PRESENTED BY- AMAR SHAH

COLLEGE- I.I.P.M
BATCH-A4

OPEN SOURCE

INTRODUCTION :-
The IT industry is going through major changes. New concepts in
technology, such as Web services and grid computing, are opening the door
to tremendous opportunities for taking e-business to the next level of
profitability. The potential of these technologies to transform business is
truly remarkable, and open standards and open source software will play
increasingly critical roles in this new world.

In the first generation of e-business, standards allowed heterogeneous

systems to communicate with each other and exchange data. This was
critical to the development of the World Wide Web, e-markets, e-commerce,
and inter-company integration. These capabilities drove cost down and
productivity up, while increasing both speed to market and business agility.
During the next ten years, business agility will continue to be the critical
business differentiator for businesses and governments, and those that can
shift their business strategies quickly in response to market dynamics,
emerging opportunities, and competitive threats will prosper as on demand
organizations. In this next generation of e-business on demand, where
computing resources become virtualized with corresponding flexibility and
cost variability, where application function is discovered and bound to in a
remote and just-in-time way, and where IT systems and business processes
become integrated horizontally, open computing and standards will become
more important than ever.

The roles of standards and open source software do overlap in that many
companies who are using open source in part as a means of implementing
open standards, the cores of their respective value propositions are distinct.

MEANING:-
Open source software? software whose source code is published and made
available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the
source code without paying royalties or fees. Open source code evolves
through community cooperation. These communities are composed of
individual programmers as well as very large companies. Some examples of
open source initiatives are Linux, Eclipse, Apache, Mozilla, and various
projects hosted on SourceForge.

NOTE :-{The open source label does not imply no cost. Developers can
and do charge for open source software. Open source actually refers to the
availability of the source code for software.}

The role of open source software:-

It has become clear that open source software (OSS) has an important role to
play in the IT industry and business in general. Yet there is considerable
confusion about the strengths and weaknesses of OSS. Some believe it will
eventually replace the commercial software model , even that OSS is a
critical element of a modern democracy. Others decry OSS as the single
greatest threat to capitalism and the principles of intellectual property, the
ruin of Western society. Neither of these extremes is accurate. OSS, for the
most part, represents a software development process. It can be leveraged to
provide considerable value and complement commercial software products.
At the same time, commercial software products will continue to play a
critical role for the foreseeable future. (The rationale for this conclusion will
be discussed below.)

Open source software (OSS) isn't developed by any one company; it is

developed by a community, and it comes in many flavors. For example, the
Linux movement was started by an individual who was quickly joined by
many others who used the Internet to collaborate on the project we know
today as the leading open source platform. Others such as Apache are
offshoots of academic work. Some, such as Mozilla and Eclipse, were
seeded by substantial code donations from major software companies.

Open source software licenses:-

Like all software, open source software is protected by copyright. Although
the license does not demand any money, this does not mean that there are no
conditions. Almost all open source licenses require a user to reproduce the
name of the author (typically in the form of a copyright notice) whenever he
distributes the work or incorporates it in a commercial product. Other
licenses require a distributor to make the source code of the open source
software available, for example by shipping it together with their own
product or by putting it on a website. Modifications are almost always
required to be identified clearly. Sometimes these modifications must even
be supplied in separate files and modifications sometimes must bear a
different name to avoid any confusion about what is the official version.

The most famous open source licenses are:

• The BSD license,

• The GNU General Public License (GPL),
• The GNU Library or Lesser General Public License (LGPL), and
• The Mozilla Public License (MPL).
The BSD license:-

The BSD license is a very simple and broad license. The license permits
unlimited use of the software, as well as distribution in source code and
object code form. The software can be adapted freely and be incorporated in
other programs without any restrictions.

The only obligations are that the copyright notice and a warranty disclaimer
must be reproduced in the source code or in the documentation of the work.
The name of the author and of any contributor may not be used to endorse or
promote products derived from such software without specific prior written
permission.

The GNU General Public License:-

The GNU General Public License (GPL) is the most famous open source
license. Using, copying and distributing software under the GPL is always
permitted. Modifying the software, or even developing an application using
for example a library under the GPL is no problem.

Distribution of a work that is based on software under the GPL is also

allowed if the work based on this software is also distributed under the GPL.
It is not allowed to impose any further restrictions on the rights under the
GPL. The source code of the software as a whole must be made available
freely. The recipient of the software now has the right to freely use the entire
package, and to adapt and modify it and to distribute it further without any
payment to the author. The recipient may also distribute the software in
modified form, as long as he does so under the GPL as well. The exact
meaning of "based on" will be discussed below.

There is no obligation to release modifications or extensions to software

under the GPL. Private modifications, including modifications internally
within a company, can be kept a secret. The obligation to make the
modifications or extensions available under the GPL only arises if the
person who modified the software chooses to distribute the result.

The Library General Public License:-

The Library General Public License (LGPL) is a variant of the GPL. As the
name indicates, it is mainly intended for libraries (such as DLLs), programs
with functionality that can be used by other programs. The LGPL permits
linking the library with such another program without imposing any
obligations on that other program. Modifications to the library itself can only
be distributed under the terms of the LGPL, which in this respect are equal
to the terms of the GPL. That is, such modifications can only be distributed
in source code form and without imposing any further restrictions on the
recipients of these modifications.

The Mozilla Public License:-

According to the Mozilla Public License (MPL) the author of a work grants
everyone a worldwide royalty-free license to use and distribute his work
under any patent and copyrights he holds. Anyone who distributes a
modification or other contribution to the work must grant the same
permission for his contribution and for the combination of the original work
and his modification.

It is only permitted to distribute the (original or modified) work if the source

code is also made available. One way to satisfy this requirement is to
distribute the source code together with the object code. Another way is to
put the source code on a website. Integration of software under the MPL
with one's own application is permitted, as long as the portion under the
MPL is made available including source code.

PROS AND CONS OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE:-

we will discuss the pros and cons by exploring the

characteristics of OSS. All software can be characterized with cost,
functionalities, usability and sustainability. Cost is about the amount of
development involved and how much the consumer is willing to pay for it.
Functionalities describe the features and how the software would work. Last
of
all, sustainability looks at the backward compatibility and projected
development of the software. We will also see the pros and cons for the
developers and the users too.

{Cost}
Pros:
Source codes are like keys to programmers. By exposing the source codes,
programmers can improve, modify and tweak any part of the freely software.
This could reduce development time that translates into lower costs. As OSS
is distributed, programmers are also able to use this software for their
benefits.
From this aspect, OSS is free to the extent of having the source codes.

Cons:
Although the source codes are provided, there are hidden costs that do not
come with the software. Programmers will have to be familiar with
integrating open source with other proprietary software. Middleware might
be needed in many instances. This gives additional cost. Novice users are
also unfamiliar with the bugs and fixes that often occur in OSS. They also
need to pay for customer support service or even documentation and
manuals.

{Functionalities}
Pros:
The functionalities of OSS are beginning to rival that to commercial
software. This is because the global community of programmers and
users have a hand in improving the software. In some cases, the OSS
offers more functionality.

Cons:
Being free comes with hidden cost. In similar fashion, functionalities
bring about bugs and usability issues. Users will find the software patches a
hassle in OSS. Those who are familiar with commercial software like
Microsoft may not get used to the user interface of Open Office. This
involves re-learning new software and incurring switching cost.

{Sustainability}
Pros:
One of the greatest things in OSS is the continuous contribution and
effort from programmers. Bear in mind that these programmers are
improving the software at their own time and cost. They are not being paid
in anyway. It is their passion that drives the growth of the software like
parents watching their children. Thus, the development of software will
be moving at an amazing pace with a large community as compared
to commercial software.

Cons:
On the other hand, OSS faces major issues in backward compatibility,
project management and customer support. Can OSS sustain and compete
against commercial software?
As most OSS grows from contributions from online
community, resources are limited. There is also a need to manage the long-
term vision of the software. Customers would demand support and help in
using OSS.
OSS is a great threat to commercial software. Commercial software
companies never expect that source codes would be freely distributed.
Although OSS is "free", users expect more than just the source codes.
Documentations, manuals and customer support could incur the additional
cost. Switching cost will also come in the form of training as most users are
used to the functionalities of commercial software. Hence, new way has
been introduced in the form of commercial open source to address the
cons from OSS. In this way, consumers could have the best of both worlds.

{Developers}
Pros:
Developers don't have to create from scratch they can use the massive
open source library of software to get started.
Developers can create a reputation and gain experience though working on
open source projects.
Open source projects can provide good feedback to developers on the
quality of their code.
Developers can collaborate without worrying about things like ownership
and intellectual property.
Cons:
Developers lose control of their software.
Others can fork your code and create a competing product.
Because your code is open every flaw is visible to the entire world.
{Users}
Pros
Many open source projects are free.
Open source software will generally have some sort of community that can
provide support and response.
Open source projects are more responsive to individuals then some
closed source projects.
Open source software is often more secure and less buggy then the closed
source versions.
If you are a user and a developer you can implement features that you need
and share them with others.

Cons
Open source software evolves to answer developers needs not end users.
Many open source projects do not focus on user interface.
Open source software often does not have good documentation.
It is not always possible to buy support for open source software.
Hardware support on open source software can sometimes lag closed source
as hardware vendors are reluctant to make their software available.
For many the pros outweigh the cons of open source. Open source software
runs many of the pieces of hardware that make the web possible. Developers
should consider becoming involved in an open source project to improve
their skills
and gain experience. Users should try a few of the more popular projects
like
Firefox or Open Office.

10 ideas about integrating open source into your IT

infrastructure:-
1. A certain vendor who shall remain nameless used to tell its customers
“Integration and interoperability are easy, just buy everything from us.”
They usually skipped the next part which would have said “and then you’ll
be locked into our products and it will be very expensive and time
consuming to change that. Most customers have a combination of
traditional software from multiple vendors, open source from several
providers, and various combinations of bespoke code. IT world is
heterogeneous, probably, whether you are using open source or not.

2. Newer technologies like Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud

Computing can change and improve the way you implement your business
processes. As you look across your IT landscape, ask yourself where open
source software might or might not fit and where it will improve or possibly
make worse what you are doing now. “Open source software” in that last
sentence, but you could substitute “any software considering using.”
Remember that open source software is software, after all.

3. Whatever the price of the software you are considering integrating into
your IT infrastructure, you need to know if it will exchange information with
full fidelity with your other installed software or that which you are using as
a service, perhaps in the cloud. That is, does the open source software fully
and correctly implement the open standards and protocols to allow it to drop
into your infrastructure? Again, and for the last time here, you should ask
this of any software, not just open source software.

4. It is not sufficient to say “I have the code for the open source software, I
can see how it does things, so I don’t care if it implements open standards
for interoperability.” Code changes while standards define interfaces that are
meant to be stable, at least for a while. By all means, ensure that the open
source software implements open standards.

5. Customers routinely test software vendors to see how well they

implement standards. Expect them to do the same with open source software
providers. Further expect to have to document each and every standard that
it is used for interoperability, along with the versions implemented, and
extent of implementation.

6. Customers often ask traditional software vendors to join standards

organizations. Expect them to do the same with open source software
providers. You’ll need to figure out exactly what this means if the open
source provider is a widely diverse community of people from many
organizations. If a vendor who is a member of an open source community
joins a standards organization because of a customer request, you’ll need to
know explicitly whether the vendor is representing itself or the community.
7. Vendors often take on the task of integrating software for customers, and
there are system integrators who can do the same. Who will do this for the
open source software you are planning to use? Sometimes there are open
source companies like Red Hat or Novell , or services and integration
companies like IBM or Accenture whom you can pay to do the integration.
You might even be considering installing, integrating, and maintaining the
software yourself. Make sure you have someone who knows the open source
technology and can integrate it correctly with the rest of your infrastructure.

8. Depending on your organization and its rules about what software can be
used, you may need to check off that the open source software is certified for

your hardware. Learn whether that is done by the software or hardware

provider. Depending on where your open source code is coming from, you
may need to reconsider any ironclad rule about certification, if you decide
use of the code is critical. Your internal process for such an exception will
need to be adjusted accordingly.

9. Once that open source software is sitting in your infrastructure, how are
you going to manage it? Does the systems management software you are
using now support the open source code? Does the open source software
need to be extended in order to support management standards? Does the
systems management software itself need to be augmented?

10. If you are using no open source code strategically in your organization
but you think you should consider using it, start with Linux. There are many
highly motivated people, organizations, and companies that can help you
integrate Linux into your IT world. Furthermore, it is mature technology
with several first class distributions.
EXAMPLE OF A COMPANY WHO SWITCHED TO OPEN
SOURCE:- [IBM]

IBM’s position on patents may upset open source advocates, but let it not be
said IBM doesn’t like open source.
The whole company is switching to Firefox.
In a blog post set for release today Bob Sutor, the company’s vice president
for open source and Linux (right), said out loud what many IBM’ers have
been noting for some time.
The company is moving to Firefox as its default browser.
Why all the Firefox love?
* Firefox is stunningly standards compliant, and interoperability via open
standards is key to IBM’s strategy.
* Firefox is open source and its development schedule is managed by a
development community not beholden to one commercial entity.
* Firefox is secure and an international community of experts continues to

develop and maintain it.

* Firefox is extensible and can be customized for particular applications
and organizations, like IBM.
* Firefox is innovative and has forced the hand of browsers that came
before and after it to add and improve speed and function.
No, this has nothing to do with the fact that the leading rival browsers are
made by IBM competitors Microsoft, Google and Apple, respectively. Or
that it’s nice to finally have a dog in the fight.
No one is being pushed to use Firefox, Sutor adds. They’re just being
“strongly encouraged.” But there’s another, perhaps more interesting,
section of this blog post which I would like to bring to everyone’s attention:
There’s another reason we want to get as many of our employees using
Firefox as soon as possible, and that is Cloud Computing. For the shift to the
cloud to be successful, open standards must be used in the infrastructure, in
the applications, and in the way people exchange data.
Got that? For the shift to the cloud to work it needs open standards. Open
source is your best insurance of open standards. Put that in your Explorer
and run it.

Conclusion
Using open source software offers various advantages, such as the ability to
reduce costs and development time, or to avoid being dependent on a single
vendor. It is therefore to be expected that more and more companies and
institutions will start using open source software. There are however some
risks associated with doing so. Being forced to release some or all of the
software of a commercial product as open source software may greatly
reduce its value.

It is therefore recommended to carefully study the license agreement and to

make an assessment of the risks associated with these conditions. One
should always check whether the own application is clearly separated from
software under the GPL. And of course compliance with the license
conditions need to be checked. With a careful application of the license
conditions, it is possible to benefit most from using open source software
while minimizing the risk.
SIX EXAMPLES OF OPEN SOURCE SOFWARES:-
1.Mozilla
Thunderbird-Email
Firefox 2.0 – Browser
2. NVU - Web Design MS Frontpage Alternative
3. Evolution - Outlook Alternative
4. ClamWin - Virus Control
5. Miranda - Instant Messaging
6. Open Office - MS Office Alternative - PDF integration included.