A first book has been published by the SELF Project. Introduction to Free Software has been produced together with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) with a number of recognised authors on the subjects of Free Software. The book provides an introduction to the inspiring world of Free Software, covering its main concepts, some of the most successful free software projects, the specifics of their development and the legal basis that free software licenses provide for the protection of users' freedoms. It also contains a large directory of glossary, bibliography and links to help the reader explore deeper into this field.

The book is the result of a long-time collaboration between the UOC and lecturers and professors of other Spanish universities who have been working on a master programme and related course materials since 2002. In the UOC's Master Programme on Free Software this course material is used as starting point. Several earlier versions in Spanish have been used, and together with the SELF Project, and with the financial support of the European Commission's IST-Programme, it has been updated and translated into English. The course materials are available in Catalan, Spanish and English and are maintained on the SELF Platform.

While this book provides an excellent introduction to Free Software, it is also an illustrative example of how the SELF Platform can be used. The complete structure and content is available at SELF (see: [1 ]) and can be exported for usage in other platforms - or in print, such as is realised with this first book.

If you want to order a paper version of the book, please send an email to access [at] freeknowledge [dot] eu. The main costs of the book have been covered by SELF, the UOC and the EC. However a contribution for transportation and handling is requested. The Free Knowledge Institute coordinates the distribution and will reserve all SELF-related donations for the SELF Project. Your help will make future editions possible! You can also download the PDF version [3]. An Errata sheet can be found here [4].

Authors
Jordi Mas Hernández (coordinator)
David Megías Jiménez (coordinator)
Jesús M. González Barahona
Joaquín Seoane Pascual
Gregorio Robles
 
Links
[1] http://selfplatform.eu/
[2] http://ocw.uoc.edu/computer-science-technology-and-multimedia/introduction-to-free-software/Course_listing
[3] http://selfproject.eu/files/Introduction_to_FS--SELF.pdf
[4] http://selfproject.eu/files/Introduction_to_FS--SELF_errata.pdf