Integrated with the IT upgrade (see below), we are implementing a policy to fully embrace the principles of open source property rights. So our laptops are running Linux Mint and we use LibreOffice for documents, spreadsheets etc. We avoid paying software license fees to profit-hungry corporations wherever possible.

 

Getting to grips with Linux in particular has been a huge learning curve for us, and we are especially grateful to Matthew Edmondson at the software co-op for his expertise and patience in guiding us up that curve.

As part of our open source policy, we are relaxing our intellectual property assertions. We want to share our expertise in co-operative development and the tools we have developed with the co-operative development sector, for the benefit of the co-operative movement as a whole. This may seem a little counter-intuitive at first, but in fact it makes good commercial as well as philosophical sense:

• Anything that might help the co-operative sector to grow is good for CAN.
• It will hopefully encourage others active in the co-operative sector to share and to reduce protectionism. We hope one day not to have to convert documents into Word format for other co-operators, but will continue to do so for as long as necessary.
• A culture of sharing is more compatible with co-operative values and principles: we see this as co-operativism in action.

In accordance with this policy, we are changing the terms and conditions that apply to the products that we license, making them much more accessible and more widely available. When we release the next version of a product or utility, the terms and conditions of use will be updated. For further information about this, please contact Austen Cordasco: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.