George Dafermos' Weblog

Saturday, February 07, 2004

OpenMute: The new platform to end them all?

Thanks to Patrice Riemens for the heads-up via email. i've just started playing with my own open mute blog, wiki, and collection of tools, and so far, i like it. in a nutshell, openmute provides a free (both in terms of beer, and digital liberty - it's licensed under the GNU GPL) integrated suite, based on xoops, consisting of a wiki, blog, rss feeds, what they call a forum (haven't yet checked it myself), and what i think it is an aggregator/news reader. i'll post more when i'll have seen more of this little monster. until then, read the below, and go get your own shit. remember: openmute (as part of mute) is a not-for-profit organisation, so for one thing, it's not looking into ways to boost its IPO, or make shitloads of money.

FREE as in lunch!

*OpenMute*
create/collaborate/communicate
*Free web site and easy-to-use web tools*

OpenMute announces the launch of its Open Source web tools services for
cultural and community groups.

OpenMute is a Mute project. Mute is a not-for-profit organisation.

OpenMute offers a service called OM1 with which you can have a website built
almost immediately, packed with tools for publishing and collaborative
working.

*HOW IT WORKS*

1. Log on to http://www.openmute.org
2. Request an account 'yourname.omweb.org'
3. You will then have a website with the following tools available:

NEWS | WIKI | GALLERY | FORUM | CALENDAR | RSS FEEDS and more...

OpenMute's services allow you to have a dynamic website where you can update
content from any computer connected to the internet just using a browser. You
can adapt the web tools to your own requirements making your OM1 site into a
gallery, workspace, library, public feedback portal, event publicity site,
archive and more.

You can read more details about OpenMute's OM1 package at the bottom of this
email.

---

*SOME BACKGROUND TO THE OPENMUTE PROJECT*

OpenMute is unique in that we have created a system that automates the
replication of certain very powerful open source tools, not only making them
available to those without the requisite technical skills to install and
adapt independently, but also reducing the many associated costs. OpenMute
aims to make such tools available to individuals and communities who were
previously unable to use them. Additionally, we aim to provide enough
supporting information, and channels of communication between users,
technical staff, etc., to create a culture of self-education and
collaboration around their use.

OpenMute harnesses Mute magazine's decade-long experience of paper and
internet publishing to accommodate a wide variety of internet users, from the
one-woman band to the medium-sized organisation. Our development as a small
organisation has demonstrated how important staying on top of day to day
workflow is, and how ever-present issues such as ease of use, adaptability,
speed and low costs are. It is with these criteria in mind that we have
tailored our packages.

We started work in earnest on OpenMute in July 2002 with the financial
support of the Arts Council of Endland's Publications and Recordings pilot
programme. During this time we worked on building our technical
infrastructure and configuring the web software tools. After extensive
testing we are now able to launch our first free service, OM1, and over the
next couple of months we will be launching a number of custom services.

The custom services will allow users to add design and functionality to the
OM1 package. At present we have a number of packages in development for film
makers, photographers and software developers. As part of OpenMute's
commitment to being an Open Source project, we have made it possible for you
to participate in the development of these advanced services through our site
http://support.openmute.org, where you are invited to take part in these
projects.

*CREDITS AND THANKS*

The OpenMute team: Darron Broad (software development), Pauline van Mourik
Broekman (company director), Raquel Perez de Eulate (graphic design), Quim
Gil (communications design), Damian Jaques (education), Javier Linares
(coder), Ian Morrison (system administrator), Laura Oldenbourg (graphic
design), Alvaro Ortiz (coder), Simon Worthington (project coordinator).

OM1 software is based on the XOOPS system http://xoops.org
software code is published under the GNU General Public License (GPL)

10:33:05 PM

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