Open Source

Sensible solutions for empowering the masses

Art Rhyno, University of Windsor

Outline

A Bit About What Open Source Is
Myths & Realities
Some Library Perspectives & Initiatives
10 Reasons For Hope

Recognize any of these?

Maybe even closer to home?

Save yourself the cab fare!

Quick Definition - #1

Open Source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's sources.

Quick Definition - #2

Open Source Software (OSS) refers to computer software available with its source code and under an open source license. Such a license permits anyone to study, change, and improve the software.

FSF and OSI

OSS Licenses

Open Source Sans Software

Foundation Reading

About the Bazaar

A bazaar image

Bazaars, Cathedrals, and Barns?

Barn building

How are library systems built?

Library ILS Launching

OSS4Lib Projects

OSS4Lib - first stop for Library OSS

How Do Technologies Succeed?

The invention of the steam engine

Surprising Evidence

Steve Ballmer Steve Ballmer gets wild
And about the obligatory FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Factor

And Speaking of Evidence

Just One Example

"OSS code quality appears to be at least equal and sometimes better than the quality of CSS code implementing the same functionality. This may be due to the motivation of skilled OSS programmers to compete with skilled CSS programmers. " - Open Source Software Development ..., Communications of the ACM Volume 47, Number 10

Early Journeys

Promising Destinations

Reasons for Hope - #1

Quiz: ERP stands for

which is ERP?

a) Energetic Rodent Parties

b) Electric Reversible Pants

c) Eccentric Roving Pachyderms

d) Enterprise Resource Planning

Why build it all overselves?

Reasons for Hope - #2

XC Project

Reasons for Hope - #3

Reasons for Hope - #4

Web 2.0 & the notion of locality

The web as a platform

"Desktop Web applications tend to be slower, and their user interfaces more primitive, than even the DOS-based applications of the past. But the most interesting thing is that I rarely hear anyone complaining. That surprised me at first. But soon I realized that this is simply one of many indications of a positive trend toward network-centric computing. And I, for one, am glad vendors are spending less time and energy on frivolous user interface gadgets and more time on enabling customers to share information without locking them into a particular platform."- Nicholas Petreley, INFOWORLD Aug.2, 1999