Open Source Academy Apprenticeship

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The Open Source Academy

.. of Southern California

800-26800-264-14044-1404

Open Source

The concept of "Open Source" mainly refers to a method of licensing and distributing software. Many enterprise-level applications are written and released this way -- perhaps the most ubiquitous is the Apache Web Server, which has always commanded the majority market share since the inception of the Internet. For a complete and accurate definition of "Open Source", please refer to the Open Source Definition.

At the Open Source Academy, we believe that the Open Source Initiatve and the Open Source Movement are powerful trends that have and will continue to change the face of Information Technology. Companies can benefit from software and other products that are licensed and distributed in this fashion. Also, we believe that from the perspective of learning, that using Open Source tools whenever possible produces stronger and better-trained IT professionals.

Open Source and Curriculum

At the Open Source Academy, we understand that the student is more likely to find proprietary operating systems and software than Open Source in use where they will be working after graduation, and so our curriculum focuses strongly on the most popular of these proprietary systems during the course of the year.

Woven throughout the curriculum, however, are Open Source products and tools. For instance, the fundamentals of networking is better understood by using the aspects of the Linux kernel that afford a window into networking. The Apache web server, BIND for DNS, and Perl for text parsing are superior to anything offered by proprietary vendors. Security tools, such as Nessus, Snort, and even TCPDump afford the student quick access to enterprise-level investigation.

Thus, while the OSA curriculum will dutifully provide the student with the "How-To" needed for success in supporting a world full of proprietary software and operating systems, supporting that endeavor will be a detailed and superior base of fundamental knowledge gained through the use of Open Source tools.