OPEN SOURCE PRODUCTS

Open Source Products



Open Source Products

Introduction

Governments around the world are making or considering efforts to promote open-source software (typically produced by cooperatives of individuals) at the expense of proprietary software (generally sold by for profit software developers).1 Proposals include government subsidies of research and development (R&D) for open-source software, standardization on using open-source software, and procurement preferences for open source software. The European Parliament, for example, adopted a resolution in September 2001 that calls on the Commission and Member States “to promote software projects whose source text is made public.” The German Bundestag is considering legislation that would require government agencies to use open source. Former French Prime Minister Jospin created an agency whose mission will be to “encourage administrations to use open source software and open standards.” The UK government has supported R&D efforts that create software that must be released under restrictive open-source licenses. (Simcoe 2006 pp. 161-183)

Open Source products and government intervention

At a time when one vendor increasingly dominates the PC industry (desktop operating system and office suite) and a growing part of the server industry, it is surprising to discover that its strongest challenger is not a commercial rival but a motley collection of free software tools and operating systems called "Open Source Software”. The power of this movement is multiple: nobody can buy it, and it is supported by thousands of enthusiasts that cannot be discouraged by anything. The quality and rapidity of OSS development is unanimously recognized as “amazing”, even by proprietary vendors. A new dynamic is created by the fact that the source code of such software can easily be studied by other programmers and improved, the only condition being that such improvements must also be revealed publicly and distributed freely in a process that encourages continual innovation. From an operating system called Linux, named after a student from Finland who wrote its core code, to a web server named Apache, put together as literally "a patchy" set of updates to older software by a band of volunteer programmers, these open source programs are emerging not just as inexpensive but also as more robust and dynamic alternatives to commercial software. Like in the private sector, most public sector departments use open source software if they find in it a response to their needs. The first step or entrance ticket for open source software into administration has not been easy(Lichtenthaler Holger 2007 pp.383-397). Until a couple of years ago, Linux and most other open source software were just ignored in most infrastructures, forcing some programmers and system administrators to slip it into the organization through the backdoor (Simcoe 2006 pp. 161-183). Today, many of the same organizations are discovering that open source software may provide some realistic solutions into their organizations. While this phenomenon surprises some analysts, it should not surprise those with some sense of history. Open source software, largely funded by the (United State) government, was the wellspring of the creation of the whole computer industry. To this day it still lies at the heart of how the Internet came into being. For decades some governments and public institutions in education had stimulated open source software and open standards through a combination of key funding agencies, administrative oversight of software standards ...