Seminar: Libre software and the real world

Program (summary):

• Open source game software: landscape and opportunities, by Jim Whitehead (University of California, USA)
  
• Being Open about lock-in effects in the Swedish public sector: Taking
  Open Source and Open Document formats seriously, by Björn Lundell (University of Skövde, Sweden)

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
12:00

Salon de grados
Edificio Departamental II
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Campus de Mostoles
Directions: http://gsyc.es/Campus

• GSyC/LibreSoft of the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
• Morfeo-Qualipso Competence Center on libre software
  

Program (detailed):

• "Open source game software: landscape and opportunities"

Abstract: Starting with such text-based games as Wumpus and Adventure in the 1970's, computer game software has long been open source. This talk will provide an overview of the current landscape of open source games, middleware, and tools. Challenges of creating an open source game will be described, followed by directions on future work in the area.

Short bio: Jim Whitehead is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he helped create an undergraduate major in computer game design. In the early 80's, Jim learned BASIC programming by typing in and studying the source code of computer games such as Wumpus. In the area of computer games, his research interests include procedural content generation for games, and level design for games.

• "Being Open about lock-in effects in the Swedish public sector: Taking Open Source and Open Document formats seriously"

Abstract: There is a strong movement in Europe to promote products that support open standards. Directives and proposals at European and national levels have been developed in this area. There is in particular an increasing recognition of the need for governmental organisations to support and promote standard document formats. This vision can stand in stark contrast with the reality of those document formats which can currently be accepted and produced by those organisations.
In this presentation we address the apparent tension between the current situation and the current Swedish governmental vision, which states that the use of Open Source Software and Open Standards should be supported (Prop. 2004/05:175). We find that a small minority of Swedish organisations can actually respond appropriately when presented with a document in a format that conforms to an open standard, whereas all are willing and able to accept documents in a proprietary format.
In many countries there are industry associations that seek to maintain the interests of companies dedicated to Open Source and Open Standards. For example, Open Source Sweden is an industry association that seeks to maintain the interests of Swedish companies dedicated to supplying Open Source products, development and services. Despite the existence of such associations and companies, there are many myths about Open Source and Open Standards still perceived today. In drawing from an ongoing study, we will also report on one of these myths (about "lack of support") and comment on possible reasons for why this may be believed.

Short bio: Dr. Björn Lundell has been researching the Open Source phenomenon for a number of years. He co-lead a work package in the EU FP6 CALIBRE project (2004-2006) and was the technical manager in the industrial (ITEA) research project COSI (2005-2008), involving analysis of the adoption of Open Source practices within companies. He is the project leader for the Open Source Action (OSA)-project (2008-2010), and the project leader for a Nordic (NordForsk) OSS Researchers Network (2009-2012). His research is reported in over 60 publications in a variety of international journals and conferences. He is a founding member of the IFIP Working Group 2.13 on Open Source Software, and the founding chair of Open Source Sweden, an industry association established by Swedish Open Source companies. He was the organiser of the Fifth International Conference of Open Source Systems (OSS 2009), which was held in Skövde, Sweden.