Open Source for an Open World

Open Source Software in an Open World
Elizabeth B. Thomsen
Member Services Manager
North of Boston Library Exchange
[email_address]

Hello, World!
10 PRINT “Hello World!”
20 END
Software is easy!

“Software is hard.” Donald Knuth “The Art of Computer Programming” 1962

“Why can’t we design software the way we build bridges?”

The Impossibility of Complete Testing
We can’t test all the inputs to the program.
We can’t test all the combinations of inputs to the program.
We can’t test all the paths through the program.

(More Impossibility)
We can’t test for all of the other potential failures, such as those caused by user interface design errors or incomplete requirements analyses.
(Cem Kaner, author of ‘Bad Software”)

User Error
Foolproof programs?
“It’s impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious”
“We thought it was foolproof but then along came another fool.”
Software is designed for people

SongTapper
Tap a song for a partner – can they guess what it is?
(http://www.songtapper.com)

Curse of Knowledge
Elizabeth Newton’s song-tapping experiment:
Predicted guessing rate: 50%
Correct guessing rate: 3%

Communication Problems
Between all parties
At all levels
At all phases of the process
Include communication errors in programming

Troubleshooting Trouble
Eyewitness accounts notoriously unreliable
The human brain isn’t a recording device
In normal use, you have no idea what exactly you did just before that bad thing happened

What Does This Mean?
Lots of bugs hiding under unintended user behavior
Lots of legitimate bugs are dismissed as user error (even by users)
Design flaws are not bugs, but might as well be

Brooks’s Law
“ Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”
“ The Mythical Man-Month” Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. (1975)

According to Brooks…
Each new member of a team must be brought up to speed and adds to the communication and coordination burden
“The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned to a task.”
Logical conclusion: ideal size of team=1

A Different Approach…
Collaborative projects of developed and supported by self-organizing communities of interest
Transcend geography, time zones
Roles based on participation, contribution and trust, not formal credentials

Pyramid of Participation
Casual observer
Occasional contributor
Core Contributor
Moderator / Module Owner / Administrator
Board Member
Benevolent Dictator

Self-Organizing Communities
Self-organizing doesn’t mean disorganized
Participants seek and find roles that are appropriate to their talents, interests and personal needs
Participants earn their place in the community

Motivation and Compensation
People do things for all kinds of reasons
Intrinsic rewards are more motivating than extrinsic rewards
Altruism, personal satisfaction, prove and improve skills, cooperation/competition, future reward, social interaction
Be part of something

Collaborative Communities
Have always existed in some form…
But the Internet transformed the way people can engage in discussion and collaborative projects

Active Communities
Health and disability support groups
Political activity
Fan communities
“ Survivor” spoilers
Wikipedia : open source encyclopedia
(truly collaborative rather than collective)

Economic Impact
Fewer people watching televisions, especially in the 18-34 demographic
Fewer people reading newspapers
Consumer ratings, reviews, blog postings sometimes more powerful than advertising
(Example : blogging foodies)

Free/Open Source Software
Grew out of the old hacker culture of the 1960’s and 1970’s
Students working on UNIX systems; minicomputers
Computers club culture around the Altair and other early hobby computers

Bill Gates’ Open Letter 1976
Sent to the Homebrew Computer Club complaining about unauthorized copying of Altair BASIC:
“ you…prevent good software from being written. Who can afford to do professional work for nothing?”

Free Software
Free Software Foundation (1985)
“ Think of free speech, not free beer”
GNU Project : full operating system
Linus Torvald’s Linux provided the kernel

Four Freedoms
Freedom 0 : The freedom to run the program for any purpose
Freedom 1 : The freedom to study and modify the program

Freedom 2 : The freedom to improve the program so you can help your neighbor
Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits

Source Code Access
Freedoms 1 (study/modify) and 3 (improve/release) are only possible with the source code
Source code invaluable as a learning tool, but also for security and for improvement
Academic tradition: release research
Rapid evolution

Open Source Movement
1998: Netscape’s release of Navigator source code as Mozilla
Possibly confusion and political emphasis of “free software” terminology
Some disputed areas between groups, much common ground in principle and practice

“The Cathedral & the Bazaar”
Eric S. Raymond, 1997
Contrasts building of cathedrals (highly centralized) and bazaar “a great babbling bazaar of differing agendas and approaches”

Open Source Approaches
Users should be treated as co-developers
Early releases (find co-developers early)
Frequents integration (often nightly builds)
At least two versions (development/stable)
Modularization (parallel development)
Dynamic decision-making structure

Richard
Stallman

Linus Torvalds

Eric Raymond
“ Everybody Love Eric Raymond” http:// geekz .co. uk / lovesraymond /

Business and Open Source
Open source is not incompatible with business
IBM, Sun and other businesses have chosen to participate in open source projects, donating both existing software and programmers
Choose to build their applications on top of open source bases software like Apache

New Business Opportunities
Businesses charge for installation, customization and support of open source products
Businesses develop value-added compatible software products

Complex Legal Issues
Open source coming of age
Microsoft asserting patent infringements and making settlement offers with Novell and others
GPL3: Patent pledge to Novell extends to all Linux

Libraries and Open Source
Open Source Software: Freedom to read?
Community-based software: Compatible with public and educational institution philosophies : resource sharing, examination and evaluation of sources
May provide longterm stability

Workstation Level
Open source operating systems now ready for prime time
Library patrons becoming familiar with the concept of open source software; may appreciate savings
Introduction of Vista a time for re-evaluation

Open Source Library Systems
Georgia Pines system using Evergreen brought major attention to Open Source as a viable option even for a very large library system
Instability in the ILS market makes this a good time to re-evaluate options
Competition and choice from outside likely to be good for the ILS vendors and for customers

My Prediction
The next two years are going to be very interesting.
So is the rest of today
Enjoy!

Elizabeth B. Thomsen
Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
[email_address]

Open Source for an Open World

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