Open Source in an Economic Downturn

Craig Buchek

May 9, 2009

The Open Source movement is just a faster, Internet-enabled implementation of the much older academic tradition of peer review and building on foundations laid by others. -- Paul Murphy

• Using GNU/Linux since 1994
• Chair of St. Louis LUG since 1999
• Independent web developer since 2006
  • BoochTek, LLC
  • Ruby on Rails, PHP
• Various consulting and contacting positions
• Certifications from Microsoft and Novell

• How many have used Linux?
• How many have used other Open Source applications?
  • Firefox
  • Open Office
  • Thunderbird
• How many have used Google?
• How many own a TiVo?

• What size company do you work for?
  • Large corporation
  • Medium size company
  • Small business or consulting
  • Unemployed
• Does your company use Open Source?
• Does your company use Java?

• Economic Downturn

• Lower demand
• Lower revenue
• Lower profits
• Employee lay-offs

• Lower Costs
• Raise Prices
• Increase Demand
  • Lower Prices
  • Improve the quality of your product/service
  • Improve the efficiency of your product/service
  • Make your product/service more desirable
• Go Out of Business

• Same business imperatives as always
• Just more urgent

• Lower Costs
• Increase efficiency
• Increase flexibility
• Allow you to concentrate on your product/service
• Help you stand out from the crowd

Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in. -- Open Source Initiative

• A licensing scheme, allowing distribution to anyone
• Another name for Free Software
  • Because "free" is ambiguous in English
  • Because people associate "free" with no value
• A way to collaborate on software development
• Sharing of source code, so others can make improvements
• Realization that once you've produced code, it costs nothing to distribute

• http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd

• Free Software emphasizes freedom
• Open Source emphasizes low cost, flexibility, control
• Freedom and control are 2 sides of the same coin
• I will use them interchangeably

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

• http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

• Free or low cost
• Low cost maintenance/support
  • Often just taken care of in-house
• Lower hardware requirements
• Less administrative overhead

• Avoids lock-in with a single vendor
• Interoperability
  • Open Source tends to follow Open Standards more
• Can modify the source code if necessary
  • Bug fixes
  • Added functionality

• Licensing issues
• Learning curve
  • Higher cost of employees
  • Training costs
• Cost of switching
• Fear and uncertainty

• Using FLOSS has no restrictions/requirements
  • But commercial software usually does
• Open Source licenses give you additional rights
  • Commercial EULAs take rights away
• If you distribute copies or make modifications, you must follow terms of copyright law and licenses
• If you're just using Open Source - no worries
• If you're just distributing unmodified Open Source - no worries
• If you're distributing modified Open Source with source code - no worries
• If you're mixing Open Source with proprietary extensions - talk to a lawyer
  • Unless the Open Source code is BSD or MIT, then just ensure proper attribution

• Seems safer to stick with a known quantity
  • Even if it's known to be a poor choice
• Can blame the seller of a proprietary product
  • But pointing fingers never helps
• Open Source requires taking responsibility
• People often care more about their jobs than helping the company

• IBM
• Google
• Sun
• Novell
• Oracle
• NYSE
• Microsoft

• Governments
• Small businesses
• Everyone!

• Slowly and carefully
• Start with new systems instead of migrations
• Start with smaller, non-mission-critical apps
• Do your homework
  • Make sure the cost savings will offset the migration costs
• Consider Software As A Service options
  • Online services

• Firefox
• Open Office
• LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) for web and app servers
• GNU/Linux and Samba for file servers
• GNU/Linux and Postfix for email

• Learn new technologies
  • Broaden your experience
• Contribute to Open Source projects
  • Keep experience up to date
  • Have something to show prospective employers
  • Make a difference
• Become a part of the community
  • Network with other people

• Is Red Hat's Whitehurst Right? Open Source Thrives In Downturn?
• Red Hat CEO Whitehurst Talks About Slowdown, Virtualization, Linux
• Can Open Source Help the Economy?
• Is the downturn good for open source?
• Open source thrives in downturn
• Open Source Backers See Downturn Opportunity

• The Cathedral & the Bazaar by Eric Raymond
• Free as in Freedom by Richard Stallman
• Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing
• The Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source
• The Open Source Alternative: Understanding Risks and Leveraging Opportunities
• Open Source for the Enterprise: Managing Risks, Reaping Rewards
• Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution

• St. Louis GNU/Linux Users Group
• St. Louis UNIX Users Group
• Free Software Foundation
• Open Source Initiative

• Inspired by a presentation given at SCALE7x, mentioned in Linux Weekly News:
  • Open source in an economic downturn
• Used DokuWiki to create this presentation

• http://craigbuchek.com/presentations
• Copyright 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Craig Buchek. Some Rights Reserved.
• This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (3.0).