In the first part of this article, we looked at the theory of open source software, how it works, its benefits and drawbacks. In this part, I want to look at open source software in practice on the internet.

If you’ve read a blog, chance are you’ve unwittingly used open source software, if you’ve visited any major web site, there’s a better than even chance you’ve used open source software. Open source software is much more common on the internet than on the desktop at this time.

I thought it useful to highlight some of the online open source software available in different categories to give an indication of what is available and how easy it is to use.

I’m going to look at, in the order they are used by users on the web:

• Web servers
• Development languages
• Content management systems
• e-Commerce
• Other software

Web servers

• Apache - The Apache web server commands a 61% (netcraft.com, October 2006) share of the web server market. It has been around since 1996 and has matured into a flexible, scalable server that caters for all needs from personal site right up to enterprise level. Its nearest competitor, Microsoft’s IIS, has a 31% share. It’s popularity stems partly from its free nature and partly due to its original as a UNIX product that is favoured by technically minded people. These days it runs on almost any platform, Windows, Linux, Mac.

Development languages

• PHP – PHP is a simple scripting language that has been designed specifically for the web. Its use is common place on a number of major sites. PHP allows developers to provide interactive functionality to site visitors. It is frequently used in creating content management systems that allow non-technical users to create and maintain web sites.

Content management systems

The sheer number of open source content management systems is astounding. The quality of some leaves something to be desired. One of the problems of open source software is that anyone can create a very basic system that suits their name and distribute it. However, it may not suit anyone elses way of working. There is a wide disparity between what is available. Some of the good systems are highly advanced and do rival the commercial options available. Some of the good open source content management systems are:

• Mambo/Joomla
• Drupal
• ezPublish
• Typo3

OpenSourceCMS.com provides a great way to try out all these CMSs and more without any effort.
Blogging is becoming a popular hobby as well as increasingly relevant in the corporate arena. Corporate blogs are a great way for a corporate entity to communicate with its staff or customers and are becoming more common. Some blog software, such as WordPress, like this site is built on, are beginning to cross over into content management system territory.

e-Commerce

Given that online shopping is infringing more and more heavily on high street retail sales, it comes as little surprise that open source software has ventured into this area where numerous retailers are finding themselves in need of the ability to sell online. There are some very advances systems available. One, osCommerce, provides a basic store front with the associated administration functions but whose community provides an additional 3,500 modifications and contributions that you can activate depending on your requirements.

Other software

While content management and blogging are the most popular uses of open source software on the internet, they are far from the only options. Some other popular options include:

• Discussion boards – allow users to carry out discussions in an open forum
• Customer support – through helpdesks
• Online research – online polls, quizzes and in depth survey tools are all available
• Image galleries – display a collection of images – think holiday photos!

Summary

There is a vast array of open source software that is available to be freely used on your business or personal site. It is usually possible to try before you waste time installing packages so try them all and see which suits you best.

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:

• Microsoft Windows (operating system)
• Microsoft Office (productivity)
• Adobe Photoshop (graphics)
• MacOS (operating system)

Open Source Software examples:

• Mozilla Firefox (web browser)
• Linux (operating system)
• OpenOffice.org (productivity)
• Apache (web server)

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:

• Wikipedia – Open Source Software
• The Open Source Initiative

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