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Vision

So many vision statements are written for the sake of having a vision statement. The Free Curriculum Project, however, is based on an actual vision (other than to get rich quick on stock options ;-)

The idea of a Free curriculum has been on my mind for the better part of a year. The other night I was driving and thinking about competition vs. cooperation as it relates to Free Software (and my idea of a non-software documentation, documentation-only project). It occurred to me that GNU/Linux distributions are an example of an optimization of these seemingly incompatible values. High quality components are created through large scale cooperation. Those components are then assembled cafeteria style by distributors. Overlap between components creates a healthy competitive environment, and allows versions of equivalent tools with different focuses. For example BusyBox competes with many GNU tools, with an extreme emphasis on a small disk and memory footprint, while maintaining impressive compatibility.

I envision the FCP creating a truly first rate curriculum (and accompanying set of course materials). More importantly I expect this success to be followed by a large number of forks in the project, creating specialized curricula; The Right-Wing Christian Curriculum Project, the Tree Hugging Hippie Curriculum Project, The Hoity-Toity Academy Curriculum Distribution.

Homeschooling parents and school administrators would then be free to use one of these distributions as a whole, or use components cafeteria style. A politically conservative homeschooling parent might like the Right-Wing Christian Curriculum, but might want to use the Science materials from the Hoity-Toity distribution for a more contemporary view of the Sciences.

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