Implementing Open Source

Implementing Open Source Nicole C. Engard Vice President of Education,
ByWater Solutions Author, The Accidental Systems Librarian 2d & Practical Open Source Software for Libraries tasl.web2learning.net & opensource.web2learning.net [email protected] Sunday, June 9, 13

Disclaimers • I work for a company that supports Koha
• I am the documenta6on manager for Koha • My bias is simple: I personally want all libraries to use and support any and all open source and want you to choose what’s right for you and your library! Sunday, June 9, 13

What is Open Source? Sunday, June 9, 13

What isn’t Open Source? • “Isn’t that insecure?” • “I
don’t want to share my data!” • “How can it be any good if it’s free?” • “We don’t have the staﬀ to handle open source.” Common Open Source FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) Comic: Author: Unknown | Year: Unknown | Source: Unknown Sunday, June 9, 13

What is Open Source? Open source soHware is soHware that
users have the ability to run, distribute, study and modify for any purpose. Open source is a collabora6ve soHware-‐development method that harnesses the power of peer review and transparency of process to develop code that is freely accessible.1 Open source draws on an ecosystem of thousands of developers and customers all over the world to drive innova6on.2 1,2 h<p://connect.educause.edu/display/47941 Sunday, June 9, 13

The Cathedral (proprietary so1ware) • Development occurs behind
walls • Source code is usually not provided -‐ kept locked up • Corporate hierarchy The Bazaar (open source so1ware) •Code developed over the Internet with several others in public view •Source code open to all users •“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow” h<p://www.catb.org/~esr/wriIngs /cathedral-‐bazaar/cathedral-‐bazaar/ The Cathedral & The Bazaar Sunday, June 9, 13

Open Source Governance What kind of quality control is there?
•Most open source projects have a release manager or a manager of some sort who reviews the code and approves it before adding it to the ﬁnal release What is the role of the community? •The community looks out for the best interests of the soSware. They work as the governing body behind all decisions related to the soSware. The community decides what features to develop next and who the managers are. Sunday, June 9, 13

Open Source Community •Open source is about more than free
soHware •Community is crucial to the growth of open source •Without shared knowledge and collabora6on the project will not grow •“Cri6quing the community is a right reserved for those who have proved themselves by making valuable contribu6ons”1 •People who use open source can collaborate and contribute in many ways with the community 1. Tapscott, Don, and Anthony D. Williams. “Embracing open source culture and strategy.” In Wikinomics: How mass collaboration changes everything, 82-83. Expanded Edition. New York, NY: Penguin USA, 2008. www.wikinomics.com/book/. •Write code •Write documenta6on •Debug •Educate others Sunday, June 9, 13

“Crowdsourcing has it genesis in the open source movement in
soHware. The development of the Linux opera6ng system proved that a community of like-‐minded peers was capable of crea6ng a beVer product than a corporate behemoth like MicrosoH. Open source revealed a fundamental truth about humans that had gone largely unno6ced un6l the connec6vely of the Internet brought it into high relief: labor can oHen be organized more efficiently in the context of a community than it can in the context of the corpora6on. The best person to do a job is the one who most wants to do that job; and the best people to evaluate their performance are their friends and peers who, by the way, will enthusias6cally pitch in to improve the final product, simply for the sheer pleasure of helping one another and crea6ng something beau6ful from which they all will benefit.” Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing: Why the power of the crowd is driving the future of business. New York: Crown Business. p.8 Open Source Crowdsourcing Sunday, June 9, 13

Believing in Openness If you don't know why you do
what you do then how will you ever get people to be loyal and want to be a part of what you do? The goal is not just to sell to people what you have, it's to sell people on what you believe -‐ the goal is not to hire people who want a job it's to hire people who believe what you believe. If you hire people just because they can do a job they will work for your money -‐ if you hire people who believe what you believe they work for you with blood and sweat and tears. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire ac6on hVp://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_ how_great_leaders_inspire_ac6on.html Sunday, June 9, 13

Open Source is Easy! “The hard drive on one of
our reference desk PCs died today. I threw in a new one, but I didn't feel like spending the day si^ng through Windows updates, so I loaded Ubuntu 11.04 on it instead. The install, as I'm sure you know, only took about 15 minutes. Now, before I add my next point, keep in mind that I manage a staff whose average age is about 63. No joke. Most of them have been working at my facility longer than I've been alive. S6ll, once I had Ubuntu up and running, they were literally figh6ng over who got to use the new opera6ng system. They loved it that much. Now I agree, Linux kicks buV. I use it about 80% of the 6me. Typing to you on Mint right now! However, I never expected novice users to take to it so quickly. Please, next 6me you do an open source webinar, impress on your aVendees that libraries aren't sacrificing a thing by switching over to open source soHware. If anything, open source opera6ng systems and applica6ons can be far more user friendly for the novice user than Windows will ever be...” -‐-‐ Mark at the The Rahway Public Library Sunday, June 9, 13

Who’s Using Open Source? •Government Agencies •All Kinds of Businesses
•Schools (K-‐colleges) •Librarians Sunday, June 9, 13

http://www.unisys.com/unisys/news/detail.jsp?id=5100086&pid=&sid=203 2007 Survey Results Open Source in Business Sunday, June
9, 13

• In 2010 a survey of 300 large organiza6ons in
both the private and public sector found: • 50% are fully commiVed to open source in their business • 28% say they are experimen6ng with open source and keeping an open mind to using it • 38% expec6ng to migrate mission-‐cri6cal soHware to open source in next 12 months • The cost was no longer viewed as the key benefit, instead: • 76% cited quality as a key benefit of open source • 70% cited improved reliability • 69% said beVer security/bug fixing h<p://newsroom.accenture.com/ arIcle_display.cfm?arIcle_id=5045 Open Source in Business Sunday, June 9, 13

Total Ac6ve Sites: 6/2000 to 7/2012 h<p://news.netcraS.com/archives/2012/07/03/july-‐2012-‐web-‐server-‐survey.html Open Source
On the Web Sunday, June 9, 13

•Reliability through Peer Review •Freedom to Innovate •No Vendor Lock-‐in
•User-‐centric Development •Collabora6ve Environment •Zero License Fees Why so Popular? Sunday, June 9, 13

Why Should Libraries Care? Sunday, June 9, 13

Libraries and Open Source Both... • Believe that informaIon should
be freely accessible to everyone • Give away stuﬀ • Beneﬁt from the generosity of others • Are about communiIes • Make the world a be<er place -‐-‐ Horton, G. h<p://Inyurl.com/3jvumn Open Source & Libraries Sunday, June 9, 13

Libraries and Open Source make the perfect pair [Librarians]
"are almost ethically required to use and develop open source soHware." Crawford, R. S. h<p://www.lugod.org/ presentaIons/oss4lib.pdf hVp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/cavort/ 151687944/ Open Source & Libraries Sunday, June 9, 13

• Is there support? Do I have to know
how to program? • Do I have to skimp on features? • Isn’t Open Source risky? • Can I do it myself? Common ques6ons libraries have: Open Source & Libraries Sunday, June 9, 13

•ByWater Solu6ons •Equinox •Catalyst •YourLibrarySite •And more! Is there support?
Do I have to know how to program? •If you want to contribute to the code -‐ Yes •If not you can use: •Support Providers •Local Students •Freelance Developers Support for Open Source Sunday, June 9, 13

• Open Source developers follow the rule of “Release
early and release oHen” • Users vote with their dollars and 6me • Freedom to develop on your own • Developers love their products hVp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/programwitch/ 2505184887/ Do I have to skimp on features? Sunday, June 9, 13

• Casey Coleman, chief informa6on officer for the GSA
(U.S. General Services Administra6on), said in a speech ... that the GSA heavily relies on open source to drive down costs, increase flexibility of IT dollars, and reduce risk. ‘You get much more transparency and interoperability, and that reduces your risk,’ she said. • h<p://news.cnet.com/ 8301-‐13505_3-‐9921115-‐16.html Isn’t Open Source Risky? • US Department of Defense memo encourages the use of open source with many reasons “including cost advantages, reduced risk of vendor lock-‐in, beVer security, and increased flexibility. It says that the posi6ve aspects of open source soHware should be given considera6on during procurement research. • h<p://arstechnica.com/open-‐source/news/ 2009/10/dod-‐military-‐needs-‐to-‐think-‐harder-‐ about-‐using-‐open-‐source.ars Sunday, June 9, 13

For a total 284 days in 2006 (or more than
nine months out of the year), exploit code for known, unpatched cri6cal flaws in pre-‐IE7 versions of the browser was publicly available on the Internet. Likewise, there were at least 98 days last year in which no soHware fixes from MicrosoH were available to fix IE flaws that criminals were ac6vely using to steal personal and financial data from users. In a total of ten cases last year, instruc6ons detailing how to leverage "cri6cal" vulnerabili6es in IE were published online before MicrosoH had a patch to fix them. In contrast, Internet Explorer's closest compe6tor in terms of market share -‐-‐ Mozilla's Firefox browser -‐-‐ experienced a single period las6ng just nine days last year in which exploit code for a serious security hole was posted online before Mozilla shipped a patch to remedy the problem. h<p://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/01/ internet_explorer_unsafe_for_2.html Isn’t Open Source Risky? Sunday, June 9, 13

Risk of Proprietary Software • “Closed-‐source efforts oHen suffer from
flaws and problems which the original development team never an6cipated. Lack of inspec6on of the code by other programmers can mean that inappropriate design constraints and other errors might not be discovered un6l the code is already in use.” Pavlicek, Russell. Embracing insanity : open source soSware development. Indianapolis IN: SAMS, 2000. p. 33. Sunday, June 9, 13

Risk of Proprietary Software • “In its 2011 Coverity Scan
Open Source Integrity Report, which was released on Thursday, Coverity actually found that open source code has fewer defects per thousand lines of code than proprietary soHware code does.” Noyes, Katherine. “Actually, Open Source Code Is Be<er: Report.” PCWorld Business Center, February 23, 2012. h<p://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/arIcle/250543/ actually_open_source_code_is_be<er_report.html. Sunday, June 9, 13

All soSware has risks, you need to evaluate open source
the same way you do proprietary systems. Several Levels of Risk to consider: • SoSware security issues • Open source is just as secure if not more secure than proprietary systems because of its transparency • Evaluate open source soSware no diﬀerently than you do other soSware! • Company mergers and acquisiIons • Because you own the code to your system you are not Ied to one support source and will never be leS without support Software is Risky! Sunday, June 9, 13

•Absolutely, with the right in-‐house skills •Systems knowledge •Linux server
management •Web programming •Perl / PHP / MySQL Can I do it Myself? Sunday, June 9, 13

Now What? Sunday, June 9, 13

Finding Open Source Software • FOSS4Lib lists open source applica6ons
for libraries (including integrated library systems) along with links to documenta6on and where to download the soHware • hVp://foss4lib.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Open Source ILS • Evergreen (h<p://open-‐ils.org) • Desktop client
+ Web based OPAC • Started by the Georgia Public Library System in 2006 to serve as the shared system for the state • Koha (h<p://koha-‐community.org) • Web based staﬀ client and OPAC • Developed in 1999 by the Horowhenua Library Trust in New Zealand to replace a system that was about to suﬀer from Y2K Sunday, June 9, 13

Both have: • Cataloging • CirculaIon • Patron Management •
AcquisiIons • Serials • ReporIng Sunday, June 9, 13

Both are: • Open source and freely available for
download and use • Supported by mulIple companies • Run by libraries who pay for support and/or go it alone Sunday, June 9, 13

How Do I Choose? Sunday, June 9, 13

Research! • Librarians need to take their LIS skills and
apply them to soHware evalua6on • Research the soHware: • Search on Lib-‐Web-‐Cats to see who in your ﬁeld/geographical loca6on is using what and talk to them • www.librarytechnology.org/libwebcats/ • Demo the soHware! Don’t just let a vendor show it to you -‐ actually use it yourself • Evergreen: bit.ly/evergreendemo • Koha: koha-‐community.org/demo/ Sunday, June 9, 13

Compare • Compare the soHware side by side • Create
your own features/pros & cons list -‐ do not depend on those created by others (but don’t discount documenta6on from both projects) • Take in to considera6on your own preferences -‐ it’s not all about features -‐ you have to live with this soHware every day Sunday, June 9, 13

Talk • Talk to your trusted network • Talk to
others using the soHware • Talk to strangers and friends alike on social networks to see what they like/don’t like • Talk to the community behind the soHware Sunday, June 9, 13

Paid Support or Local Support Sunday, June 9, 13

Research! • Bears repea6ng ... you need to do your
research • Talk to you network • Talk to support companies • Talk to your local systems staﬀ • Talk to those who have done it before (mailing lists and IRC are great tools) Sunday, June 9, 13

Paid Support • No Vendor Lock In! • Call
in mul6ple support companies for each system you’re considering -‐ just like if you were considering a proprietary ILS • Talk to your peers and use online research like the annual percep6ons survey • librarytechnology.org/percep6ons2012.pl Sunday, June 9, 13

Paid Support • Do they oﬀer: • Migra6on support /
Full migra6on services • Training (onsite or webinar) • Phone, Email and/or chat support • Development of new features if necessary/desired Sunday, June 9, 13

Local Support • Do you have an available server? •
Does your IT staﬀ know how to handle the necessary opera6ng system (Linux)? • Do you have the infrastructure to maintain backups? • Does your staﬀ have the 6me to maintain the system? Sunday, June 9, 13

Local Support • Can your librarians and systems folks handle
the migraIon? • Will you need outside training? • Does your IT staﬀ (or insItuIon) have access to a systems librarian? • Are you going to want new features? Do you have a developer on staﬀ? Sunday, June 9, 13

Local System Requirements • Both will need: • A Linux
server with Perl installed • Evergreen uses PostgreSQL as the database • Koha uses MySQL as the database • Both will need several Perl Modules installed Sunday, June 9, 13

What Else is Out There? Sunday, June 9, 13

OPAC • VuFind • hVp://vuﬁnd.org • Blacklight • hVp://projectblacklight.org
• SOPAC • hVp://thesocialopac.net Sunday, June 9, 13

Digital Library/Exhibits • Omeka • Professional-‐looking exhibit sites that showcase
collecIons • Dublin Core metadata structure • MulIple themes • Plug-‐ins for geolocaIon and bi-‐lingual sites • Tagging / Blogging / RSS feeds http://omeka.org http://nycdigital.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Research Assistant • Zotero • Firefox plugin or standalone
• Helps you collect, manage, & cite research resources • Includes saved searches and tags • Integra6on with MS Office & LibreOffice • Can store of files and bibliography online as well • Allows for shared collec6ons http://zotero.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Institutional Repository • DSpace • Store research papers and presentaIons
for your organizaIon • Captures your data in text, video, audio and data • Searchable • Widely used in the academic world http://dspace.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Web Analytics • PiWik • Keep staIsIcs for your websites
(an open source alternaIve to Google AnalyIcs) • Download and install on your own web server behind your ﬁrewall • Customizable interface http://piwik.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Surveys • LimeSurvey • Install on your own servers •
Free with no limits on number of surveys or responses • MulI-‐Lingual Surveys in more than 50 languages • CreaIon of a printable survey version http://limesurvey.org Sunday, June 9, 13

More to Learn Sunday, June 9, 13

Additional Links •Open Source Living http://osliving.com •OSS Watch, open source
software advisory service: http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk •Open Source as Alternative http://www.osalt.com •Nicole’s Delicious bookmarks: http://delicious.com/nengard/opensource Sunday, June 9, 13

OSS & Libraries Links • Open Source SoHware in Libraries
hVp://infomo6ons.com/musings/ossnlibraries/ • Open Source SoHware and Libraries Bibliography zotero.org/groups/ freelibre_and_open_source_soHware_and_libraries_bibliography •Prac6cal Open Source SoHware for Libraries hVp://opensource.web2learning.net/blog • Open Network Libraries hVp://onl.org.nz • FOSS4Lib hVp://foss4lib.org Sunday, June 9, 13

Open Source Blogs • The Open Road hVp://www.cnet.com/openroad/ • Open
Ended from Ars Technica hVp://arstechnica.com/open-‐source • The H Open Source hVp://www.h-‐online.com/open/ • ZDNet Open Source hVp://blogs.zdnet.com/open-‐source • New York Times -‐ Open hVp://open.ny6mes.com • OpenSource.com hVp://opensource.com • Open Source at Datama6on itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/ Sunday, June 9, 13

Online Reading List • Open Source: Narrowing the Divides between
Educa6on, Business, and Community hVp://connect.educause.edu/display/47941 • The concepts of Free SoHware & Open Standards: Introduc6on to Free SoHware hVp://Hacademy.org/materials/fsm/1#1 • We Love Open Source SoHware. No, You Can’t Have Our Code hVp://journal.code4lib.org/ar6cles/527 • Open Source SoHware Tools And Directories: Where To Find Them, How To Evaluate Them hVp://www.masternewmedia.org/open-‐source-‐soHware-‐tools-‐and-‐directories-‐where-‐to-‐ﬁnd-‐them-‐ how-‐to-‐evaluate-‐them/ • Open Source Security Bibliography hVp://www.zotero.org/nengard/items/collec6on/QKWPIXK9 • Nicole’s Zotero Library hVp://www.zotero.org/nengard/items/collec6on/1796131 Sunday, June 9, 13

Print Reading List • Prac?cal Open Source SoAware in Libraries
by Nicole C. Engard • The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolu?onary by Eric S. Raymond • Embracing Insanity: Open Source SoAware Development by Russell Pavlicek • The success of open source by Steve Weber • The open source alterna?ve: Understanding risks and leveraging opportuni?es by Heather J. Meeker • Open Sources 2.0: The Con?nuing Evolu?on by Chris DiBona, Mark Stone, and Danese Cooper Sunday, June 9, 13

Thank You! Nicole C. Engard Vice President of Education, ByWater
Solutions Author, Practical Open Source Software for Libraries opensource.web2learning.net [email protected] Sunday, June 9, 13

Implementing Open Source

Implementing Open Source

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