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Google, in its first academic donation for open source software development, is funding a new partnership between Portland State and Oregon State University. The universities will use the $350,000 grant to encourage computer program development that generally gives users the rights to use, copy, modify, and redistribute original software.

Experts who support the open source concept believe that by allowing anyone to modify a program’s source code, the software evolves and gets better. Today’s popular Linux operating system was developed this way and is now considered an open source alternative to Windows.

PSU and OSU will develop academic curricula and provide computing infrastructure to open source projects worldwide. The initiative is also expected to benefit Oregon’s growing open technology industry, venture capital firms, and business incubators.

Google’s investment builds upon open source work already taking place at Portland State, including research and course offerings by faculty such as computer scientist Bart Massey; programs like the Portland State Aerospace Society’s open hardware/software amateur rocket; basic infrastructure like Web systems, computer help systems, and the University’s email, which all operate in an open source environment; and the University’s Portland Business Accelerator, home to open source companies like Compiere.

Open source software is among the fastest-growing technology sectors. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel have developed their own open source labs in Oregon.