Greetings visitors to Open (Source) Thoughts and Applications.  Thanks to Don Watkins for inviting me as a site editor.  Free/Open Source software - the GNU utilities and the Linux kernel - represent a return to the most active stage of exploration and discovery of the frontiers of computing at the same time as they represent its future.  These boundless resources can empower users, teachers, and learners to follow questions and chase answers to the limits of their interests and abilities.  They truly represent the "shoulders of giants" upon which untold wonders will be built.