Open Source: It's Already Here

Dave Cross

Magnum Solutions Ltd

dave@mag-sol.com

http://mag-sol.com/talks/bcs/

Some Facts

Linux is a great desktop operating system

Anything you can do in Windows, you can also do on Linux

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)

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

Another Approach

Who has used Linux?

Who has used Linux today?

Who has used any Open Source app today?

Another Approach

Who has used PayPal today?

Who has used Google today?

Who has used Amazon today?

These are all Open Source applications

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?

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?

LAMP

An operating system (Linux)

A Web Server (Apache)

A Database (MySQL)

A Programming Language (Perl, PHP and Python)

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

Apache

“A patchy server”

Modular architecture that makes it simple to add new features

The web server that all others emulate

Phenomenally successful

Apache Runs the Web

Source: Netcraft (http://www.netcraft.com)

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

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

Programming

Python

Similar to Perl

More OO-based

Other Alternatives

Java (not Open Source)

Mono (Open Source version of .Net)

Open Source Advantages

Cost

Security

Support

Quality

Control

Cost

No license costs

Still pay for support and training

Security

Source code is available to everyone

Security becomes very important

“Security by obscurity” is not an option

Holes get fixed quickly

Support

Most Open Source projects have very active support communities

Most bugs get fixed within a day

Fixes available immediately

Quality

Programmer pride

Constant peer review

Meritocracy

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

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

Questions

2004-03-25T16:45:50