Open Source In Further Education

Engaging with open source software in the FE sector [email_address] http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk Regional Support Centre SW Summer Conference 19 th June 2008 Unless otherwise indicated, this page is © 2008 University of Oxford. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0

Agenda Who are OSS Watch? What is Free and Open Source Software Why should you care? Engaging with Free and Open Source Software Open Source and IT Policies Further help and information

Who are OSS Watch? JISC funded advisory service for open source software “ Watchwords” Trust Impartiality Practical advice Openness and collaboration, Pragmatism and balance, Expertise

What we do Advice on all things open Procurement Engagement Development Legal Services Clearing house: info@oss-watch.ac.uk Content: http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk Consultancy, events, presentations, community development

Who are OSS Watch? Ross Gardler (me) Open source developer Member of The Apache Software Foundation Joined OSS Watch in Jan 2007 Service Manager in July 2007 My focus is on open source for sustainability 5 other staff and 4 contractors Legal expert Statistician Content Manager Anthropologist Content authors

What is Open Source? a copyright licensing paradigm a marketing term for free software a software development methodology all about community a business model

Open source use in UK FE Software deployed on servers All/Almost all closed source dropping from 56% (past) to 40% (present) to 26% (Future) Moving to mostly closed (present) and in some cases on to half and half in the future (12%) Software deployed on desktops All/Almost all closed source dropping from 67% (past) to 47% (present) to 37% (Future) Moving to mostly closed (present) and in some cases on to half and half in the future (10%)

Some OSS Myth Busting MYTH: Volunteers sustain open source FACT: sustainable open source enables income streams to support multiple “volunteers” MYTH: You can't generate income from open source FACT: $1.8 billion in 2006 rising to $5.8 billion in 2011 (IDC, June 2007) MYTH: You have to engage with the project if you use open source FACT: You can outsource all support and development services if you want to

MYTH: It’s free FACT: It's Free as in Speech not beer FACT: It can save you money In a survey of 800 IT managers, InfoWorld found that of all the FLOSS adopters, only a very small percentage (<9%) reports that there are no savings or that costs have increased compared to proprietary software. those collecting the most significant benefits are those that deploy more open source products, with 24% of the "large users" (more than 100 products) reporting savings of more than 60%. It is also interesting to notice that http://www.slideshare.net/cdaffara/open-source-competence-centers

Because they say you should? UK Government will consider OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements. Contracts will be awarded on a value for money basis. http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/documents/oss_policy_version2.pdf The [European] Commission will consider OSS solutions the same way as proprietary ones in IT procurements. Contracts will be awarded on a "value for money" basis. Not only licence costs ,but also setup, maintenance, support and training costs must be considered. http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7389/5998 [CIO 07] 79% of respondents answered positively to the question "My company's experience with open source products other than Linux has been so good we plan to expand their use".

Because they say you will? "Open source software is the most significant all-encompassing and long- term trend that the software industry has seen since the early 1980s" [IDC] Today, OSS represents 15% of the total software market, and will reach 25% in 2 years [Gartner, 2006] http://www.slideshare.net/cdaffara/open-source-competence-centers

Because they do? National Security Agency (NSA) today announced an agreement to jointly work within the OpenSolaris community to research and to develop security enhancements to complement existing OpenSolaris security mechanisms. http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/pr/2008-03/sunflash.20080313.1.xml 86% of UK HE and FE use open source software And so on…

But what about YOU ? Following the crowd is not good business sense , we need more Flexibility Interoperability Avoidance of lock-in Viable alternatives

Is Open Source Always Right? No Consider open source alongside closed source and make an informed decision Some key pitfalls with open source Although the software itself is free, you need the right person (or company) to administer and support it Without them you might not see the cost benefit. Open source projects sometimes lack support mechanisms and/or resources (documentations, communities, etc.)

Caveat: Not all open source is equal Sometimes open source is little more than a marketing tool Crippled open source version, paid for feature rich version Closed development methodology If open source is a marketing tool you will not get the full benefits of the open source development methodology

"The real value of open source software is that it allows communities to work together and solve problems" - Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Head of IBM's e-business on demand initiative http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail495.html

A project communmity Evangelism Requirements Support Bugs Use Documentation Design Code Contribute Strategy Legal Oversight Manage

Local customisation is bad Engaging with external community extends and preserves project memory beyond internal staff Allowing local installations to diverge from new developments can be dangerous Local customisations should be contributed back It's cheaper for you and helps secure the future of your chosen solution

Open Source Policies In 2006 70% of FE institutions did not mention open source in their policy. In 2008 67% do mention FOSS Are you one of the remaining 33%?

Changing policies... Engaging with open source requires a new approach You need a policy Always evaluate open source options Define how you will engage with open source solutions Outsourced or in-house support Define how you will manage and fund support Ensuring support providers are active community Staff training and contributing back

Implement the policy 56% of FE institutions now consider FOSS when procuring solutions BUT Only 15% consider open source equally alongside closed source

Simplify Engagement (for most employees) copyright on the code you write belongs to your employer procedures to gain institutional approval for contribution of code may be so difficult that in practice few bother engaging with them Only 13% of FE institutions address contributions to open source in their policies Only 1% address the issue in employment contracts 42.2% of respondents report that contributions are made by staff This is a potential IPR minefield!

OSS Watch [email_address] K http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk Consultancy Events Presentations Community development

Open Source In Further Education

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Open Source In Further Education