Open Source Software – Part 1, the theory

Open source software is a term that has gained widespread understanding in recent years. More and more, it is being investigated as a legitimate option for small businesses through to enterprise solutions. There are now sufficient examples to build a strong business case for using open source software in a live, customer facing environment.

What is Open source software?

It is essential to gain a firm understanding of what open source software (OSS) is and isn’t.

OSS, according to the Open Source Initiative must meet 10 conditions to be considered open source:

  1. Software must be free distributable
  2. The underlying source code must be included or obtainable
  3. Modifications to the software must be allows
  4. The integrity of the original author’s source code must be maintained
  5. Must not discriminate against any specific person or group
  6. Commercial use must be allowed
  7. No additional licences, eg support licences, can be required for use
  8. Package must not require additional products to be used
  9. Can be distributed with closed source software
  10. Must be technology-neutral

So, what does this mean in practice? It means that OSS can be used freely, modified to your exact requirements and distributed without the need for capital outlay in terms of software licences or support agreements. That said, some OSS providers do offer optional support plans for more complex packages.

What is closed source software?

Almost the exact opposite of open source software. The developers create the product, then close off the underlying code so no one is able to access the code to see how it works. This is the basis of most commercial products available – the companies involved make their money almost exclusively through product sales although support agreements are often a compulsory part of the deal.

What software will I know from each group?

You will undoubtably be familiar with much of the software on the list of closed source software, but as open source grows in prominence, they are likely to become household names.

Closed Source Software examples:

Open Source Software examples:

Is Closed Source Software dead?

Not yet, no. But it is likely that as open source products mature, there will be growing demand for them. Their model of no upfront fees is attractive, especially for small and medium sized businesses.

If an organisation has the in house expertise to install and maintain the software, the total cost of ownership can be slashed.

There is a level of discomfort among senior managers and board members with accepting something for nothing. The belief that if it’s free, it can’t be very good is still prominent although with major players like IBM and Sun Microsystems now developing open source software specifically for enterprises, that viewpoint is gradually being eroded.

It won’t be an overnight change, but it is certainly coming.

How can software companies support this business model?

There has been a trend for companies not to upgrade at every version of a software package but to do so, perhaps every second new version. This has created a revenue stream problem for the software companies who have seen the frequency their revenue arrives decrease. They have decided to give their software away for free.

The financial experts among you will notice a slight flaw in this plan – no software sales = no cash. True. Software companies now offer attractive support packages to their customers while giving the software away. For the customer this means the latest software without the capital outlay. For the software company it is more profitable as providing support is cheaper and more profitable than product sales.

Fine, but are open source products of an equal quality?

It really varies. The market for open source software is still in its infancy but there are some really high quality products available. As the market and concept matures, the products will become almost indistinguishable from closed source products.

Products such as the Apache web server have been around for the best part of 10 years and command the majority of the market share in web servers. The web browser, Firefox, now commands a 12% market share just two years after it began its head to head battle with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. At the enterprise level, IBM has made elements of its DB2 database open source and Sun has made its Java language open source and other big names, such as Hewlett Packard and Oracle will certainly follow this pattern.

How does the software develop?

One of the main benefits of open source software is that if you don’t like the way something works, you are free to enter the source code and change it so that it suits your way of working. Many packages request that any changes made to packages are released back to the user community so other users can benefit from the work. Rather than having a team of 100 developers working on a software package, community developments can allow thousands of users to further develop the software.

Summary

Open source software is still a recent concept and not fully mature. That said, there are many products that are ready for use organisations. While the benefits outweight the negatives, there are still cultural objections to overcome from management and board level. Those will diminsh over time as an increasing amount of quality software becomes available.

If you’re building a business case for using open source software, here’s a basic crib sheet of advantages and drawbacks:

Advantages:

  • No initial capital outlay
  • Lower total cost of ownership
  • Ability to make changes without necessarily paying external developers
  • Access to community of developers

Drawbacks:

  • Not fully developed market
  • Variable product quality – on a product by product basis
  • No support package included
  • Senior management reluctance

Further Resources:

The second part of this article will focus on the use of open source software on the internet and on intranets.

Posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 11:18 am