P1249003579unNsw

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Carl Grant President, CARE Affiliates, Inc. Past
Chair, NISO September 2007
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Gone Open Yet?

• Agenda
• Introduction
• History and perspective
• What is Open Source Software?
• Who uses it?
• What is causing the upsurge?
• Are there disadvantages?
• What is the future of OSS?

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Introduction

• Java
• C I/O
• WIKI Thin Clients
• Ruby
• 
  Blog
• Bandwidth
• Fat Clients
• Networking

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History and Perspective

• In the fevered state , no good can ever
  result from any attempt to set one of these fiery
  zealots to rights, either in fact or principle.
  They are determined as to the facts they will
  believe, and the opinions on which they will act.
  Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry
  bull it is not for a man of sense to dispute the
  road with such an animal. Thomas Jefferson

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What is Open Source Software?

• Open Source software is computer software whose
  source code is available under a license that
  permits users to use, change, and improve the
  software, and to redistribute it in modified or
  unmodified form Wikipedia

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Who Uses It?

• WordPress (blog) - over 900K downloads.
• Open Office - over 50M users.
• FireFox (browser) - around 400M users
• Apache (web server).. ubiquitous
• MySQL (relational database)
• ThunderBird (email)..
• Jabber (instant messenger)..
• Bottom line --- nearly everyone!

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Who Uses It?

• In libraries?
• Following many years of near evangelistic
  rhetoric, 2006 was the year that open source ILS
  products finally gained a measurable presence.
  An Industry Redefined, by Marshall Breeding --
  Library Journal, 4/1/2007

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Who Uses It?

• In libraries?
• 250 libraries had migrated to the new Evergreen
  system in Georgia. There are over 300 libraries
  worldwide, using Koha
• An Industry Redefined, by Marshall Breeding
• Library Journal, 4/1/2007

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What is causing the upsurge?

• Commodity/Infrastructure technology
• Vendor consolidation
• www.care-affiliates.com/thoughts
• Easier to procure
• Matching or better functionality is available
• More reliable products
• No vendor lock-in
• Wide range of applications now available
• Support options
• Development options
• More efficient use of your financial resources

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Are there disadvantages?

• Theyre not real, but the uninformed will claim
• Legally protected from lawsuits?
• OSS companies tend to be small.
• How do you know the software wont branch?
• Open source software lack maturity.
• Open source companies have no product road map.
• Is it really open?
• Is there really support?
• Is open source software viable over the long
  road?
• What will it cost to add functionality?

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Are there disadvantages?

• Contd
• Is open source software really free?
• Being open is more important than just open
  source.
• Customers can have a co-existence strategy with
  open source

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CARE Affiliates, Inc.

• Thank you !!
• Q A ??
• Open source information solutions assembled for
  you with CARE.
• Website www.care-affiliates.com
• Office 540-552-2912 or 630-858-9830
• Toll-Free 866-340-9580 x 801
• E-mail info_at_care-affiliates.com