Open Source: It's Already Here

1
Open Source It's Already Here

• Dave Cross
• Magnum Solutions Ltd
• dave_at_mag-sol.com
• http//mag-sol.com/talks/bcs/

2
Some Facts

• Linux is a great desktop operating system
• Anything you can do in Windows, you can also do
  on Linux

3
Some More Facts

• OpenOffice.org is as powerful as MS Office
• Mozilla is a better browser than IE
• Evolution does anything that Outlook does
• (and is less vulnerable to virus attack)

4
Or Opinons

• There are many more facts like these
• But they are just personal opinions
• They only convince Open Source fans
• (like me)
• So let's try another approach

5
Another Approach

• Who has used Linux?
• Who has used Linux today?
• Who has used any Open Source app today?

6
Another Approach

• Who has used PayPal today?
• Who has used Google today?
• Who has used Amazon today?
• These are all Open Source applications

7
Open Source Business

• All of these companies run their business on Open
  Source software
• There are many more like them
• What software are they using?
• What advantages do they see?

8
Web Site Software

• An operating system (e.g. Windows)
• A Web Server (e.g. IIS)
• A Database (e.g. SQL Server)
• A Programming Language (e.g. .Net)
• What are the Open Source equivalents for these?

9
LAMP

• An operating system (Linux)
• A Web Server (Apache)
• A Database (MySQL)
• A Programming Language (Perl, PHP and Python)

10
Linux

• Unix Clone
• Originally for x86 architecture
• Now runs on many platforms
• Well established as an alternative to Unix
• Long heritage GNU Project
• Many distributions
• Commercial support

11
Apache

• A patchy server
• Modular architecture that makes it simple to add
  new features
• The web server that all others emulate
• Phenomenally successful

12
Apache Runs the Web
Source Netcraft (http//www.netcraft.com)
13
MySQL

• Small and fast database server
• Compromises RDBMS functionality for speed
• Alternatives
• SQLite (even smaller, even faster)
• PostgreSQL (slightly slower, fully featured)
• Most commercial DBs run on Linux
• One major exception

14
Programming

• Perl
• Long history of being used for the web
• Very high level language
• Very fast when used with Apache (mod_perl)
• PHP
• More like ASP
• Code embedded in HTML

15
Programming

• Python
• Similar to Perl
• More OO-based
• Other Alternatives
• Java (not Open Source)
• Mono (Open Source version of .Net)

16
Open Source Advantages

• Cost
• Security
• Support
• Quality
• Control

17
Cost

• No license costs
• Still pay for support and training

18
Security

• Source code is available to everyone
• Security becomes very important
• Security by obscurity is not an option
• Holes get fixed quickly

19
Support

• Most Open Source projects have very active
  support communities
• Most bugs get fixed within a day
• Fixes available immediately

20
Quality

• Programmer pride
• Constant peer review
• Meritocracy

21
Control

• You can see exactly what the program does
• You can change what the program does
• Documented interfaces and data formats
• Not tied to one company's view of the world

22
Conclusions

• Everyone uses Open Source software every day
• Some large businesses have already chosen to move
  to Open Source software
• Many of these businesses are very successful
• There are good business reasons for using Open
  Source software

23
Questions