PROPRIETARY VS. FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

by: Brett Rowland

Introduction

Definitions, Interdisciplinary Reach, Licensing Models

Attributes: Pros and Cons So, what should SAs use???

Definitions

Proprietary software: Created by an individual or company for profit; distribution does not include source code, developer has exclusive rights. The purchaser (licensee) is given right to use software, but does not have right to modify or redistribute it.

Open source software: Software in which source code is available to end user. Users may (and are encouraged to) modify and redistribute software. Software is essentially free - support may not be free. Some restrictions may apply… prices and participation may vary…

Interdisciplinary Reach

This fight between proprietary vs. open source software challenges many disciplines… Computer Science Academia in general Sociology Psychology Economics Business Legal

Licensing Models

Thomas Trappler, Director of UCLA Software Licensing states, “OSS is defined less by what the software does than what the user can do with it. One of the primary things that distinguishes OSS from PS is its licensing model.”

Licensing Models cont.

Source code available to all

License terms neutral Concise/straightforward

license terms, easier compliance

Some OSS license incompatibility between different OSS products

Source code only available to vendor

License terms favor vendor

Lengthy/Complex license terms, tracking license compliance can be difficult

License terms vary widely between PS vendors

Open Source Proprietary

Attributes

Flexibility

Customizable, limited only by in-house resources

Others can help modify, leading to greater good for entire OSS community

More choices = more flexibility in software, hardware, and support

Typically not too customizable

Mature PS products usually include more features

Structure products as suites; user content stored in proprietary format, making it difficult to replace the product, which leads to vendor lock-in

Open Source Proprietary

Cost

No initial license fee External support fees Introduces competitive

market forces leading to lower costs

In-house support is required, IT staff must learn about product’s source code

Excellent OSS community support

Initial license fee Support is included or

added with small fee External support only

through PS vendor, makes negotiating harder

In-house support possible, but more difficult without source code

Some community support

Open Source Proprietary

Cost cont.

Total cost of ownership? Depends who you ask…

Deployment & Maintenance

Can sometimes be difficult to deploy

Modular; pieces can be switched without whole redesign; only use what you need

License management is easy

More independence; if software company goes bankrupt, community still has source code

Easy to deploy Must get whole

“package”; some unused features

License management is more difficult; risk of illegal copies and license audits

Must rely on single vendor; if company goes bankrupt the user is SOL

Open Source Proprietary

Quality

OSS development not always well managed

Who is accountable for quality? Continually peer-reviewed

ITS staff must maintain knowledge of updates and upgrades

What version updates are reliable?

Managed well by corporate entity

Employ numerous developers to look for and fix errors

Vendors provide notification of updates and upgrades

Vendor is usually the only source to get updates and upgrades for product

Open Source Proprietary

Security

Open code = problems found and fixed quickly

Open code = ANYONE can view and look for potential exploits (including malicious attackers)

Open code = users can review and determine actual level of security of product prior to adoption

Numerous full-time employees working to ensure code is secure

Closed code = more difficult for malicious attackers to find and exploit vulnerabilities

Closed code = users cannot review and determine actual level of security of product prior to adoption

Open Source Proprietary

Other Attributes…

Intellectual Property Rights Reliability User Friendliness Innovation Collaboration Competition more…

So, what should SAs use?

Ask yourself…

Do certain projects lend themselves to OSS? Is there a problem with current software being

implemented? Can changes be made (easily)?

Use Both!

References for SAs

Google “open source solutions for system administrators” and get lists and reviews of popular OSS SAs use

Free and Open Source Enterprise Resource Planning: Systems and Strategies (Dec 2011)

Thomas Trappler (licensing)

References http://ballstate.academia.edu/AMiller/Papers/800797/Open_Sour

ce_v._Proprietary_Software http://www.idea.org/blog/2011/07/22/open-source-vs-proprietary

-software/ http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuart

erlyMagazineVolum/IsThereSuchaThingasFreeSoftwar/174575 http://www.netc.org/openoptions/pros_cons/comparing.html http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=443040 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=588763 http://oxrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/2/248.short http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9789275-16.html http://coppola.rsmart.com/2010/08/12/apples-oranges-and-open-

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