Open Source Movement Open Source Movement in Librariesin Libraries

Khalid Mahmood, PhDProfessor of Library and Information Science

University of the Punjab

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HistoryHistory

1950s◦ Companies were selling low priced software with

hardware

1960s◦ On limited scale◦ Developers at universities and research organizations

shared code

1970s◦ Idea ended as programmers joined commercial firms to

produce proprietary software

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History…History…

1985

◦ Richard Stallman disagreed with proprietary philosophy, left MIT, and founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF)

◦ Authored GNU manifesto

◦ GNU project developed many complimentary programs

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History…History…

1991

◦ Linus Torvalds, a 21-year old computer science student of Finland

◦ Started developing Linux/GNU operating system

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History…History…

1998◦ Netscape announced to release its web browser “Netscape

Communicator 4.0” as an open source product

1998◦ The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was started by a group

including Eric S. Raymond and Bruce Perens

2002◦ Mozilla was released based on Netscape code

Recent years◦ The movement has grown and produced many alternatives to

well known proprietary products

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Web Server Market ShareWeb Server Market Share6

Open Movement TodayOpen Movement Today

The philosophy includes freedoms and collaborative processes to knowledge creation and dissemination.

Like open content and open publishing

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Open Source DefinitionOpen Source Definition

Free redistribution

Source code

Derived worksThe license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.

Integrity of the author's source codeThe license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form ‘only’ if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time.

No discrimination against persons or groupsThe license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.

No discrimination against fields of endeavorThe license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.

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Open Source Definition…Open Source Definition…

Distribution of licenseThe rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.

License must not be specific to a productThe rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution.

License must not restrict other softwareThe license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.

License must be technology-neutralNo provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface

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Open Source StrengthsOpen Source Strengths

Ability to fit local needsAvailability of the source code means that you can modify and enhance the software to more closely fit your own needs.

No restrictions on useNo restrictions on how the software is used and no invoices for each user license.

Low costNo charge for the software itself. If other libraries share their efforts, each user’s cost is reduced. Pay only for needed support or any additional products & services if required. Even then huge savings than commercial software. 

InnovationWith open source code, users keep-up innovating, improving which means often much faster development cycle when compared to proprietary software.

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Open Source Strengths…Open Source Strengths…

User-drivenTraditional vendors focus on providing functionality meeting needs of the majority of their customers. In contrast, OSS features emerge from the community of users. This makes OSS development user-driven: you decide what features are important and deserve attention rather than a vendor.

CollaborationVibrant local, national and global user groups collaborate in creativity, development and trouble shooting.

Transfer of technical know-howBeing active member and part of OSS community, your team members will learn the minimum required know-how of software & technologies in use.

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Open Source Strengths…Open Source Strengths…

ReliabilityOSS is peer-reviewed software, exposed to extreme scrutiny, with problems being found and fixed instead of being kept secret until the wrong person discovers. So the code base is more reliable than closed, proprietary software. Mature open-source code is as bulletproof as software ever gets. OSS evolves at astonishing speed. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs.

  Security and stability

Proprietary software, with 'closed' source code, support and future development rely solely on the resources of a single vendor. If the vendor goes down, so does your product support. In contrast, OSS rely on stable code bases developed and supported by many providers worldwide. As a result, libraries using OSS have more support options than those using proprietary software.

No supplier lock-inUnlike proprietary software formats, Open Source software allows you to access the source code for your applications and store your data in open standard (non-proprietary) formats. As a result, you are not tied to any particular supplier.

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Open Source WeaknessesOpen Source Weaknesses

Unanticipated effortsAn organization may find that it needs to do a great deal more work than anticipated to adapt the software exactly to the local needs.

Lack of coordinationThe decentralized development of open source software means that progress can be chaotic and there may be delays in addressing bugs.

Inadequate technical supportDocumentation tends to be limited and aimed at developers. There usually is limited technical support, especially for users of the software.

Risk of discontinuationDevelopment or support may discontinue. The same risk exists with commercial options.

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Open Source Movement in Open Source Movement in LibrariesLibraries

Integrated library management system Koha Evergreen

Digital library and repositories Dspace Eprints Fedora Greenstone

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Open Source Movement in Open Source Movement in Libraries…Libraries…

Metasearch resolver LibraryFind CUFTS

OPACs VuFind SOPAC Backlight

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Open Source Movement in Open Source Movement in Pakistani LibrariesPakistani Libraries

LIS curriculum Koha and Greenstone at Punjab University

Seminars LISolutions

Training programs Koha, Greenstone, Zebra Server, MARCEdit by

PakLAG Koha and Dspace by LISolutions and PLWO Greenstone by Mehran UET

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Open Source Movement in Open Source Movement in Pakistani Libraries…Pakistani Libraries…

Projects Koha at UMT, IIU, etc. Koha in Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project

(PLSP) of the USAID PakLAG Koha Koha by LISolutions Greenstone at Akhtar Hameed Khan Resource

Center and United Nations Dspace in LUMS and Bahria University

Research Muhammad Rafiq, Ata ur Rehman, Farasat

Shafiullah

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ConclusionConclusion

Emerging movement in Pakistan

Suitable for financially weak libraries

Needs institutional support Higher education commission Professional associations Library schools Software houses for pay-for-support model Library consortia

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Thanks for your patienceThanks for your patience

andand

Best wishes for this workshopBest wishes for this workshop

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