Dear all,
As we mentioned in our email sent on 2 August, we have obtained some valuable feedback related to O2/A4 when discussing the learning content (in several different private sessions) with a number of different stakeholders. At this stage we would like to share with you some of the comments we have obtained so far from representatives for SMEs we have discussed the FOSS4SMEs learning content with and from which we have received feedback.
"As a founder and manager of a small company with experience of open source and media content we are certainly interested in using, at least parts of, the learning content. However, I see that licensing conditions are unclear for 4 of the 5 unites and we cannot use any content under unclear conditions. I also see that some pages in the learning content contain company logos and it is a big 'no no' for us to use such under unclear licensing conditions." (The founder of a SME)
"For a small knowledge intensive company we always try to provide good and reliable sources when communicating with our customers. Related to some of our business offerings we sometimes provide short courses. I see that one of the units lack references, which is inappropriate for our purposes. For a small company we wish to be able to refer to credible sources when we conduct courses for our customers and there are often those that want to know more." (The founder of a SME)
"When providing courses concerning open content licensing it is very important to provide content under clear and open licensing terms. The material you have is of no interest to us at this point, since it simply cannot be used due to unclear and inappropriate licensing terms. Most of the pages are provided under traditional copyright and I cannot use that in any education context focused on open source and open content." (representative with experience of VET courses).
We find that these comments constitute useful and constructive feedback.
We hope to obtain additional feedback during August and will provide further details later.
Best Björn and Jonas