Joomla! is free software. Anyone can
use it, modify it, add to it, study it, extend it, or patch it. Anyone
can share or sell what they have done with Joomla! so long as what they
distribute is also free in these same ways.
To some, free software
sounds suspiciously radical and certainly idealistic. In recent weeks,
we have seen just how powerful an approach it is. Nearly 40 development
tasks were selected by 25 Joomla! contestants in the Google Highly Open Participation Contest. For these
teens, the ability to study how Joomla! works and adapt the code for
their own purposes meant learning to be stronger developers technically as well as in terms of working as part of a community.
During the same period, the community--including some of those same
students-- has come together to work on Joomla! 1.5, making a RC4 a
reality and continuing to make strong progress since then.
