understanding free/open source software (foss) and the benefit to e-commerce

ICoEC 2015

Understanding Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) and the Benefit to E-Commerce

Outline

Introduction

Proprietary Software

Open Source Software (OSS)

Sample of OSS

10 Advantages of E Commerce using OSS

Introduction

Executives/Businesses have traditionally viewed proprietary software/systems as safer, lower-risk options.

Recent times increased scrutiny of capital expenditure has forced corporations to consider alternative technologies to extract maximum value from their IT budgets.

While cost is an important factor, businesses are also looking hard at other benefits of open source, such as interoperability, flexibility, and access to the underlying code in their systems.

Having the right type of software is essential for running a business as efficiently as possible in the global marketplace

When it comes to choosing software for business purposes, or even creating a website, you generally have one of two choices when it comes to choosing a software platform

choose to use proprietary software (trademarked and likely requires or purchase a license) or you can use open-source software, which is free software that you can download and pay no licensing fees to use.

Introduction

Cost is a crucial criterion in almost every business decision, and increasingly so in IT strategy as businesses seek to maintain competitive advantage

Can open source software be THE SOLUTION??

PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE


Software update meansHardware Upgrade

More Money (Licenses)



MathWorks MATLAB

Microsoft Visio

Microsoft Project

Mindjet

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

AutoCAD

Authorize.net

Microsoft Money (Plus)

Windows Media Player

Oracle

OrCAD


Proprietary software, non-free software, or closed-source softwarewhere the developers or distributors reserve all freedoms and rights of:the freedom to analyze the software, and to change it (often deprived through intentional non-availability of sourcecode, or through Non-disclosure agreements (NDA))

the freedom to share the software (often deprived through copy prohibition via EULA (End User License Agreement) or NDA)

the freedom to run the software for any purpose (often deprived through user-restrictions via EULA)

Along with $$$$

Proprietary Software

Microsoft & EULA (End User License Agreement)

You give up all rights

You accept all obligations placed on you for limited benefit

You may not share the software

You may not change the software

You do not own the software

You may only install the software to one device

We reserve the right to change the license for any reason or purpose at any time

You may only run the software as specifically spelled out in the EULA


Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose

Also known as (FS) Free Software (Richard Stallman Free Software Foundation)


The Open Source Definition,presents an open-source philosophy, and further defines the terms of usage, modification and redistribution of open-source software

Software licenses grant rights to users which would otherwise be reserved by copyright law to the copyright holder.

Open Source Software

The Free Software (FS) Foundation (FSF), started in 1985, intended the word "free" to mean freedom to distribute (or "free as in free speech") and not freedom from cost (or "free as in free beer")

Since a great deal of free software already was (and still is) free of charge, such free software became associated with zero cost, which seemed anti-commercial

Free Software, Open Source Software == FOSS

Open Source Software

The Free Software Foundation (FSF), started in 1985, intended the word "free" to mean freedom to distribute (or "free as in free speech") and not freedom from cost (or "free as in free beer")

Since a great deal of free software already was (and still is) free of charge, such free software became associated with zero cost, which seemed anti-commercial

Free Software, Open Source Software == FOSS

Samples of FOSS

GNU (Project consist of several apps)

Richard Stallman

GNU = GNU is Not Unix (a recursive acronym!)Project to implement a completely free
Unix-like operating systemStarted by Richard Stallman in 1984, an MIT researcher, in a time when Unix sources were no longer free.

Initial components: C compiler (gcc), make (GNU make), Emacs, C library (glibc), coreutils (ls, cp ...)

However, in 1991, the GNU project was still missing a kernel and was running only on proprietary unice, until the invention of Linux kernel!!

GNU

Linux (kernel)

Linus Torvald

Free Unix-like kernel created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds

The whole system uses GNU tools:
C library, gcc, binutils, fileutils, make, emacs...

So the whole system is called GNU/Linux

Shared very early as free software (GPL license), which attracted more and more contributors and users

Since 1991, growing faster than any other operating system (not only Unix)

TUX

Unix (family tree)

Time

1970

1990

1980

2000

Bell Labs (AT&T)Ken Thompson
Dennis Ritchie (C language
created to implement a portable OS)

BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution)Sun SolarisSunOS (Stanford University Network)NetBSDNextStep AIX (IBM)HP-UXIRIX (SGI)SRV5OpenBSDFreeBSDMacOS X

Bill Joy

Richard Stallman

Linus Torvalds

BSD family

System V family

Ritchie, Thompson

GNUBill Joy

GNU / Linux

Linux Kernel Evolution

GNU/Linux DISTRIBUTIONS (Distros)

OS based on GNU/Linux

Mozilla Firefox

Most advanced and friendly web browser & No 1 browser
http://mozilla.org/projects/firefoxLicense: MPL (copyleft type)

Main developers: Mozilla Foundation, community

Supported platforms: Unix / Linux, Windows, MacOS X

Market share (March 2007): 24% in Europe. It even reaches 44% in Slovenia, 41% in Finland and 36% in Germany! More statistics on http://www.xitimonitor.com.

Alternative to IE

LibreOffice

Main developer: The Document Foundation

Support Open Document Format (ODF) to provide freedom

LibreOffice has been downloaded approximately 7.5 million times since its first stable launch in January 2011.

Default office suite in many different Linux distributions, such as Fedora, Linux Mint, openSUSE and Ubuntu.

Google also supports the LibreOffice project

LibreOffice is licensed under the terms of the LGPLv3

Alternative to Microsoft Office

http://www.libreoffice.org/

It took 10 years (2003-2013)to do the transformation

FOSS Licences

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work:includes the right to copy, reproduce, distribute and adapt the work.

Copyright owners have the exclusive right to:exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time.

Anyone requiring to exploit and use any copyrighted work requires permission to use that work.

Can grant permission and grant license for exploitation of the work.

FOSS Licences

Copyleft is a term used in respect of FOSS licensing which is used for copyright: Copyleft is a practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work.

Main idea behind copylefting the open source software was:to not let the product fall into the domain of proprietary software. If open source software is put into public domain with no copyright, people can make the said software proprietary and it would defeat the whole purpose of open source freedom.

To guarantees that every user has the freedom.

FOSS Licences

Copyright law has been used to withhold permission:to copy, modify or distribute software,

Copyleft ensures that the project remains free, and all modified and extended versions of the program remains free as well. Proprietary software developers use copyright to:take away the users' freedom;

Copyleft guarantees their freedom. That's why the name has been reversed from copyright to copyleft

FOSS Licences

FOSS licenses are categorized as:strong,

weak or

with no copyleft provisions

Non-copyleft licenses, also known as permissive licenses, allows those using the software to re-license it under any terms as they want. The most popular copyleft license is GPL. The most popular non-copyleft license is BSD style. These licenses place no restriction on licensing for modified works.

The strength of the copyleft governing a work is an expression of the extent that the copyleft provisions can be efficiently imposed on all kinds of derived works

FOSS Licences - Copyleft

FOSS Licences - Copyleft

10 eCommerce advantages that come with OSSBy: Abbe Miller, marketing manager at NetSphere Strategies (Chicago)

1. Costs are less. OSS licensing fees and software acquisition costs are relatively inexpensive, if not free, thanks in part to the lack of associated branding and marketing expenses.

Examples of free OSS are Apache web server, Linux operating system, JBoss application server and Eclipse development tools.

2. Avoid vendor lock-in. Companies dont want to be strangled by their vendors. Why pay a vendor for a needless upgrade simply to maintain compatibility with others using the same software? When you get in too deep with a particular product suite, it becomes increasingly difficult to be the captain of your ship.

OSS is about freedom and choice shifting the balance of power back to the customer.

3. Flexibility of deployment. Since OSS is distributed with no licensing restrictions regarding implementation, companies can respond quickly to changing circumstances by installing additional copies to meet development and scalability needs at no cost.

Install it as many times and in as many locations as you need. Theres no need to count, track or monitor for license compliance.

4. Licenses are clear. GNU General Public License is a model of simplicity compared with commercial alternatives.

The license's basic stipulation that software changes that are released to anyone must be released to everyone couldn't be easier to understand. Since the GPL is so widely adopted, fewer resources are wasted on legal costs and fighting over esoteric language and exceptions.

5. Responsiveness to company needs. Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach of commercial software where the software must be used as-is or risk voiding the warranty, OSS source code availability enables companies to easily add the functionality they need versus buying bloated software vendor packages for features they might never use.

6. Protection against obsolescence. Open source lives in the community, which means there will always be developers to support it. Or, you can always fall back on using the source code to make your own modifications.

No matter what solution you buy, you will always have to customize it.

Start with a lower-cost solution and customize it from there.

7. Perspective. While some organizations are wary of using OSS because it lacks a clear "throat to choke," other companies recognize the problems that come from putting all of their eggs in one basket.

8. Has its place. LAMP (Linux/OS, Apache/web server, MySQL/database and PHP/Perl/Python/program languages) is becoming a fixture at the Web tier as proven by Amazon, Google and Yahoo, while J2EE apps still rule at the Server tier or back-office operations.

9. Breadth of offerings. There is an amazing array of available open-source products with hundreds of thousands of open-source products just waiting to be downloaded.

No matter what type of product you're looking for, chances are there are one or more OSS options for you.

10. Quality. Community development leads to more reliable and secure code.

Fixes and enhancements are built and distributed faster because the developers are also the users.

Excellence in design and efficiency in coding are also possible because of the peer review process that is inherent in its community standards.

And if you don't like something about the software, you can just fix it yourself.

Conclusion

OSS is about:Freedom (without strict restriction), vendor lock in

Advanced Technology open for Innovation

Not really about $$$$$..

Sustainability

THE END

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