---
title: Just Do It - The Approachability of Free Software for Beginners
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2015/program/proposals/78
beginning: '2015-10-24T10:30:00.000-07:00'
end: '2015-10-24T11:20:00.000-07:00'
presenters:
- name: AJ Jordan
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/83
  gravatar_id: 8f076e5e03c30a36d598445308926598
---

We all know that one of free software's greatest strengths is the ability to do whatever you're interested in, without asking for permission. But even though we all know, we don't talk about it that much, and in particular, we don't talk about the significance of what that strength means for those who are just beginning their programming careers.

"Just Do It - The Approachability of Free Software for Beginners" will put forth the idea that the _only_ tools that are approachable for beginners while still leading to the ability to produce what we would call "high quality" software are all free software tools. It will talk about the ability of free and open source software to inspire curiosity and interest and the role of that curiosity in bringing new programmers into our community. Finally, it will explore some of the areas that this model fails in, and what we can do to fix it.
