Goals

This handbook has three main goals:

1. To provide information in an accessible and readable form about the extensive topic of open source software. There is a vast amount of information available on the web, but for someone with no experience of the subject it can be difficult to make sense of it or bring it all logically together. During the research for The Open Source Handbook the hardest task was to sift out the surfeit of information to provide a (relatively) concise summary of the subject.
2. To make it easier for you to decide if open source software is right for your organisation or for your own computing needs and, subsequently, to assist with the migration to using open source software. You will be pleasantly surprised by the range of advantages that open source software can bring to your organisation. The following chapters aim to contain sufficient information to make it possible for you to choose which software packages are suitable for your organisation and also the links to the location on the web where the open source packages are maintained and can be downloaded from.
3. To introduce you to the culture of the open source community and the free and open way that that community works co-operatively together across the globe. You will also come to understand how your organisation can further benefit by becoming a part of that community.