As presented at Internet Librarian, 2012, in Monterey, CA

1. Open Source Trends & Issues
Nicole C. Engard
Vice President of Education
ByWater Solutions
nengard@bywatersolutions.com

2. Issue #1
Lack of Proper Education

3. What isn’t Open Source?
Common Open Source FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt)
• “Isn’t that insecure?”
• “I don’t want to share my data!”
• “How can it be any good if it’s free?”
• “We don’t have the staff to handle
open source.”
Comic: Author: Unknown | Year: Unknown | Source: Unknown

4. What is Open Source?
Open source software is software that users have the ability
to run, distribute, study and modify for any purpose.
Open source is a collaborative software-development
method that harnesses the power of peer review and
transparency of process to develop code that is freely
accessible.1
Open source draws on an ecosystem of thousands of
developers and customers all over the world to drive
innovation.2
1,2 http://connect.educause.edu/display/47941

5. Open Source Community
• Open source is about more than free software
• Community is crucial to the growth of open source
• Without shared knowledge and collaboration the project will not grow
• People who use open source can collaborate and contribute in many
ways with the community
• Write code
• Write documentation
• Debug
• Educate others

6. Issue #2
Technical Skill Fears
Stems from Issue #1

7. Open Source is Easy!
“The hard drive on one of our reference desk PCs died today. I threw in a new one, but I didn't
feel like spending the day sitting through Windows updates, so I loaded Ubuntu 11.04 on it
instead. The install, as I'm sure you know, only took about 15 minutes. Now, before I add my
next point, keep in mind that I manage a staff whose average age is about 63. No joke. Most of
them have been working at my facility longer than I've been alive. Still, once I had Ubuntu up
and running, they were literally fighting over who got to use the new operating system. They
loved it that much.
Now I agree, Linux kicks butt. I use it about 80% of the time. Typing to you on Mint right now!
However, I never expected novice users to take to it so quickly. Please, next time you do an
open source webinar, impress on your attendees that libraries aren't sacrificing a thing by
switching over to open source software. If anything, open source operating systems and
applications can be far more user friendly for the novice user than Windows will ever be...”
-- Mark at the The Rahway Public Library

8. Issue #3
Security Fears
Stems from Issue #1

9. Risk of Proprietary Software
• “In its 2011 Coverity Scan Open Source
Integrity Report, which was released on
Thursday, Coverity actually found that open
source code has fewer defects per thousand
lines of code than proprietary software code
does.”
Noyes, Katherine. “Actually, Open Source Code Is Better:
Report.” PCWorld Business Center, February 23, 2012.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/250543/actua
.

10. Trends

11. Who’s Using Open Source?
•Government Agencies
•All Kinds of Businesses
•Schools (K-colleges)
•Librarians

12. Open Source in Business
• In 2010 a survey of 300 large organizations in both the private and public
sector found:
• 50% are fully committed to open source in their business
• 28% say they are experimenting with open source and keeping an open
mind to using it
• 38% expecting to migrate mission-critical software to open source in next
12 months
• The cost was no longer viewed as the key benefit, instead:
• 76% cited quality as a key benefit of open source
• 70% cited improved reliability
• 69% said better security/bug fixing
http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?a

13. Open Source in Business
http://www.slideshare.net/AcquiaInc/future-of-open-s

14. Open Source in Government
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has issued a missive to
French ministers, including a complete action plan urging
government usage of LibreOffice and PostgreSQL. But the action
plan calls for more. As noted on Slashdot: “He also wants them to
reinvest between 5 percent and 10 percent of the money they save
through not paying for proprietary software licenses, spending it
instead on contributing to the development of the free software.
http://ostatic.com/blog/french-government-urged-to-a

15. Open Source in Government
On 7 August, a law was passed by the Italian Parliament that
requires the use of open source software by public administrations
where possible. Article 68 of the Italian Digital Administration
Code (Codice dell’amministrazione digitale) states that, from 12
August, public administrations looking for a new software solution
must either use an application which they have already developed
in-house, develop their own new program, use open source
software, or any combination of these.
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Italy-maki

16. Open Source in Libraries
• Koha ILS • Dspace
• Evergreen ILS • Kete
• WordPress • Drupac
• Drupal • SOPAC
More: http://foss4lib.org

17. Why so Popular?
•Reliability through Peer Review
•Freedom to Innovate
•No Vendor Lock-in
•User-centric Development
•Collaborative Environment
•Zero License Fees

18. Resources

19. Additional Links
• Open Source Living • FOSS4Lib
osliving.com foss4lib.org
• Nicole’s Delicious bookmarks: • Open Source as Alternative
delicious.com/nengard/opensource www.osalt.com
• Nicole’s Zotero Library
www.zotero.org/nengard/items/collection/1796131
• Open Source Software and Libraries Bibliography
zotero.org/groups/freelibre_and_open_source_software_and_libraries_bi
bliography

20. Print Reading List
• Practical Open Source Software in Libraries by Nicole C. Engard
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an
Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. Raymond
• Embracing Insanity: Open Source Software Development by Russell Pavlicek
• The success of open source by Steve Weber
• The open source alternative: Understanding risks and leveraging opportunities
by Heather J. Meeker
• Open Sources 2.0: The Continuing Evolution by Chris DiBona, Mark Stone, and
Danese Cooper

21. Thank You!
Nicole C. Engard
Vice President of Education
ByWater Solutions
nengard@bywatersolutions.com
Slides: http://web2learning.net >
Publications & Presentations