FOSS in Civil Engineering - Presentation at Institution of Civil Engineers, Madrid by Xosé Manuel Carreira (Civil Engineer)

1. What you should know about Free and
Open Source Software (FOSS) as a civil
engineer in 10 slides
Xosé Manuel Carreira Rodríguez
http://es.linkedin.com/in/carreira
1st December, 2011
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2. What is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)?
• FOSS: software licensed to users with these
freedoms:
• to run the program for any purpose,
• to study and modify the code, and
• to freely redistribute copies of either the original
or modified program without royalties.
• Original term: “Free software” (confused with no-
price) . Free as a bird, not free beer.
• Antonyms: proprietary software, closed software
• Not non-commercial; FOSS is almost always
commercial
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3. Why would civil engineers use or create FOSS?
Reasons follow from the definition
• Can evaluate in detail, lowering risk
• Can see if meets needs (security, etc.)
• Aids longevity of records,
• Gives transparency to calculations.
• Can copy repeatedly at no additional charge
• Support usually have per-use charges.
• Can share development costs with other users: no need to
pay beta-testers.
• Can modify for special needs
• Even if you’re the only one who needs the modification
• Control own destiny: Freedom from vendor lock-in, vendor
abandonment, conflicting vendor goals, etc. Avoids risks of
depending on proprietary commercial items
• FOSS is a booming in BRICs.
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4. Typical FOSS development model
Improvements (as source code) and
Developer evaluation results: User as Developer
Development Trusted Bug Reports
Community
Developer
Trusted
Sou Repository
rc e Co
de → Distributor
User
• FOSS users typically use software without paying licensing fees.
• FOSS users typically pay for training, consultancy and customisation.
• FOSS users are responsible for paying/developing new improvements and
any evaluations that they need; often cooperate with others to do so.
• Goal: Active development community (like a consortium) 4

5. Main FOSS companies
IBM
Uses and develops Apache Web Server and GNU Linux
Sells consultancy for FOSS solutions
HP Compaq
Releases hardware and drivers totally compatible with GNU Linux
Oracle Sun
Uses GNU Linux
Supports Java language
Supports MySQL databases
Supports Open Office
Supports the Firefox Mozilla web browser
Google
Runs under GNU Linux and uses FOSS solutions.
Develops Android and Sketch Up partially as FOSS. 5

6. A basic menu for civil engineering
USACE
HEC-RAS and HEC-HMS
EPA
Epanet and SWMM
A9Tech and the Open Design Alliance
A9CAD, EveryDWG and Open DGN
Other
CalculiX and Elmer
Blender
Map Window GIS
Scilab , OpenOffice and Smathcad
Gimp
GhostView and PDF Creator
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7. Blender + CalculiX
Blender as modeller and preprocessor
CalculiX as calculation machine
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8. Map Window GIS + HEC-HMS+HEC-RAS
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9. MAP Window GIS + Epanet + SWMM
Epanet: Water transportation and distribution
SWMM: Industrial and urban dranage 9

10. Ubuntu Linux + Open Office + Gimp
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