Free

1
Free Open Source Software

• Heather Prochaska
• Jake Kolstad
• Amanda Lee

2
Introduction

• What is FOSS?
• Terminology
• History of FOSS
• Open Source Alternatives
• Business Implications
• Conclusion

3
What is FOSS?

• Free and open source software
• Refers to two separate ideas
• Free Software
• Sometimes referred to as unfettered
• Open Source Software
• Software with viewable source code
• Directly opposed to proprietary software
• Closed source software sold for profit

http//www.fsf.org/about/
4
What is Free Software?

• Free as in Freedom
• Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not
  price
• Gives the user the freedom to share, study, or
  modify the code

http//www.fsf.org/about/
5
Four Freedoms of Free Software

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose
• The freedom to study how the program works, and
  adapt it to your needs
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
  help your neighbor
• The freedom to improve the program, and release
  your improvements to the public, so that the
  whole community benefits

http//www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html
6
Free Software Licenses

• GNU (Gnus not Unix) General Public License
• Most of GNU/Linux software
• Mozilla Public License
• Makers of Firefox and Thunderbird
• Apple Public Source License
• Applies to Darwin, the foundation of Mac OS X
• Many others

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FSF_approved_
software_licences
7
What is Open Source Software?

• Software in which the source code is visible, but
  there are limitations on use, modification, or
  redistribution
• The limitations that exist in different Open
  Source Licenses are the reason for the idealistic
  split between free and open source software
• Both movements have a common goal, there exists
  discrepancies on application of certain licensing
  issues

8
Open Source Licenses

• Most software licenses that are approved by the
  Open Source Initiative are also approved by the
  Free Software Foundation
• Some small exceptions (OSI approved, FSF did
  not)
• Apple Public Source License (before version 2)
• Q Public License (before version Qt3)

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_so
ftware_licences
9
History of FOSS

• 1960s Software freely distributed at collegiate
  level
• 1970s Rise of proprietary software
• 1983 Richard Stallman establishes GNU Project
• Goal was to create first free software operating
  system
• 1985 Richard Stallman establishes Free Software
  Foundation, creates GNU General Public License
• 1990s Increasing Internet availability enables
  developer coordination
• 1997 Eric Raymonds Cathedral the Bazaar
  explains new approaches term
• Open Source Software coined

http//www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundat
ion
http//www.dwheeler.com/numbers/oss_fs_why_present
ation.pdf
10
Open source alternatives

• Jake Kolstad

11
Internet Browsers

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• Internet Explorer
• Safari
• Opera

• Firefox
• Konqueror

12
Internet Browsers

• Closed Source

• Open Sources

• Compatibility with proprietary systems such as
  Outlook Web Access, MS Office Suite, and Active X
• Tighter OS integration

• Usually more standards compliant
• Cross-Platform

13
Multimedia Players

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• iTunes
• Windows Media Player

• Rhythmbox
• Amarok
• Banshee
• VLC

14
Multimedia Players

• Closed Source

• Open Source

• Better compatibility with branded peripherals
• Built-in music stores

• Extensible and open plugins
• DAAP (iTunes Sharing)
• Music Stores
• AudioScrobbler

15
Instant Messengers

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• AOL Instant Messenger
• MSN Messenger
• Yahoo!
• ICQ
• Google Chat

• Pidgin
• Adium
• Jabber

16
Instant Messengers

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternatives

• Voice Video Chat
• External profile visible on receivers computer

• More graphically customizable on your computer
• Multi-protocol compatible

17
Photo Editors

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• Adobe Photoshop

• The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

18
Photo Editors

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• More features
• Brand-name association

• Multiplatform

19
HTTP Servers

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternative

• Internet Information Services (IIS)
• Google

• Apache
• Lighttpd

20
Operating Systems

• Closed Source

• Open Source Alternatives

• Windows
• ?UNIX?
• Mac OS X

• Linux
• FreeBSD OpenBSD

21
Other Alternatives

• Productivity
• OpenOffice.Org
• AbiWord
• Web Development
• Nvu
• Screem
• Bluefish
• Database
• MySQL
• PostGreSQL
• Antivirus Clam Antivirus

22
Open Source in Business

• Amanda Lee

23
Quantitative Measures

• Market Share
• Reliability
• Performance
• Scalability
• Security
• Total cost of ownership

24
Market Share

• Desktop
• Clients Operating Systems as seen on tutorial
  website W3Schools.com
• Server
• According to netcraft.com
• Netcraft has explored the Internet since 1995 and
  is a respected authority on the market share of
  web servers, operating systems, hosting
  providers, ISPs, encrypted transactions,
  electronic commerce, scripting languages and
  content technologies on the internet

25
Market Share
Windows XP (70) and Windows 2003 (5) removed
to show detail
http//www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
26
Market Share
Web Servers Total Percentage of Active Servers
http//news.netcraft.com/archives/2008/04/overallc
.gif
27
Reliability

• Numerous people have the ability to view and
  modify software
• Thousands of independent programmers test and fix
  bugs
• Example Heinz Trober company

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software
28
Heinz Trober
Reliability

• German import company
• In 2001, Heinz Trober switched from running ERP
  software on Windows to Linux
• ERP software is run on an IBM iSeries server
• Accessed by Linux front-end clients

http//news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,3919
0950,00.htm
29
Heinz Trober
Reliability

• No blue screen of death or freeze-ups
• Using Windows usually caused 10 out of 65
  desktops to crash daily
• Causes wasted time by employees and money lost to
  the company
• Since the switch no downtime has occurred yet

http//news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,3919
0950,00.htm
30
Performance

• Open to interpretation
• Most vendors will only divulge favorable results
• As total packages vary with features, direct
  side-by-side comparisons are often difficult or
  impossible
• Find what works best for you in your personal
  environment, using test data that reflects your
  actual business requirements

http//www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_eval.htmlperforman
ce
31
Scalability
http//www.forbes.com/2005/03/15/cz_dl_0315linux.h
tml
32
Security

• Closed security provides a false sense of
  security
• End user unaware of who wrote the code
• No verification of functionality
• Security vulnerabilities are being assessed at a
  world level if source code is available
• Example Open Source Hardening Project

http//www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/lo
ss.html?openI252,tgr,pSeclmpOS
33
Open Source Hardening Project
Security

• 3-year open source hardening project dedicated to
  helping make software as secure as possible
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded
  1.24 million to Stanford, Coverity and the
  Symantec company to find vulnerabilities in
  open-source projects
• Scan open source code for flaws and defects
• About 270 open-source projects are currently
  being scanned

http//scan.coverity.com/
http//www.news.com/Open-source-bug-hunt-project-e
xpands/2100-1002_3-6171105.html
34
About the Project
Security

• 6,000 bugs were found and have been fixed
• 700 developers have access to the bug data
• 35 million lines of code are scanned every day

http//www.news.com/Open-source-bug-hunt-project-e
xpands/2100-1002_3-6171105.html
35
Total Cost of Ownership

• Licensing costs only represent a small fraction
  of deployment costs
• Costs needed to evaluate
• Installation costs
• Staffing costs
• Support/maintenance costs
• Upgrade licensing costs (usually free for FOSS)
• Training costs (can be downside for FOSS -
  unfamiliarity)

http//www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_eval.htmlcost
36
Non-Quantitative Measures

• Social/ethical/moral reasons
• Avoids risks of single source solutions
• Long-term data retention and hardware lifespan
• Avoids license management and litigation
• Greater flexibility

http//www.dwheeler.com/numbers/oss_fs_why_present
ation.pdf
37
Conclusion

• What is FOSS?
• Terminology
• History of FOSS
• Open Source Alternatives
• Business Implications
• Conclusion

38
Where to get free and open source software

• http//www.getfirefox.com
• http//www.osalt.com
• http//www.distrowatch.com
• http//www.ubuntu.com

39
Questions
40
Sources

• http//www.dwheeler.com/numbers/oss_fs_why_present
  ation.pdf
• http//www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_eval.htmlperforman
  ce
• http//www.fsf.org/about/
• http//www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FSF_approved_
  software_licences
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_so
  ftware_licences
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundat
  ion
• http//www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software
• http//scan.coverity.com/
• http//www.news.com/Open-source-bug-hunt-project-e
  xpands/2100-1002_3-6171105.html
• http//www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/lo
  ss.html?openI252,tgr,pSeclmpOS
• http//news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,3919
  0950,00.htm
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software
• http//www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
• http//news.netcraft.com/archives/2008/04/overallc
  .gif
• http//www.forbes.com/2005/03/15/cz_dl_0315linux.h
  tml
• http//www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_eval.htmlcost