Written question asked by Brian Jenkins (Labour) on Thursday, 22 May 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 3 June 2003. It was answered by Charles Clarke (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 June 2003 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what action his Department is taking to increase the confidence of schools in the use of open source software. - Including ref to what is open source software? http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=te&cat=00a&rid =1798. Using open source software http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&cat-004006& rid-1858. How to choose between software licenses http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&pagenum=1&NextS tart=1&rid=1005&rr=11. Licensing electronic materials:advice and issues for schools http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/downloads/guidance_doc/licensing _electronic.doc.

Answer: Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department is taking to increase the confidence of schools in the use of open source software. [116659] Mr. Charles Clarke: The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), which is the Government's lead agency for ICT in education, has published a number of documents on its ICT Advice website that provide information about open source software. They are: What is open source software? http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section= te&cat=00a&rid=1798 Using open source software http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section= ap&cat=004006&rid=1858 How to choose between software licenses http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section= ap&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&rid=1005&rr=1 Licensing electronic materials: advice and issues for schools http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/downloads/guidance doc/ licensing electronic.doc These articles put open source in the context of other licensing options, making schools aware that there are choices.

Secondary information