Open Source In The Enterprise

Middle Georgia IT Users Group
Contact Information:
Rob Betzelrbetzel@infinitynetworks.net
Josh Epps jepps@fickling.com
Itinerary
6:00-6:10 Welcome/Introduction
6:10-6:40 Presentation/Discussion
6:40-6:50 Upcoming Events/New Business
6:50-Until Open Discussion/Networking

What is Open Source Software?
What is Free Software?

Mike Dodds
Owner
DoddsTech
mdodds@doddstech.com

The Godfather of Free Software:
Richard M Stallman (rms)
Founded the GNU (GNU’s Not Unix) project in 1983 in response to being denied access to source code for an early laser printer driver
Founded the Free Software Foundation in 1986
Wrote the General Public License (GPL) v1 in 1989, v2 in 1991
Author of the GNU compiler (gcc), emacs and several more

Definition of Free SoftwareRichard Stallman’s “4 freedoms”:
Run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0)
Study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1)
Redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)
Improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3)

General definition of open source
Bruce Perens created the Open Source Definition, a general definition encompassing most Free software licenses
His main agenda is to educate business about open source software, to make a business case rather than a social one

Free vs. free
Open Source and Free Software are very similar (but not identical) and the definition can usually be interchanged.
Free software’s capital “F” is used to denote 2 meanings of free:
1. Free as in free beer
2. Free as in freedom (the ability to use, distribute and modify the software as you wish)

Common examples of Free Software
Linux
Java
MediaWiki (i.e. WikiPedia)
Apache
Asterisk
FreeBSD
OpenOffice.org
Mozilla Firefox
Audacity (audio editor)

Common Licenses
General Public License (GPL) v2 – most popular license
Examples using v2
Linux kernel
The GNU software suite (gcc etc.)
MySQL database
Java
Asterisk (PBX software)
60+ % of the software on freshmeat and sourceforge

Common Licenses
General Public License (GPL) v3
Newer, not as popular yet
OpenOffice.org v3+

BSD License – least restrictive license
Examples
Free BSD
Open BSD
PostgreSQL database
Apache license – similar to BSD license

Examples
Apache Web server
Most popular Web server on the Internet

Why use Free Software?
Freedom
If you are a coder, you can modify the software any way you like to do anything you want
If you are a user, you can install the software on anything you like, as many times as you like (No CD keys or “activation”)
Free

Software is freely available at no cost

Why not use Free Software?
No “throat to choke”
Free software no official corporate support, you are responsible for fixing it if it breaks or pay a 3rd party for support
You must share your code too

With GPL software, any modifications or enhancements to GPL software that you distribute must also be licensed under the GPL and be made available to everyone. (This only applies if you distribute the code outside your organization)

Open Source In The Enterprise
Where We Are Today

Josh Epps
Director of Information Technology
Fickling & Company
www.fickling.com

Top Projects

Everyone Loves Statistics
“85% of enterprises have already adopted
open source” -Gartner
“45% of those enterprises are using open source in mission critical applications”
-Forrester

Why Now?
Economic Factors
Availability
Dissolving Obstacles
Intellectual Property Disputes
Maturity
Security

Projects Catching Attention
Message Routing and Management(ESB)
JSP Server
Data Integration

Projects Catching Attention
Application Integration
Middleware
Aggregator Projects

Who’s Using Open Source
Universities
Government
Small Enterprise
Large Enterprise

Success Stories
Organization: Continental Airlines
Open Source Project: Jitterbit
Uses: integrating data on network bandwidth, server function, and traffic databases

Success Stories
Organization: State of Oregon
Open Source Project: GroundWork
Uses: Consolidate and reduce network monitoring systems

Presentation Download
Blog Locations
blog.infinitynetworks.net
www.geektape.com
Linkedin group
Middle GA IT Users Group