Free, Open-Source Software Survey: Characteristics

Part I: Characteristics of Free, Open-Source Software

Introduction

The purpose of this survey is to assess the levels of awareness educators have about free, open-source software. The results of this survey will help to determine topics for future workshop offerings, informational resources, and training sessions designed to introduce educators to this category of software. Completing the survey should take approximately 5 minutes. Your responses are anonymous, and your participation is completely voluntary. Upon completion of the survey, you will be directed to an information resource where you can learn more about this type of software if you are interested.

Instructions

Using the options provided, please indicate whether you consider the statement to be true or false. Choosing True or False is preferred, but if you have absolutely no basis for your selection, please choose the Don’t Know option. For ease of reading, the term, free, open-source software, will be abbreviated as FOSS.

	True	False	Don't Know
Free, open-source software (FOSS) can be freely used by anyone.

FOSS is not copyrighted.

FOSS users are prohibited from modifying the programming code.

FOSS is the same as demonstration or trial versions of software.

FOSS can be both modified and shared with others.

It is legal to charge for FOSS programs.

FOSS is mostly for hobbyists.

FOSS is the same as shareware.

FOSS programs are for special purposes only.

FOSS is less likely to contain bugs than commercial software.

	True	False	Don't Know
FOSS is supported by a community of users.

FOSS users can inspect and learn from the programming code.

FOSS cannot be shared with anyone else.

FOSS is different from public domain software.

FOSS is supported by commercial support providers.

FOSS is less virus-prone than commercial software.

FOSS is mostly undocumented. There is usually no manual included.

FOSS is mostly for techies.

Serious businesses do not use FOSS.

FOSS is different from freeware.

Part II: Examples of Free, Open-Source Software

Instructions

This section of the survey asks you to indicate whether you consider a particular software title to be an example of free, open-source software, or proprietary software. For the purposes of this survey, consider proprietary software to be software where the programming code is not available for inspection and modification. If you have heard of the software but have no idea about its type, please indicate No Idea about Type.

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