Open source software - What it is and the pros and cons
Even though Microsoft, its dealers, and its retailers are quietly reducing the cost of Windows Vista, the successor to the popular Windows XP platform, the cost of applications software for Windows from mainstream vendors remains quite high. Because of this, a growing number of companies are turning to open source software for their business applications.
So what is open source software?
Despite the fact that open source software seems to be getting mentioned more and more in the media, the surprising fact is that there is no universally accepted definition of the term.
Contrary to popular belief, open source software is not freeware, but is actually licensed by individuals and companies on terms that allow the source code to be accessed, modified and re-distributed by licensees.
The Open Source Initiative, a not-for-profit group, says that open source software should be offered on a free distribution basis and should give free and easy access to the source code of the application(s) concerned.
It's the licensing that sets open source applications apart from pay-for, shareware and freeware, since it allows third parties to modify and create derivative works from the original program, and also to offer them on an open source basis.
And therein lies open source's great advantage and - ironically - its great disadvantage, as anyone can modify and promote their own `souped up' version of an open source application, meaning that multiple editions of the same software can exist in the marketplace (if that is the right word) for such applications.
Put simply, this means that choosing an open source application can be more than a little confusing, with several sources offering different versions of the same application.
On top of this, whilst user forums and pay-for experts abound for most mainstream open source software such as Open Office, the main alternative to Microsoft Office, things start to get patchy when you move into specialist areas.
A classic example of this was a video rental firm that a business colleague of mine set up in the 1990s. Because commercial software cost a significant sum to licence on an annual basis, my colleague went down the open source route, and saved himself several hundred pounds a year.
Unfortunately, as DVDs came on to the market and video rental licensing terms tightened up to support the arrival of blockbuster movies into the rental sector much more quickly than before, my colleague was unable to update his software to support these value-added features.
As a result, he had to hire a programming expert to develop the extra modules front scratch, which ended up costing him more than moving back to a commercial application on an annual software licensing basis.
So, whilst there is a strong case for adopting open source software as an alternative to mainstream business applications from IBM, Microsoft and others, it pays to do your homework on the support and updates front.
Furthermore, if you stick to mainstream applications, then there is the advantage that other licensees and the wider open source community are free to scrutinise the software and may already have developed appropriate patches or fixes to problems.
Open source still costs
In theory, at least, these patches and fixes should be easily accessible and applicable, probably at no or minimal cost.
In practice, however, whilst mainstream open source software is both accessible and applicable, licensing companies can - and do - charge a modest licensing fee for the "value-added" aspect of their work, which typically involves localising and updating the software for the UK market, as well as providing a basic level of support.
In some ways, it's the modification and charging system that sows the seeds of open sources' main disadvantages.
For instance, if the licensee develops modifications to the source code, it may be required to make those modifications subject to a similar open source licence. The practical effect of this is that it cannot licence modifications in such a way as to prevent third parties from using and distributing them. This, in turn, could mean that the licensee would potentially lose any competitive advantage gained by virtue of its investment in the original development effort.
It's for these reasons that many open source licenses do not have any warranties either as to title or as to quality, and often come with no indemnities and extensive exclusions of liability.
Is this important for a smaller business?
Potentially, yes, as the main provisions of the Companies Act 2006 come into force in October of this year, the main centre-piece of which takes more than a few pages from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2003
in the United States.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was born out of the corporate scandals that rocked the US business landscape in the late 1990s and early 2002, most notably the Enron saga.
Under Sarbanes-Oxley, chief executives and their chief financial officers must sign off on the company accounts and warrant their accuracy. If the company books are found to be inaccurate at a later stage, criminal prosecutions can mean the CEO and his CFO going to prison.
Whilst such draconian penalties are unlikely to be imposed on UK company board managers, there is a risk that if an MD or CFO (or their staff) has used open source software and that software has caused an inaccuracy in the company accounts, then there could be penalties under the Companies Act 2006.
This process is known as corporate governance and essentially requires that senior officers of a company adhere to best practices and guidelines for their relevant industry of disciplines.
Because of its limited or non-existent warranty, open source software is something of a headache in this regard and, for this reason, it is necessary for a company using open software applications to spend time and money - and to prove that it has done so - on educating staff as to the nuances of the software concerned.
In simple terms, this means that the savings generated by using open source software are partially offset by the education that is required amongst the relevant staff of the application programs concerned.
For most small businesses, this education can usually be limited to the purchase of a couple of `expert' books on the applications concerned, as well as allowing staff to sign up for free online courses on the software they plan to use from Web sites such as CNet.co.uk, ZDNet.co.uk and others.
Okay, I'm in - so what's available?
Quite a lot of mainstream applications. CNet.co.uk has published a top ten list of open software applications here whilst Osalt.com provides an index of alternatives to a wide range of commercial applications.
If you look under the databases section of Osalt.com, for example, you will find several excellent alternatives to Filemaker Pro, Microsoft Access and SQL Server in the shape of Firebird (from Borland) and Ingres 2006 Community Edition.
Moving into the systems utilities side, we find open source applications such as 7-Zip - an alternative to PK-Zip - and Zenoss, a network and systems monitoring application suitable for small-to-mid-sized businesses, right up to enterprises.
Unlike some of the competition, Zenoss' main dashboard is accessible via an extended Web browser with drill-down facilities, which basically means it can be used by both novice and expert alike.
Conclusions
Most mid-sized companies use open source software because it can drastically reduce the cost of software usage and development, allowing them to incorporate and modify facilities found in previously developed systems and eliminating the need to develop software "from scratch."
Smaller companies, meanwhile, go down the open software route because of the direct cost savings against using commercial applications.
It's also a positive learning curve for the staff using the software as open source applications often actively encourage users to access online forums and other information sources in a way that commercial software rarely does.
It's rare to find a business where the advantages of open source do not outweigh the disadvantages of using such software.
Other useful resources
Computerworld UK open source zone
Yahoo! News - Linux/open source news
NewsForge - open source news/features - including Linux related news.
SourceForge - largest hosting service for open source projects.
Google Code - home of Google's open source projects.
Open Source at Apple - open source projects run by Apple.
More related guides:
Software Licensing and the Law
Small Business Accounts Systems
Supporting your IT
