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Would You Use Open Systems Software?
I raised this issue over a year ago. Most of the responses were predominantly NO. The main thought was that in a business we require the stability, continuing development and support that is not found in Open System Software.
Since then, it seems to me the field has changed in a few significant ways.
1) We don’t always need software that will continue to add new functionality
In the case of disk encryption software I have found that the requirements are pretty small. Encrypt my disk. If a product does that quickly enough, runs on the operating system I use, and has enough support to address hacking risks, then why do I need a commercial product.
What about Microsoft Office? What new features have they released in the last 10 years? Virtually, none relating to MS Office. All the enhancements have been enabling those tools to be used by the Microsoft BI suite tools such as SharePoint or Analysis Server. However, what have they added to Word as a Word Processor? A new GUI maybe?
2) Some open software is supported by commercial efforts
One of the popular CRM systems is Sugar. It is an open systems project. However, you can also purchase support and consultation services.
Cassandra is one of the open system No-SQL software Data Stores developed using funds from a number of commercial enterprises…but the source code is completely open. Still there is the company ??? whish has been established as a company providing resources to manage Cassandra installations as well as provide consultation services. Cassandra will probably not become a dead product as long as commercial enterprises are using these platforms.
Another well known example of this open trend is MySQL. I don’t really need to say anything else as the vast acceptance of MySQL is well known. Many felt MySQL was purchased by Oracle in an effort to kill the platform due to competition to their flagship engine, Oracle. While I can’t read anybody’s mind, it seems to me that there is a lot of money to be made encompassing MySQL. Training, consulting, and management tools are a big profit channel. The more MySQL grows, the more valuable tools and services wrapped around it grow.
3) Some software is distributed only through open systems product
On a different note, take a look at Eclipse, a software development IDE. It rivals Visual Studio for features through openness, allowing it to be a platform with plug-ins for many purposes. IBM is a big contributor to the code base…but many different vendors use it’s extensibility so that they don’t have to re-create the core requirements of an IDE.
I contrast Eclipse with the Dot Net editor, Sharp Develop. Eclipse, even though an open systems tool, has a different lifecycle from Sharp Develop. Sharp Develop is an IDE for programming Dot Net applications. Therefore, it must lag behind the capabilities of the Dot Net platform, because Microsoft does not release the enhancements through Sharp Develop; they release their latest library enhancements through Visual Studio, and use this process as a technique to continue further sales of Visual Studio.
Eclipse is the base platform releasing new features and functionality first for many software platforms, and is the only supported tool for a lot of different software development tools. For example, Motorola has embraced the open Eclipse platform as a core for writing software for their Cellular devices. They use it for both the pre-Android phones and the later Android smart phones. As an add-in they even provide virtual phones allowing you to test your software without having to have an actual cell phone.
4) Cloud providers are hosting may open source tool
Some of the big Cloud providers are embracing open system software as part of their offerings. I have seen MongoDB, Hadoop, Big Table, and other tools as part of Cloud offerings.
5) More Commercial Software development firms are backing open systems efforts
IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, RackSpace, Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and others have been or are currently involved in different open systems initiatives. This trend seems to be gaining momentum.
Are you using open system software, or considering it? Does your company have a blanket poicy against open system software? Do you simply have a strong opinion? Maybe you have personal experience with open system software. If so, you can share your thoughts by sending an email to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
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