“Going FOSS” (using free & open source software) isn’t hypothetical or in the distant future. It’s making practical changes for all of us here & now. You’re definitely already using FOSS whether you’re aware of it or not, e.g. almost all of the internet is built on FOSS, the popular media player VLC is FOSS, & almost all proprietary software contains or is dependent upon it to some degree. There are many advantages to using it & many governments around the world have projects to transition from proprietary software to FOSS.
In the European Union, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE https://fsfe.org/) is a non-profit organisation that promotes & defends the rights of users to use, study, share, & improve software; it works to ensure that technology remains under the control of individuals & communities rather than corporations. This is important to us because it protects our digital freedom, encourages transparency & innovation, & helps create a more fair, inclusive, & sustainable digital society. Here are some of the advantages:
No licensing fees: Unlike proprietary software that often requires expensive per-user or annual licenses, FOSS is free to download, use, & distribute. Schools & universities don’t need to pay for each installation or user, which substantially lowers software acquisition costs. FOSS also eliminates the often convoluted & error prone systems to activate licences & renew them in order to keep the software fully functioning.
Reuse of existing hardware: Many FOSS operating systems & applications are lightweight & can run on older computers that might not support the latest proprietary software. This extends the lifespan of existing hardware, reducing the need for frequent, costly upgrades.
No vendor lock-in or up-selling: FOSS avoids the trap of being tied to one vendor’s pricing or upgrade cycles. Institutions & organisations can switch between service providers, developers, or host the software themselves without costly migration, licensing penalties, or the need to convert files from one propriety format to another. FOSS is also much less likely to subject you to marketing campaigns &/or up-sell software & features to you, e.g. tiered pricing for commonly used functions. It all just works “out of the box.”
Lower support & maintenance costs (over time): While there may be initial training or setup costs, FOSS systems often have active communities, detailed documentation, & long-term support. This can reduce the need for expensive vendor-based technical support in the long run.
Community-driven development: Features & tools developed by other institutions or users are often freely available, reducing the need to pay for custom development. Plugins & extensions are commonly shared freely across user communities.
Shared resources: In academic networks, institutions can pool resources to collaboratively support & maintain FOSS tools, thereby sharing costs & expertise across regions or sectors.
Criteria for choosing software
Here are some of the main criteria for choosing software, whether Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) or proprietary, each with an explanation of why it matters & why FOSS often has longer-term advantages over proprietary software:
Long-term maintenance & support
When selecting software, it’s important to consider whether it will be maintained & supported for the foreseeable future. If software becomes unsupported or its licensing terms change, we could lose access to our files, face compatibility issues, &/or security vulnerabilities may go unpatched. Choosing software that uses open standard formats makes it easier to migrate our data elsewhere, protecting our work & reducing future risks. FOSS typically uses open standard formats, which makes it easier to migrate our data if the software becomes unsupported or abandoned. Even if development slows or stops altogether, communities may fork & maintain it, thereby better ensuring future support.
Adherence to open standards & interoperability
Software that supports open standards, file formats, & communication protocols is more interoperable with other tools & systems. This flexibility allows users to collaborate more easily, exchange data without issues, & avoid vendor lock-in, which can limit future choices & increase costs. FOSS tends to follow open standards, making it more interoperable with a variety of tools. This allows easier data exchange, collaboration, & integration into different environments, thereby reducing compatibility issues.
Community support & troubleshooting resources
A large, active user community often means better informal support through forums, blogs, & Q&A sites. This is especially valuable when issues arise, as we can often solve problems quickly with a simple web search. Strong community support can significantly reduce downtime & reliance on expensive technical support. While vendors often offer professional customer support, it may be slow or expensive. Troubleshooting relies more heavily on official channels, & community help may be limited or discouraged. Popular FOSS projects usually have active communities that provide free support via forums, GitHub, Stack Overflow, etc.. This means issues can often be resolved quickly without paid support, & solutions are widely shared.
Availability of documentation & learning resources
Comprehensive documentation, tutorials, blogs, & video guides make it easier for new users to learn the software & for experienced users to master advanced features. Well-documented tools accelerate onboarding & help institutions or teams use the software effectively & efficiently. Proprietary tools may have detailed documentation & training resources, but these are sometimes paywalled. Learning opportunities can be limited by the vendor’s control over content. Many successful FOSS projects offer rich documentation, wikis, tutorials, & user-generated content. The open nature encourages widespread sharing of educational material, making self-learning cheaper & more accessible.
Suitability for specific needs & extensibility
Good software should match our specific use case. Furthermore, the ability to extend its functionality through plugins, extensions, or templates ensures it can grow with our needs. Extensibility means we won’t need to replace the software as our requirements evolve, saving time & resources. Proprietary software may offer powerful features, but customisation is usually restricted. Extensions are limited to what the vendor permits, & modifying the software is rarely possible. FOSS is often highly customisable & extensible through plugins, templates, & open codebases. If a feature doesn’t exist, it can often be added by the community or our own developers.
Access to content creation communities & open content
If the software is used for producing content, it’s beneficial to have an active community of content creators. These communities often share templates, tools, & resources based on the 5 R’s (retain, reuse, revise, remix, & redistribute), which can enhance our own projects & promote collaborative learning & creativity. Some proprietary platforms do support content sharing, but often within controlled environments or marketplaces intended to generate further revenue. Content may be locked by licensing or difficult to repurpose outside the platform. FOSS ecosystems frequently include communities of creators who share content freely under open licenses.
Efficiency, automation, & workflow integration
Well-designed software integrates smoothly into your existing workflows & automates repetitive tasks. Fewer steps & streamlined processes mean we save time; an important factor in productivity & cost-effectiveness. Tools that improve efficiency give us a competitive edge & reduce fatigue & frustration. Proprietary tools often emphasize user-friendly design & streamlined workflows, which can improve productivity. However, they may lack flexibility in automation unless premium features are purchased. FOSS tools often support automation, scripting, & integration into broader workflows. Though interfaces may be less polished, they can be customised to save time in repetitive tasks.
What do I use?
With all this in mind, here’s some examples of what I’m currently using to illustrate what “going FOSS” might look like:
Operating system (OS)
This is the fundamental level of software that our PCs run on, e.g. Linux, ChromeOS (Chromebooks), Microsoft Windows, & Apple MacOS. I recommend installing & getting used to free & open source software applications (apps) on your current proprietary OS, i.e. installing the FOSS apps listed below, for a smoother, gentler transition into a fully FOSS environment.
Proprietary software: Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS, & Google ChromeOS. All are based in the USA.
I use a version of Linux called Ubuntu, developed & maintained by the UK’s Canonical. https://ubuntu.com/desktop
N.B. The vast majority of web servers already run on FOSS operating systems, typically a version of Linux, e.g. Debian, Ubuntu, or CentOS. In fact, just about everything we typically find on web servers, including database software & programming languages, is FOSS.
Web browser
Probably the app that most of us use most of the time for everything from checking emails & searching for information to participating in online courses & attending online meetings/webinars.
Proprietary software: Google Chrome, Apple Safari, & Microsoft Edge (Edge actually has the same underlying software as Google Chrome).
I use Firefox, developed & maintained by Mozilla, a non-profit foundation based in the USA. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
Office software
What many of us use for producing tangible “office work”, i.e. word processor, spreadsheets, slide presentations, & databases, often referred to as productivity software.
Proprietary software: Microsoft Office 360 & Google Docs.
I use LibreOffice, developed & maintained by The Document Foundation, based in Germany. LibreOffice supports the Open Document Format (ODF), which has been adopted as the default standard for the European Union. It is also less problematic to use for authoring content intended for the web, i.e. fewer formatting issues that “break” web pages & database files. https://www.libreoffice.org/
Slide show presentation software
Most people use the slide show presentation apps that come with their office software. However, their file formats require the correspondingly compatible software to be installed & presentations cannot be shown or viewed online.
Proprietary software: Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, & web only; Prezi, Canva, etc..
Honestly, I don’t use slide show software very often, except when giving presentations for CPD & in public forum s (There are better ways to present information to students in the classroom & online). When a slide show is appropriate, I use RevealJS, which is an app that runs within standard web browsers (written in HTML, Javascript, & CSS; standard web browser code), i.e. no need to download & run a file locally on specialised software. I even developed a plugin for Moodle so that presentations can be integrated & viewed directly online. Since it’s web standard code, it can also display anything that a web browser can; text, images, animations, audio, & video, all tightly integrated & sequenced for smooth-flowing, unproblematic presentations. https://revealjs.com/
N.B. I write my presentations directly in HTML, which requires some basic knowledge of writing web code, so it’s not for the uninitiated. However, there is a paid service, supported by AI that provides a less expert user experience: https://slides.com/
If you want a straightforward replacement for PowerPoint, then LibreOffice Impress can handle both PowerPoint & ODF file formats https://www.libreoffice.org/.
Text editor
Along with a word processor, it’s typically useful to have a plain text editor, i.e. doesn’t apply any text formatting such as fonts, headings, bold, italic, or other styles. Text produced or “cleaned” in this way is useful for copying & pasting into web interfaces & for creating & editing files of bulk data for uploading & importing learning content & user data into web-based systems more quickly & efficiently. In other words, they can save us a lot of time & effort.
The best known is Microsoft’s Notepad (which isn’t strictly a plain text editor & can apply some formatting which can produce unexpected results with web interfaces & disrupt the data in uploaded files) & Apple’s TextEdit.
I use Gnome Text Editor, the default text editor that comes with Ubuntu Linux, developed by a globally distributed tea m & the FOSS repository is hosted by The Gnome Foundation in the USA. https://apps.gnome.org/en-GB/TextEditor/
Software developers use specialised text editors for writing code. They range from very simple, minimal editors, to full-blown integrated development environments (IDEs). For this, I use NetBeans: https://netbeans.apache.org/front/main/index.html
Email client
If you want to manage your email accounts more efficiently as well as integrating them into office software, for example for mail merge functions, or you just don’t want to be distracted by advertising inserted into your browser’s webmail interface, a desktop email client is a useful option. In other words, you can check your emails & respond to them more efficiently, which can save you a lot of valuable time.
Proprietary apps are Microsoft’s Outlook & Apple Mail.
I use Thunderbird, developed & maintained by Mozilla. https://www.thunderbird.net/
Vector graphics
If we produce educational content, we need to draw diagrams, illustrations, charts, etc., as vector graphics, i.e. graphics that remain easily editable & can be enlarged infinitely without losing quality (suitable for both small mobile devices & large presentation screens). The worldwide standard format for vector graphics is SVG, which is supported by most office/productivity software & can be viewed directly on webpages.
Proprietary software includes Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Office Visio. Their proprietary file formats are poorly supported & must therefore be converted/exported to standard image formats to be used with office/productivity software & for viewing on the internet, e.g. in web pages & learning management systems.
I use Inkscape, developed by a globally distributed team & the FOSS repository is hosted by GitLab, a Dutch -Ukrainian company, in the USA. https://inkscape.org/
Bitmap graphics
In addition to diagrams, illustrations, charts, etc., we often need to create &/or edit bitmap graphics (sometimes referred to as “raster graphics”), e.g. photos, screenshots, & scanned images.
Adobe Photoshop & Corel Painter are examples of bitmap graphics editors.
I use the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), developed by a globally distributed team & the FOSS repository is hosted by The Gnome Foundation in the USA. https://www.gimp.org/
Audio editor
If we produce educational content for language learning, we need to record & edit audio, i.e. speech, & then export it into web & media player compatible file formats, e.g. MP3.
Proprietary apps include Adobe Audition & Soundbooth & Apple Logic Pro.
I use Audacity, developed & maintained by Muse Group, based in Cyprus. https://www.audacityteam.org/
Video editor
We may need to produce video content for language learning, i.e. people in conversation or presenting, including visual cues such as facial expressions & body language, &/or for showing places & manners of articulation (pronunciation).
Apple Final Cut Pro & Adobe Premiere Pro are well-known examples of proprietary video editors though there are also many specialist apps made for education such as screen recorders, e.g. Techsmith Camtasia.
I use Kdenlive which does both non-linear video editing (for producing documentary-type video productions ) & screen recording. It’s developed & maintained by KDE, which is a member of the Free Software Foundation Europe (https://fsfe.org/) & develops several other apps for education. https://kdenlive.org/
Video conferencing
For live, synchronous, interactive sessions with students, we typically use a video conferencing service. These used to require expensive specialised media servers but with the advent of the WebRTC protocol, almost all of this is now managed by users’ web browsers, i.e. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge. This means that video conferencing is more stable & particularly easy & cheap to provide, & there are many services to choose from, many of them free.
The most famous proprietary service is Zoom & the main providers in educational contexts have been Blackboard Collaborate, Adobe Connect, Cisco WebEx, Google Meet, & Microsoft Teams.
I use BigBlueButton for which Moodle has standardised integration but there are other video conferencing services that offer Moodle integration plugins, including for Zoom if you wish. Integrating video conferencing into courses on an LMS dramatically reduces administration & management task workload & makes it easier & more reliable for students & teachers to connect to the right conferences at the right times. https://bigbluebutton.org/
Learning management system (LMS)
An LMS is an online platform for hosting courses, learning resources, & assessments, virtual classrooms, & managing students’ & teachers’ accounts, enrolments, & learning records/records of participation. It’s an indispensable tool for providing online & distance education in efficient, manageable, & sustainable ways.
Proprietary LMS’ for language learning are offered by ELT coursebook publishers, e.g. Cambridge, Oxford, Pearson, & Macmillan along with their own copyright content. The platforms are narrow, rigid digital presentations of their printed coursebook content. They cannot be adapted, supplemented, or changed in any way. They also do not track students’ participation or progress in practical, feasible ways that would be useful to a language learning department or organisation, e.g. little or no integration with student information systems & few or no options for bulk uploading of student accounts & data.
I use Moodle, the world’s most popular & widely used LMS, developed & maintained by Mood le Pty and the Moodle Foundation, both based in Australia. It integrates seamlessly with student information systems, digital portfolio systems, & single sign-on protocols. Its excellent multimedia support & flexible learning activities make it a particularly useful platform for language learning. https://moodle.org/
Bibliography manager
A bibliography manager stores & organises documents, e.g. articles, research papers, presentations, books, & book chapters. It also indexes documents’ bibliography information (AKA “metadata”), i.e. title, author, date, place, journal/source, publisher, abstract, etc., to make them easily searchable. They also typically integrate with word processing software & web browsers (via plugins) which makes retrieving documents & their metadata as simple as a mouse click, & can also automatically manage inline citations & the references section when writing scientific/academic articles, papers, & chapters. A good bibliography manager will save hundreds of hours if you do any kind of writing that requires that you cite/reference sources to support your claims.
Elsevier Mendeley & EndNote are the best known & most widely used proprietary bibliography managers.
I use Zotero, which is developed & maintained by the Corporation for Digital Scholarship, a non-profit organisation that builds open-source software for researchers & cultural heritage institutions. It’s supported by Institutional partnerships & sponsorships from universities & libraries. https://www.zotero.org/
Student information system (SIS)
As the name suggests, a student information system (SIS) is for managing students’ information, i.e. personal profile information, contact information, courses currently & previously enrolled on, attendance, grades, special needs, grants/payments/funds, qualifications/certificates awarded, term-time calendars & holidays, etc.. Not unlike client relationship management (CRM) systems, they make keeping track & maintaining clear, effective, consistent communications with students, parents, & other stakeholders more manageable. These are mainly of use to medium sized & larger educational organisations. I have little knowledge or experience with using them as I’m mostly involved in the teaching & curriculum side of things. Here, I’ll simply list the best known SIS’.
Proprietary software: PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Skyward, Blackbaud Education Management, & FACTS SIS (formerly RenWeb) Of course, there’s a plethora of other smaller companies in various regions, offering proprietary SIS services.
FOSS: Fedena (Community Edition), openSIS, SchoolTool, Gibbon, & TS School (Time Software School)