizenow.net)
-- promotes, creates open source tools for organizers

Open Source Application Foundation (www.osafoundation.org)
-- nonprofit established to write open source software

Debian-NP (http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-nonprofit/)
- A specific Linux distribution project for nonprofits

What is NOSI?

NOSI (http://nosi.net) is a collaboration
of nonprofit technology service providers, consultants specializing
in nonprofit support, and open source software developers working to
facilitate greater adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) in the nonprofit/NGO
sector. Information about

How can I become involved in NOSI?

NOSI currently has four opportunities for volunteer involvement or
contributions:

First is our online collection of open source case studies. We welcome
contributions from additional nonprofits who have used OSS, especially
if your case study tries things that are not mentioned in any of the
existing case studies on our web site. Secondly, we are looking for
people to help maintain our online open source projects database (nonprofit-focused).
Third, we are looking for folks who can help maintain our web and email
infrastructure. Finally, people who are already making a significant
contribution to NOSI or the world of nonprofit open source software
may be invited to become involved in the NOSI steering committee.

NOSI currently runs three email lists:

nosi-discuss@nosi.net
-- general discussion, questions on nonprofit OSS issues

nosi-announce@nosi.net
-- low volume announcements of OSS issues

nosi-desktop@nosi.net
– general discussion on OSS options for the desktop