OPEN SOURCE vs. COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE: OPEN SOURCE vs. COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE an academic view Budi Rahardjo http://budi.insan.co.id budi@indocisc.co.id Presented at Business Software Alliance (BSA) Seminar 14 November 2003, Hyatt, Jakarta
Outline: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 2 Outline Free & Open Source Initiatives Open Source Software (OSS) vs. Commercial Software Concluding Remarks Note: point of view of academic
Definition of commercial software?: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 3 Definition of commercial software? Software that is sold and support commercially (Open source software can be sold and support commercially too.) Perhaps “proprietary software” is more correct
OSS vs. Commercial: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 4 OSS vs. Commercial Usually it is framed as Linux vs. Microsoft Security vs. Innovation
Free & Open Source Initiatives: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 5 Free & Open Source Initiatives Has been there for ages Various licensing schemes Public domain Shareware Copyrighted but free to use GNU Public License (GPL) Open Source Other licensing: BSD, Q License, etc.
Benefits of OSS: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 6 Benefits of OSS Availability of source code to study and experiment with Beautiful source code to read Do not have to re-invent the wheel Free as in “freedom” And sometimes: free as in “gratis” Does not depend on vendor. Can choose vendor / support we like Can fix bugs
Benefits of Commercial Software: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 7 Benefits of Commercial Software Benefits of providing access to commercial software in academic environment: Understand the (business) model of software in commercial environment Familiar with commercial software / solution Comply with industrial standards
Disadvantage of OSS: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 8 Disadvantage of OSS If source code is not looked at, no need to have OSS There are also bad codes, unqualify persons Too much hype?
Disadvantage of Proprietary: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 9 Disadvantage of Proprietary Dependent upon vendor. What if vendor collapsed? Charge too much? Monopoly? Too much dose of Intellectual Property is bad for innovation
Concluding Remarks: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 10 Concluding Remarks There are pros and cons to Open Source and Proprietary Software Use accordingly
References: Nov 2003 OSS vs. Commercial - Budi Rahardjo 11 References GNU: http://www.gnu.org Open Source Initiative: http://www.opensource.org