[Yr7-10it] RE: Electronic reporting system

[Roland Gesthuizen]

I dug up here an interesting paper on how to evaluate an opensource project
    http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_eval.html

The process described is based on steps we already use to evaluate and 
select software.

   1. identify candidates and read existing reviews
   2. briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to your needs
   3. perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates.

As Con suggested, if a program is being actively maintained and updated, 
it's far more likely that it will still be useful tomorrow. You can 
glean this from the traffic on the supporting discussion forums and 
dates on the update pages. For example, Moodle http://moodle.org has 
over 142 developers for over 7500 sites.

Regards Roland

Con Zymaris wrote:

>On Fri, Dec 02, 2005 at 12:45:50PM +1100, Meadows, Roslyn M wrote:
>  
>
>>Con, do you know of anyone who has used this software? Is it adaptable 
>>to Australian conditions, or is it very Americanised? oops I mean 
>>AmericaniZed!
>>    
>>
>I don't know of anyone locally who uses it, or for that matter how 
>applicable to local conditions it is. I would guess that if you had a few 
>minutes to try it, you can view the demo to find out more:
>
> http://www.laex.org/class/demo.html
>  
>
>>Our school has just paid over $3000 for Day Map, next week we start new 
>>classes (all our students are promoted and we start next year's program) 
>>and we will trial Day Map. But I feel it is important to use OSS where 
>>possible to save money (or spend it on other things!!)
>>    
>>
>You must ensure however that any such OSS is viable and of appropriate 
>quality. The well known, 'high traffic' apps are generally fine, but this 
>is a little more esoteric. However, you don't lose anything but a bit of 
>effort in running a pilot with this software.
>  
>
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