Erasmus Mundus Scholars at SQU
Panorama
Neutrinos: Do They Travel Faster than the Light?
Mind Over Matter
Bio-surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery Offers Promising Future
Insight
SQU Marks
Graduation Ceremony
Department of Public
Relations and Information
Sultan Qaboos University
Issue 227
View Point
Caring Energy
Caring and nursing have always been considered synonymously. Many people across
the continents choose nursing as a profession because of their wish to care for other
individuals. Caring is defined as “feeling and exhibiting concern and empathy for
others”. It is a science that covers a humanitarian, human science orientation, human caring processes, phenomena, and experiences. Caring science includes arts
and humanities as well as science. A caring science perspective is anchored in a relational ontology of being-in-relation, and a world view of unity and connectedness
of all. Interpersonal caring acknowledges unity of life and connections that move in
concentric circles of caring-from individual, to others, to community, to world, to the
planet Earth, and to the universe.
Humaid Abdullah Al Adwani
Editorial Supervision & Editor in Chief
M.K. Santhosh
Senior Editor
Younis Al Harrasi
Editor & Translator
Ahlam Al Wahaibi
Design & Layout
Rashad Al Wahaibi
& Photography Dept., CET
Photography
Care is the essence of nursing and the central, dominant, and unifying focus of
it. Nursing is a human science, with the major focus being the process of human
care for individuals, families, and groups. Expressing in holistic terms, the patient is
viewed as whole and complete, regardless of illness or disease. The transpersonal
nurse seeks to connect with, embrace the spirit or soul of the patient, through the
processes of caring and healing. This is the message that HE the Minister of Health
conveyed during the opening ceremony of the First International Nursing Conference organized by SQU. A nurse caring for a patient creates a high frequency of caring energy that can promote healing. The nurse emits a much higher frequency of
caring energy than the energy of a sick patient that converge into conscious healing
process thus, tapping on the inner healing field of the patient. Once the inner healing field is touched, the healing process begins.
Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al Hussein of Jordan went further saying that
nursing education cannot be business as usual. In order to truly transform care,
practice and education, we will need to focus on curriculum development and the
professional socialization. Emphasising the importance of ‘caring’ she said: “ Let us
bring back “caring” to transform nursing education, practice and leadership”.
Nursing remains practical and hands-on. However, it is also strengthened by conceptual and theoretical knowledge applied artfully and scientifically. The practice of advanced nursing requires a higher level of knowledge and skill. At the same time, the
deliberations of the SQU nursing conference reiterate that the profession of nursing
is still built upon the fundamental moral commitment of caring.
Horizon invites contributions from SQU members of staff and faculty. Contributions in the form of articles, news, travelogues, stories of unique and interesting experiences, encounters, etc., are welcome. Contributions may be edited
for the sake of clarity and length. Please send your contributions to horizon@squ.edu.om preferably, as MSWord attachments. Authors will be suitably credited.
Horizon is published three times a month by the Department of Public Relations and Information,
Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50, P.C. 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Phone: +968 24141045
E-mail: horizon@squ.edu.om
10 December 2011 P2
Fax: +968 24413 391
Website: www.squ.edu.om
1335 Students Graduate
in First Phase
News Update
Medical and Nursing
Graduates Take Oath
Under the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, SQU marked the graduation of the first group of its 22nd batch consisting of 1,335 students. The ceremony was held on 3 December under the patronage of HE Yusuf bin Alawi
bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs. The ceremony was attended by their highnesses, excellencies, senior officials and administrative
and academic authorities at the university and students.
The graduates included 149 from the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences (127 Bachelor’s degree holders, 21 Masters holders and one Doctorate
holder), 154 graduates from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences
(142 Bachelor’s, 12 Masters), 41 graduates from the College of Nursing, 357
graduates from the College of Engineering (340 Bachelor’s, 17 Masters), 324
graduates from the College of Science (301 Bachelor’s, 23 Masters) and 280
Bachelor’s degree holders and 30 Masters degree holders from the College of
Commerce and Economics.
The oath-taking ceremony of125 graduates from the College of Medicine &
Health Sciences and 41 graduates from the College of Nursing at Sultan Qaboos
University was held on 3 December under the patronage of HE Dr Ahmed bin
Mohammed al Saidi, Minister of Health. The medical batch included 68 male
graduates and 57 female graduates. The nursing graduates consisted of 11
males and 30 females. Dr. Muna Al Saadon administered the oath to the medical
graduates whereas Dr. Samir Maroof Ahmad directed the nursing graduates in
the oath taking ceremony.
HE Dr. Ali bin Saud al Bimani, the Vice Chancellor, said that the new batch enhances the labour market. He urged the graduates to do their best to apply
the academic studies in practice as their predecessors did. Al Bimani pointed
out that the graduation comes in pursuance of the attention accorded by His
Majesty Sultan Qaboos to SQU which celebrates its Silver Jubilee this year in
culmination of the edifice’s achievements. So far, as many as 34,984 graduated
from SQU, said Al Bimani and the figure is expected to touch 100,000 graduates upon the university’s celebration of its Golden Jubilee. Speaking on behalf
of all the graduates, Ahmed Al Saidi, a graduate, said that what added more
flavour to their graduation ceremony was that it coincided with the Sultanate’s
celebration of the 41st National Day. The ceremony also included two poems
followed by distribution of certificates. The second phase of graduation, to be
held on 10 December, will be for students from the College of Arts and Social
Sciences, the College of Education and the College of Law.
The Health Minister congratulated the graduates. He said that they have to continue working not only in providing medical services, but rather developing the
scientific level to provide high quality services to serve the dear country under
the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan.
He pointed out that the first certificate of medicine is only a license to practice
the medical work. He affirmed that ambitions will be achieved by higher studies. He urged graduates to commit to the oath as it is a humanitarian duty to
take care of the patients and concealing their secrets. The minister also recommended all graduates to adhere to all systems and laws of the medical profession and to commit to ethics of the profession to carry out their work faithfully
and honestly.
The ceremony included a speech for the Nursing College, a speech for the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, in addition to a speech of graduates who
took the oath.
SQU Council Approves PhD
in Information Studies
by the council in the fourth meeting for the year 2010-2011. It also reviewed the
position of the decisions taken by the council in its previous meetings and is still
in the process of implementation.
HE Dr. Rawya bint Saud Al-Busaidiah, Minister of Higher Education and
Chairperson of SQU Council presided over the first meeting of SQU Council
for the academic year 2011-2012, recently. The meeting formally approved
the minutes of the fourth meeting of the council for the academic year
2010-2011, reviewed the follow-up report of the status of decisions taken
The council approved PhD program in Information Studies to be offered by
the College of Arts & Social Sciences and a minor course in Astronomy in the
Department of Physics in the College of Science. It also approved masters program in Physical Education offered by the College of Education. The Council approved the regulations for admitting visiting students from higher educational
institutions abroad under the student exchange program.
10 December 2011 P3
Insight
Bio-surfactant Enhanced
Oil Recovery
Offers Promising Future
Dr. Saif Al Bahry
The investigators working on different types of enhanced oil recovery techniques at Sultan Qaboos
University have come up with the idea of using biosurfactants in extracting trapped oil from oil fields in
Oman. Bacteria and their bio-products have been utilised in oil industry by the process known as Microbial
Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). Dr. Saif Al Bahry, Dean
of the College of Science at Sultan Qaboos University
and a microbiologist, is the Principal Investigator of a
consultative research project funded by Petroleum Development Oman to investigate the use of biotechnology in PDO fields. The project has also, been supported
by His Majesty’s Strategic Research project. Dr. Al Bahry
revealed that they have submitted the final report of
the second phase of MEOR project to PDO. Now they
are identifying the structure of the bio-surfactants
which could increase oil recovery.
Dr. Al Bahry explained that the surfactant enhanced oil recovery is based on surfactant technology, a world that is
short for “surface active agent”. “Surfactants work at the boundary layer between two materials. In the case of EOR,
this would be the layer between the injected water and the entrapped crude oil in the ground. Each surfactant molecule has a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that is attracted to water molecules and a hydrophobic (water hating) tail
that repels water and simultaneously attached itself to the crude oil. These opposing forces loosen the crude oil and
suspend it in the water. The pressure of the oil well then pulls the crude oil towards the surface”.
Dr. Al Bahry further said that bio-surfactants are biodegradable diverse natural based group of surface active molecules that simply reduce surface and interfacial tensions. They are superior over existing chemical based counterparts because of lower toxicity and higher biodegradability; better environmental compatibility; cheap; specific
activity at extreme temperatures, pH, and salinity; and the ability to be synthesized from renewable feedstock which
ensures unlimited availability or supply. In addition, the use of bio-surfactant in MEOR is said to be environmentally
safe with no toxic hazards, and minimal application effort and costs.
Meanwhile, the team members at Colleges of Science (Dr. Saif Al-Bahry, Prof. Elshafie, Dr. Sanket Joshi), Engineering
(Dr. Ali Al-Bimani, Dr. Yahya Al-Wahaibi) and a PhD student (Hanaa Al-Suleimani) at SQU have made significant findings with regard to these research projects related to the use of microbes in enhancing oil recovery. The lab experiments related to MEOR in SQU prove that by using bio-surfactants from certain microbes, recovery of oil could be
increased by 23 percent. When the researchers tested a combination of bio-surfactants and chemical surfactants, the
oil recovery was increased up to 50 percent. This is a crucial finding considering the fact that more than fifty percent
of enhanced oil recovery has been very rarely reported from elsewhere in the world.
Another significant outcome of the experiments is that it shed light on using microbial biomass and biopolymers as
a means of enhanced oil recovery. Now the researchers are investigating the use of microbes to enhance recovery of
heavy oil. Dr. Al Bahry said that the results till date are promising. “If we could start using the most promising technology, i.e., the use of bio-surfactants for oil recovery, in the fields, it could have a significant impact on the oil industry
in Oman. However, he stressed that the lab findings need to up scaled in to be used and tested in oil fields.
Dr. Saif al Bahry also indicated that that the researchers could look into other applications of microbes in oil fields that
could benefit the oil industry in Oman. One such an application is the monitoring and treatment of souring and corrosion of oil fields by sulphate-reducing bacteria. “The research outputs of their findings will provide technical and
methodological supports for petroleum industries with improved cost-effectiveness and efficiencies”, he said.
10 December 2011 P4
Mind Over Matter
Neutrinos:
Do They
Travel Faster
than the
Light?
By: Prof. Mehmet Koca & Dr. Nazife Ozdes Koca
Physics Department, College of Science
On 23rd September 2011 at CERN (Nuclear Research Center of Europe) in Geneva, Switzerland, Antonio Ereditato, the spokesperson of the OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion tRacking Apparatus) experiment announced their experimental result on the measurement of the velocity of the neutrinos travelling
from CERN to a location called the Gran Sasso Laboratory, 732 km away from
CERN and 1440m deep under the Earth crust, nearly 100 km away from Rome,
Italy. The claim is that when neutrinos are put in a race with the light, for one second, neutrinos win the race by 7.5 km ahead. This is completely unexpected and,
if true, it would outlaw the Einstein’s Theory of Relativity which states that no
particle exceeds the speed of light. No experimental evidence has been found
contradicting Einstein’s Theory of Relativity so far after its discovery since 1905.
Three Flavors of Neutrinos
The neutrino was first predicted by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930 to explain the energy, momentum and angular momentum imbalance in the nuclear beta decay
experiment. However its experimental discovery came late in 1956 in a reactor
experiment performed by C.L. Cowan and F. Reines. In reactors a free neutron
decays into a proton, an electron and an electron anti-neutrino. Later it was also
proved that electron neutrinos exist. In 1938 in cosmic rays a new particle was
discovered called muon which behaves exactly like an electron but about 200
times heavier than electron. In 1962 it was observed that there exits a muon
neutrino which is associated with muon just like an electron neutrino is associated with electron. It seems that particle physicists completed the list of neutrinos
by a third unexpected discovery of the tau neutrino associated with a tau lepton
which is 3500 times heavier than the electron. In the last two decades many particle physicists have focused their interests to the neutrino physics. Neutrinos are
very interesting particles from different points of view.
Are Neutrinos Massive or Massless?
Neutrinos are neutral and very light elusive particles. Although their masses
have not been measured by direct experimental observations they seem to be
500,000 times lighter than the electrons which are the lightest particles known
to date. Electron neutrinos are predominantly created in the cores of stars and
travel with almost no interaction with matter. They travel so abundantly that in
one second 400 billion neutrinos pass through us without causing any harm;
only one or two neutrinos interact with an atom in our body in our whole life.
For this reason to detect neutrinos are very difficult and very sophisticated
detectors had to be designed. All neutrino experiments are carried under the
ground to exclude the contamination of events resulting from cosmic rays. The
neutrino detectors contain huge amount of materials surrounded by electronic
detectors to increase the probability of interaction of neutrinos with matter. The
number of electron neutrinos from the sun reaching to the earth per second
has been measured and it was found to be 35% less than what was expected.
This remained as the solar neutrino problem for almost 30 years. Later it was
understood that while the electron neutrinos travelling from the core of the sun,
65% of electron neutrinos convert themselves to muon neutrinos and tau
neutrinos. This is called the neutrino oscillations; neutrinos on flight transform from one flavor to another. Quantum Physics tells us that this is only
possible for the massive particles. Experimentalists have also checked the
neutrino oscillations by using neutrinos created by the cosmic rays in upper
atmosphere. Now physicists believe that the neutrino oscillation is a well
established phenomenon.
The neutrinos are also important to understand the structure of the universe
which consists of 95% dark matter and dark energy. It may happen that most
of the mass of the universe consists of the primordial neutrinos which were
created in the Big Bang. This may lead to some unexpected properties of
neutrinos.
Neutrinos can also be created in the accelerators. The OPERA experiment was
originally designed to test the oscillation of muon neutrino to tau neutrino.
Evidence of this oscillation was announced by the OPERA experiment on
31st May 2010. Contrary to the other solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments the location of neutrinos in the OPERA experiment is well determined.
The muon neutrinos of the Opera experiment are obtained by the decays of
some hadrons which are created in the graphite target by the collisions of
energetic protons of CERN’s accelerator. The pions and kaons created in the
graphite target decay on flight to muons and muon neutrinos. Muons are
stopped at a particular point from which the muon neutrinos travel toward
the Gran Sasso detector through the earth crust as shown in the figure.
The recent analysis of their data collected in 2009, 2010 and 2011 was used
to determine the speed of neutrino. They claim that they measure the distance from CERN to Gran Sasso within 20 cm accuracy and the time of travel
within nanoseconds. A simple calculation, namely distance divided by time
leads to the speed of neutrinos. The conclusion is that the speed of neutrinos is greater than the speed of light by 7.5 km in one second. This is a big
surprise for the physics community since any massive particle can not travel
at a speed greater than the speed of light regardless of its energy. Even one
assumes that the neutrinos are nearly massless particles their speeds must
be a tiny bit less than the speed of light. The OPERA result is open to scrutiny. No orthodox physicist took the OPERA result so serious to modify the
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It is expected that other experimental groups
should measure the speed of neutrino independently. Another similar experimental group called MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search)
located in the Soudan Mines, Minnesota nearly 735 km away from the Fermilab, Chicago, USA will test the neutrino oscillations as well as measure the
speed of neutrinos in the near future.
10 December 2011 P5
News Round Up
Tourism Festival
Highlights Ecotourism
The opening ceremony of the Seventh Tourism Festival, organized by
the Tourism Group in the College of Arts & Social Sciences at SQU was
held under the patronage of HE Shaikh Abdul Malik Bin Abdullah Al
Khalili, Minister of Tourism. This year, the three day festival focussed
on the benefits of ecotourism and carried the theme “Together we celebrate the beauty of nature”.
Commenting on the importance of the festival’s theme, one of the group
members said that eco tourism in Oman is coming up in a big way.
With ‘Go Green’ being the thought of the decade, tourists from all over
the world are increasingly turning towards nature. “Eco tourism which
involves travel to natural destinations minimizes negative impacts on
environment and provides direct financial benefits for conservation of
tourist spots. Tourists visiting natural areas in the remote wilderness or
urban environments implies financial benefits and empowerment for
local people”, he added.
Dr. Masooma Khamis Al Belushi, Head of the Department of Tourism
at the College of Arts & Social Sciences, said that the preparation for
the 7th festival has been taken long time before the opening, and it all
went perfect, the festival held many aspects and related topics to ecotourism, for example the environmental and the touristic activities that
the tourist can practice and enjoy without causing any harm for the
environment.
In connection with the opening ceremony, a reception was held in the
lobby in front of Tourism Department, College of Arts and Social Sciences, where academics and administrative personnel met the chief
guest, the Minister of Tourism. In the formal welcoming ceremony, the
Head of the Department gave a speech highlighting the importance of
this annual event. A presentation about the Department was held in addition to screening a movie about the department and its activities.
The Exhibition included 14 corners and showcases the activities of the
Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs,
and the Ministry of Regional Municipality and Water Resources ( Directorate of Aflaj) among other organizations. The exhibition also disseminated information on eco-tourist destinations in the Sultanate, the
Sultanate’s effort in the field of eco-tourism, Tourism students’ projects
related to environment, the Green Campus Campaign, etc.
The Chief guest officially opened SQU bicycle tour, an activity held on
the sidelines of the festival. Other activities held as part of the Tourism
Festival included the Green Campus Campaign to increase the awareness of SQU students and staff regarding environment and some aspects related to it such as recycling, safe energy of electricity and water
resources, and many other aspects.
10 December 2011 P6
Nursing Conference
Stresses Caring, Research
The opening ceremony of the First International Nursing Conference,
organized by the College of Nursing, was held under the patronage
of HE Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health. Her
Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, WHO Patron for Nursing and Midwifery in the Eastern
Mediterranean Region and President of the Jordanian Nursing Council (JNC) delivered the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The
theme of the conference was “Innovations in Nursing Education and
Practice Leading to Quality Care” and it was held as part of the Silver
Jubilee Celebrations of SQU. As many as 1200 registered participants
from 22 countries attended the conference which featured nearly 100
oral presentations and around 60 poster presentations.
In her keynote address, Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein,
said that caring should be the heart and core of nursing in readdressing patient centered care in nursing education, practice and leadership.
“Caring should be addressed by management, practicing nurses and
by educators, to preach and practice patient centered care to show that
we have not forgotten about caring. Patients want respect, empathy
and understanding, physical comfort and confidential treatment, continuity and stability, time to be heard effectively with clear and reliable communication.” Her Royal Highness asserted that the needs of
the patient come first and should resonate with all players inside and
outside the organization. Commenting on nursing education scenario,
she said that it needs to innovate at micro and macro system levels for
the 21st century. “Nursing education cannot be business as usual. In
order to truly transform care, practice and education, we need to focus
on curriculum development and professional socialization”, Her Royal
Highness said.
The conference recommended the establishment of a national institute
of nursing for conducting research and funding research proposals. It
recommended conducting more collaborative research with partners at
national and international level. With regard to nursing education, the
conference emphasized on quality and safety, evidence-based practice,
research, and leadership. It observed that several programs are currently active to incorporate these concepts into nursing education, including quality and safety in nursing education. The conference indicated
that an independent body of nursing is desirable to lead the future of
nursing as a profession in the country.
The conference was preceded by seven preconference workshops on
international accreditation, critical thinking and reflection, evidence
based practice, reflective practice, simulation technology/lab education, writing for publication and role of nurses on asthma management.
Nearly 28 participants attended each workshop and a total 195 participants were present on the preconference day. Awards for the best three
paper presentations were given to Ms Angel David, India, Dr. Diane
Watkins, UK and Sabah Abu Zinadah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There
were 33 poster presentations based on the six themes of the conference.
Ms Angel David, India, Mr Joshy Abraham, Oman and Ms Preethy
D’Souza, Oman won the prizes for exhibiting the best posters.
Panorama
Erasmus Mundus Scholars at SQU
By: Dr. Andy Kwarteng
Remote sensing and land degradation studies in Dhofar region:
The research project will utilize satellite data, aerial photographs,
and field-measured spectral data, for vegetation change detection study in Dhofar region with a unique monsoon climate in the
summer. By using times series of remote sensing data collected
just before and after the khareef season, it should be possible to
investigate if there are any changes in the vegetation cover between years. Any such changes could then be related to changes
in the climate or to land degradation from agriculture, e.g. animal
farming and overgrazing. The studies will not only include geographical but also biological and social aspects. Therefore it will
also include the collection of both quantitative and qualitative
field data where the qualitative data may consist of interviews
with experts and farmers in the Dhofar region. Conclusions based
on quantitative data will then be corroborated by qualitative data
and vice versa in order to generate reliable research results.
From left to right—Dr. Babu Madhavan, Roger Groth,
Dr. Andy Kwarteng and Dr. Per Schubert.
The Remote Sensing and GIS Center at SQU recently hosted two Erasmus Mundus scholars from Lund University, Sweden. Dr. Per Schubert
(Remote Sensing Specialist) and Roger Groth (Programmer and Database Expert) were attached to the RSGIS Center from October 23 to November 15, 2011. Erasmus Mundus Partnership brings higher education
institutes from the European Union to participants from a particular
region.
SQU recently became a member of the Erasmus Mundus Mobility
Program which is funded by the European Union and exchanges staff
and postgraduate students between Arab universities and a consortia
of higher education institutes from the European Union. The partners
in Europe consist of Lund University, Sweden; University of Deutso,
Spain; University of Dublin, Ireland; and University of Twenty, Holland.
The program at SQU is administered by the Office of External Cooperation. SQU has sent some staff, master’s and doctoral students to some
of the participating universities in Europe and have also hosted scholars
from Europe.
Per and Roger gained new and interesting knowledge about different
research projects, courses, and teaching at the Remote Sensing and GIS
Center. They, in turn briefed RSGIS staff about research and teaching
at Lund University, e.g. the Lund University Master’s Program in Geographical Information Systems (LUMA-GIS) given by the GIS Center at
the Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences. They enjoyed their
short stay in Oman and sharing their experiences with some staff and
students at SQU about the differences between the two universities and
environments. The intervening Eid holidays gave Per and Roger the
opportunity to better understand and enjoy the culture and people of
Oman when they visited Nizwa, Salalah and Sur.
RSGIS Center and the Erasmus Mundus scholars identified two potential research topics for further collaboration.
Distance learning and new teaching methods: RSGIS Center
and Lund University will investigate the possibility of creating
distance courses in remote sensing and GIS. Lund University has
used distance courses for more than 7 years.
About Erasmus Mundus
Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation and mobility programme in
the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of
European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with
Third-Countries. In addition, it contributes to the development
of human resources and the international cooperation capacity
of Higher education institutions in Third Countries by increasing
mobility between the European Union and these countries.
The Erasmus Mundus programme provides support to: higher
education institutions that wish to implement joint programmes
at postgraduate level or to set-up inter-institutional cooperation
partnerships between universities from Europe and targeted
Third-Countries; individual students, researchers and university
staff who wish to spend a study /research/ teaching period in the
context of one of the above mentioned joint programmes or cooperation partnerships; any organization active in the field of higher
education that wishes to develop projects aimed at enhancing the
attractiveness, profile, visibility and image of European higher
education worldwide.
Erasmus Mundus is a cooperation and mobility programme in
the field of higher education for: the enhancement of quality in
European higher education; the promotion of the European Union as a centre of excellence in learning around the world; the
promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation
with the Third Countries as well as for the development of Third
World Countries in the field of higher education.
The European Commission is responsible for the running of the
Erasmus Mundus Programme 2009-2013. It manages the budget
and sets priorities, targets and criteria for the Programme. The
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
is responsible for the implementation of the Erasmus Mundus
Programme.
10 December 2011 P7
Straight Talk
Horizon:
How would you explain the concept of free and open
source software?
Fahad:
In the context of free and open-source software, free refers
to the freedom to copy and re-use the software, rather than to the price
of the software. Free software movement is more concerned with user’s
freedoms. Open Source is more about the sharing the code and is more
enterprise-friendly.
Horizon: What are the basic freedoms associated with free software?
Fahad: In the case of free software, you have the freedom to run the
program, for any purpose; the freedom to study how the program works,
and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code is a
precondition for this. The third component is the freedom to redistribute
copies so you can help your neighbours and friends. The fourth element
is the freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements
(and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits. As you may know, Linux kernel, Apache Web server,
Eclipse, and Mozilla Firefox are some famous FOSS projects.
Horizon:
What are the advantages of having access to source code
of a software?
Fahad: The availability of the source code and the right to modify it
is very important. It enables the unlimited tuning and improvement of a
software product. It also makes it possible to port the code to new hardware, to adapt it to changing conditions, and to reach a detailed understanding of how the system works. This is why many experts are reaching
the conclusion that to really extend the lifetime of an application, it must
be available in source form. In fact, no binary-only application more than
10 years old now survives in unmodified form, while several open source
software systems from the 1980s are still in widespread use. Source code
availability also makes it much easier to isolate bugs, and for a programmer to fix them. Another advantage of open source software is that there
is no single entity on which the future of the software depends. This is a
very common concern with proprietary software. Let us say that a company uses a software product, and relies on the software manufacturer
for upgrades and continued development. If the software manufacturer
closes doors, or decides to discontinue development of the product, no
one has the right to take the program and continue development on it,
effectively killing its usability in the market. Open source software effectively protects against this, because if the company that originated the
code decides to stop development, it is always possible to fund another
software group to continue the maintenance and improvement, without
legal nor practical limitations.
Horizon:
Could you elaborate on the market share of FOSS in the
software industry?
Fahad:
Linux represents 12.7% of the overall server market share. It
has been reported in September 2006 that eight of the ten most reliable
internet hosting companies ran Linux distributions on their web servers.
Nevertheless, Linux has a great market share of supercomputers, cloud
computing providers, and embedded devices. The web browser software
Mozilla Firefox has celebrated a billion downloads on July 2009. Firefox is
reported to have more than 20% of the market share.
Horizon:
Could you elaborate on the “Free and Open Source Software Initiative (FOSSI), launched by the ITA Oman?
Fahad: FOSSI is part of the e-Oman strategy, to support all applications
and technology that used to develop the IT Sector in Oman. It is aimed
at raising awareness of the existence of free open source software FOSS
and its various applications. It seeks to present the free and open source
software applications as an alternative to the proprietary software. Sultan
Qaboos University is one of the leading local stake holders of this initiative. As part of this project, workshops, seminars, and symposia are organized to disseminate information on the philosophy, and applications of
FOSS. In order to build capacity in this area, specialized workshops about
certain programming languages or applications and specialized training
are conducted regularly.
Fahad Amer Al Saidi
Fahad Amer Al Saidi, an advocate for “free and
open source software” or FOSS, is employed as
Projects Specialist with the Information Technology Authority, Sultanate of Oman. FOSS is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to use,
study, change, and improve its design through
the availability of its source code. This approach
has gained both momentum and acceptance in
SQU and the Sultanate as the potential benefits
have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and corporations. In a symposium organised by the Free and Open Source Software
Society, functioning under the Communications
& Information Research Centre, Fahd al Saidi,
gave a talk on the benefits of using free and open
source software.