Open Source is Not An Alternative, It is The Solution

Open Source is Not An Alternative, It is The Solution How Business Benefits from Open Source and How Open Source Can Be Your Business Thomas Wiradikusuma (wiradikusuma@gmail.com)‏ Java User Group Indonesia RITECH EXPO 2008

Java User Group Indonesia Biggest (2800+) Java-only community in Indonesia. Members vary from students, professionals to business owners. Founded in April 2003 by open source entrepreneur Frans Thamura. Currently coordinated by duo JUG Leaders, Thomas Wiradikusuma and Joshua Partogi. Sister community: JUG Geulis and JUG JogloSemar. Part of JUG worldwide, a group of people who share a common interest in Java technology.

Thomas Wiradikusuma Systems Architect in m-STARS, one of the biggest Content Provider in Indonesia. Founder of Open Source Dewantara Student Information System. Currently writing a book to help people pick the right technology when learning or doing development in Java.

Agenda Open Source Introduction How Business Benefits from Open Source How Open Source Can Be Your Business

THE SOURCE IS STRONG WITH YOU Open Source Introduction

A Journey to the Source Everything begins from the Source (code). Geek, err, programmer creates the source code. Source code gets compiled by compiler, resulting in executable (binary code).

Protecting the Source In proprietary software, typically you buy a license (the right) to use some binary code. You do not buy ownership . No access to the Source: Can’t add feature. Can’t fix bug. Can’t do security audit. Your life is in the hands of Vendors. BHUAHAHA! (Just hope they don’t go out of business or end support)‏

Meet Open Source Full access to the Source. What if you can’t program? Don’t worry, lots of geeks can. Distribute (make copies) legally. Software distribution cost is virtually zero. If it's free to share, why not? “ With enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow....” (Linus's Law)‏

FSF and OSI Free Software Foundation, founded by Richard Stallman. More philosophical. Open Source Initiative, founded by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond. More practical. FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) for those who don’t care about the differences.

Benefits of Open Source Cost: Zero acquisition cost. Freedom: Not restricted to modify, learn, distribute. No Lock-in means your investment is safe. Quality: Cutting edge innovation. Vendors innovate on top of a common base. Peer review. Bugs, security holes found by others. Programmers write better code/docs, knowing it'll be scrutinized, their respect on the line.

Legal Stuff The code author still own the copyright, just granting a blanket license to anybody who wants one, the license of which permits them certain rights to the code, under certain conditions. Common Open Source licenses: Apache Software License BSD License Common Development and Distribution License GPL Mozilla Public License Dual license is possible, but harder if you don’t own all the code.

Inclusion in Your Software Not owning all your code doesn't mean you can't use it in a proprietary product. Obey license terms. GPL: little more care, but fine if you give back the necessary changes (not your entire project). Failure to comply with license won’t make the sky fall. Relax!

OPEN SOURCE IS ALL AROUND YOU How Business Benefits from Open Source

O/S: Linux Originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The GNU contribution is the basis for the alternative name GNU/Linux. Used in numerous domains, from embedded systems to supercomputers, and has secured a place in server installations with the popular LAMP application stack. Other popular options: OpenSolaris, FreeBSD.

Web Server: Apache HTTPD Developed and maintained under Apache Software Foundation. Available for a wide variety of operating systems. Most popular HTTP server on the World Wide Web. Other popular options: Nginx, lighttpd.

Mail Server: Postfix Formerly known as VMailer and IBM Secure Mailer, originally written by Wietse. First released in mid-1999. The default MTA (mail transfer agent) for a number of Unix(-like) operating systems such as Ubuntu. Other popular options: qmail, Sendmail.

RDBMS: MySQL Owned and sponsored by the Swedish company MySQL AB, now a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems. Has more than 11 million installations. Widely used to support websites. Other popular options: PostgreSQL, SQLite.

Programming Language: Java Developed by Sun Microsystems and open sourced in November 2006 under the GNU General Public License. Used in a wide variety of computing platforms spanning from embedded devices to enterprise servers and supercomputers. Other popular options: PHP, Python.

IDE: Eclipse Initial codebase originated from IBM VisualAge. Meant for Java developers but also available for other programming languages. Very popular among Java developers, used by NASA and Adobe. Other popular options: NetBeans, Notepad++.

Blog: WordPress Official successor of b2\cafelog, developed by Michel Valdrighi. The name was suggested by Christine Selleck, a friend of lead developer Matt Mullenweg. Most popular blog publishing system. Other popular options: b2evolution, Roller.

Wiki: MediaWiki Developed by Wikimedia Foundation and used by Wikipedia and many other wikis, including some of the largest and most popular ones. Deployed by companies for internal knowledge management. Novell uses it to operate several of its high traffic websites. Other popular options: PhpWiki, TikiWiki.

CMS: Joomla A fork of Mambo by the development team on August 17, 2005. Features page caching to improve performance, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, website searching, and language internationalization. Widely used in the World Wide Web. Other popular options: Mambo, Drupal.

Web Browser: Firefox Developed and maintained under Mozilla Foundation. Available for a wide variety of operating systems. Most popular Web browser. Other popular options: Konqueror, K-Meleon.

E-mail Client: ThunderBird Developed and maintained under Mozilla Foundation. Available for a wide variety of operating systems. One of the most popular open source e-mail clients. Other popular options: Evolution, Claws Mail.

Office Suite: OpenOffice Originally derived from StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. Most of the time can be used as direct replacement for Microsoft Office. Other popular options: Koffice, GNOME Office.

ERP: Compiere ERP and CRM business solution for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) in distribution, retail, service and manufacturing. Apparently the most mature open source solution for ERP. Other popular options: OFBiz, Openbravo.

Other (Non-Obvious) Occurrences Alfresco, enterprise content management system. Android, software stack for cellphone from Google. GCC, the GNU C Compiler. Gimp, graphics manipulation software. Kannel, WAP gateway. Liferay, enterprise portal. Magento, e-commerce system. phpBB, forum engine. Symbian, operating system for many Nokia series. VirtualBox, virtualization product. WebKit, browser engine used by Safari. Any many many more!

Tips Go with the popular ones Google is your friend Spend time to “hangout” (join communities)‏ Find support providers Start small Embrace change Discover new ways instead of comparing it apple-to-apple (with proprietary solutions)‏ Prepare Plan B (just in case…)‏

OPEN SOURCE COMMERCIALLY How Open Source Can Be Your Business

Why NOT Open Source? You are not selling software You are Microsoft (or Oracle, or anything huge)‏ You already dominate the market You are in niche market Your are developing tailor-made software (ISVs)‏ You have the best people in the world You have 100% guaranteed working marketing campaign

Conventional Business Model Come up with a piece of software. Figure out what unit of measure to charge for (seat, server, CPU, year, month). Charge as much as you think the traffic will bear. Lock in (if you can get it). Portions copyright 2007 Brent C. Williams, made available under the EPL v1.0

Open Source Business Model Have to make money on every sale (in most cases). Can’t discount the license 90% up front, then nail ‘em on maintenance next year. Typically priced by subscription over time since you don’t have a “license asset” to sell up front. Can still demonstrate enough growth to be attractive to early-stage investors; just have to think that way. Beware the Red Hat trap. Portions copyright 2007 Brent C. Williams, made available under the EPL v1.0

Typical Business Model Dual Licensing MySQL, Trolltech, Sleepycat, etc. GPL license for free. Pay money for more permissive license (and support). Support Contracts SLAs sell a warranty fix it if it breaks Trainings, Courses and Certifications

Intangibles Are Your Asset Good community behaviour is expected. Bad behaviour becomes widely known and can end up backfiring. Power of brand can offset perceived commoditization and other effects. Portions copyright 2007 Brent C. Williams, made available under the EPL v1.0

Myths of Open Source It’s a “weaker” business model than proprietary because there is no lock in. Somehow prices must be lower because the customer perceived value of open source equivalent is lower (“they didn’t have to build it all themselves, so I’m not going to pay as much”). Commoditization will wipe out everyone’s profits. Portions copyright 2007 Brent C. Williams, made available under the EPL v1.0

Open Source is Not An Alternative, It is The Solution

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Open Source is Not An Alternative, It is The Solution