Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Proprietary&# last week, and especially after Thomas Taylor’s very apt comment that the battle is not over in many corners, I decided that, well, what the heck, it was a good time to write a series about open source software options, and their comparisons to proprietary, in 2011, more than 12 years after this whole thing started.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 6, 2011

In the software sense of the phrase, it is the actual piece of software (most often Apache , but sometimes something different.) That software runs in the background, and and listens to requests, then serves up the data. That data is in some form of HTML, CSS and Javascript, because that is what browsers understand.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 25, 2011

On strictly NPTech topics, I can only say “ nonprofits should use open source software for better sustainability ,&# “ there’s more to talk about than social media ,&# and “all nonprofit software should have open APIs ,&# and “ technology won’t save the world ,&# and “ the nptech world should develop open (..)

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 8, 2009

Wifi passwords, firewalls, password protected fileshares, virus protection software, etc. Security of your private data that is “in the cloud&# is largely at the mercy of the software developers who hold your data. are the tools of the trade here. Luckily, most of them take security quite seriously.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MAY 3, 2009

Human processes mold around software. Your email software has particular limitations, and you find behavioral workarounds. Your email software has particular limitations, and you find behavioral workarounds. What’s also true in the realm of customized software, is that software is molded around people.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 19, 2011

tags: toblog kvm software opensource. Welcome – Synergy. 5 Innovative Ways to Teach Your Skills Online. tags: teaching tools toblog. Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 8, 2008

The web software landscape has changed dramatically over the years. Five years ago, it was full of custom built systems of all sorts - and the “build vs. buy&# decision was, I think, more difficult, because the available software to buy was fairly cruddy. I even occasionally still hear tell of organizations who want custom CRMs.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 14, 2011

I’ve mentioned this before, and I do think the conventional wisdom is that open source software (which includes OpenOffice.org, MySQL and Java) will not flourish at Oracle. It makes sense – Oracle has never had a culture of fostering open source software, and it seems unlikely to obtain one.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

And the cool thing about open source software is that in situations like this, people can fork stuff. And just like the fears that many in the MySQL community have had about the future of MySQL under Oracle’s watch (Oracle shut down the OpenSolaris project, for example), people were worried about the future of OpenOffice.org.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MAY 17, 2011

How about lowering the costs of software by using open source and collaboratively developing software? But we’ve had, what 3 or 4 years solid of nonprofits using this stuff. Can it be demoted now? So what do I want us to talk more about? How about data standards to help us share information more easily?

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Not so long ago, nonprofit organizations had software tools, that dealt with specific parts of their organizational process. They had fundraising tools, client management tools, volunteer management tools, HR tools, accounting tools, etc. painstaking export/import processes.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

DECEMBER 7, 2009

One of them, Idealware , is an organization whose goal is to provide the sector with unbiased, analytically developed reviews and information about software that nonprofits use in their everyday work.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 13, 2011

The Ada Initiative is a nonprofit organization that works to support women in open culture (open source software, open standards, open content, etc.) Really great stuff. They have a new census that they are encouraging people to take. So please take it , and spread the word.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 13, 2008

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology If it’s good enough for the Navy … March 13, 2008 In a surprising move, the US Navy will stop buying proprietary hardware and software, and only buy open systems. This could be a watershed moment.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 24, 2008

I said in that post: At one level, whether or not the software underneath the SaaS is open source is not relevant. You are not obtaining the software, and whether or not you can see the code, or modify it, is really not the key issue here. And, at the level of most nonprofits choosing software, this is, in fact, correct.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

If we keep building our nonprofit toolsets on proprietary software and for-profit web services, even if they are free (for now) we are going to be bit by this over and over again.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 9, 2009

It’s a day dedicated to conversation and community around nonprofits and open source software. There’s some great stuff on the Agenda , like: Introduction to Free and Open Source Software. Fundraising with all free software. This year, it’s before NTC, on Saturday, April 25.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

DECEMBER 13, 2007

A ways back, Six Apart promised that it would open source MovableType , their flagship software product, and the software that underlies their TypePad service. So here’s another good option for organizations that want powerful blogging software to use on a generic (read: cheap) hosting environment. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 29, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Gender, Race and Open Source June 29, 2007 My session on Free and Open Source software and the US Social Forum went great yesterday. So are the folks that are creating software with more diverse uses.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 27, 2008

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Free and Open Source tool #14: SugarCRM March 27, 2008 Since I’ve been covering CRMs for the webinar today, I figured I’d switch categories on my free and open source software list. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 11, 2008

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Tidbits June 11, 2008 The Tides Foundation is accepting applications for the 2008 Antonio Pizzigati prize , a $10,000 annual award for outstanding contributions to software in the public interest. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

DECEMBER 26, 2008

CiviCRM continues to mature, and is providing an interesting and important new model for nonprofit software development. Being a pragmatist, I do use proprietary tools, both the Software-as-a-Service, or basic desktop tool types. Panic software makes really good stuff. it’s absolutely an application to get to know.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

depends largely on two things: open standards, and open source software. Open Source software and open standards are the foundations of Web 2.0. Open standards are now becoming de-riguer for application developers, and even proprietary vendors are adopting longstanding ideas and methods from free and open source software.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

My pet peeve: a form for downloading software that requires you to put in your email address. Like Ubercart and Zen Cart, this is a truly open source community effort, with an ecosystem of providers rather than a business model. PrestaShop – Also LAMP. More like Magento in business model. Most add-ons for PrestaShop cost money.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 6, 2008

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Another good reason for nonprofits to use FOSS January 6, 2008 This is an amazing example of the kinds of flexibility that is difficult or impossible to get with proprietary software. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MAY 6, 2011

Software: WordPress – you already know it and love it. I’ve had a web presence of some sort since way back when most personal URLs looked something like: [link] In 2002 or so, I ditched HTML for a series of CMS systems for my personal stuff. I started out using the CMS I wrote in Perl, called XINA. Those were the days.)

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 30, 2010

I think it is one of the long list of unpredicted successes that resulted from the near-ubiquitousness of open source software on the server side. I’ve been getting to know Amazon S3 lately, and there are some great things about it. We’ve been using it for “offsite&# backup for drupal sites for a while now.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Idealware did a great article on HIPAA compliant software. Some great ideas and advice on content strategy. The CiviCRM 3.0 beta process is well underway. Lots of great improvements in there. Most organizations don’t need to think about it, but when you do, this is a great starting place.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 9, 2007

1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Beth Kanter 10.12.07 at 11:01 am Congratulations! Freelance Switch Gavin’s Digital Diner Idealware Jon Stahl’s Journal Lifehacker LinuxChix – Be Polite. Freelance Switch Gavin’s Digital Diner Idealware Jon Stahl’s Journal Lifehacker LinuxChix – Be Polite. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

That’s an interesting model, and, if the software is decent, sounds like it could be a good option for some organizations. The interesting thing, too, is that their model is that they take a percentage of what you raise (5%.) No setup fees or anything else. But, of course, as with anything, look (a lot) before you leap. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Idealware did a great article on HIPAA compliant software. Some great ideas and advice on content strategy. The CiviCRM 3.0 beta process is well underway. Lots of great improvements in there. Most organizations don’t need to think about it, but when you do, this is a great starting place.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 15, 2007

There is no question in my mind that free software has won the CMS/Blogging race, hands down. { There is no question in my mind that free software has won the CMS/Blogging race, hands down. { There is no question in my mind that free software has won the CMS/Blogging race, hands down. { One such platform was Typepad. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

The description: “ Talk with Michelle about internal software systems – document and knowledge management, CRM, client management databases, intranets, etc.&# I volunteered to be the “expert&# in residence for the “Program&# track of Office Hours. So, come join me. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 1, 2007

It’s such an interesting space, and there are some really intriguing things happening with software in that space. NTEN is trying to get a handle on all of this, and find out what people use, and how much they like what they use. I can’t wait to get my grubby little fingers on the data on CiviCRM and Salesforce. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 6, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Online Courses November 6, 2007 I’ve been thinking a lot about giving online courses in the use of open source software. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 14, 2009

MockFlow – Easy Wireframing for Software and Websites. Guide to CSS support in email clients – Articles & Tips – Campaign Monitor. Intuit Developer Network Home.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 1, 2009

As you know, I have built a long-time expertise in open source software and web applications, particularly Content Management Systems (CMS) and online database systems, including CRM. We are focused on delivering quality web technology solutions to nonprofit organizations and social enterprises.

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