What is the most popular open source software (OSS)? Why?

Some of the more prominent organizations involved in OSS development include the Apache Software Foundation, creators of the Apache web server; a loose affialiation of developers headed by Linus Torvalds, creators of the Linux operating system kernel; the Eclipse Foundation, home of the Eclipse software development platform; the Debian Project, creators of the influential Debian Linux distribution; and the Mozilla Foundation, home of the Firefox web browser. Several Open Source programs have become defining entries in their space, including the GIMP image editing system; Sun's Java programming language and environment; the MySQL database system; the FreeBSD Unix operating system; Sun's 2 OpenOffice.org office productivity suite; and the Wireshark network packet sniffer and protocol analyser Open Source development is often performed "live and in public", using services provided for free on the Internet, such as the Launchpad and SourceForge web sites, and using tools that are themselves Open Source, including the CVS and Subversion source control systems, and the GNU Compiler Collection.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software)

Best of Open Source Software Awards 2008 InfoWorld's 2008 Bossies recognize the top free and open products for business, IT, and personal productivity By Doug Dineley
August 04, 2008 If the phrase "open source software" continues to conjure images of impassioned programmers selflessly collaborating for the common good, it may be because, even as commercial interests are behind many of the most prominent projects, the results are no less inspired – and typically no less free. Yes, advanced functionality or maintenance and support may require writing a check, but freeloaders looking for high-quality software – of almost any kind – have never had it so good. Chosen by InfoWorld Test Center editors, analysts, and reviewers, InfoWorld’s annual Best of Open Source Software awards (or Bossies, for short) celebrate the best products that open source has to offer: the best free software on the planet for businesses, their IT staffs, and their employees’ workstations. Our 2008 winners include 60 products in eight categories: enterprise applications such as CRM, ERP, BI, and reporting; collaborative applications, including mail/calendar, wiki, and social networking; desktop productivity apps from office suites to 3-D modeling; platforms and middleware, including operating systems, databases, virtualization, and SOA integration; developer tools from AJAX and rich Internet apps to Web service testing and version control; networking, including server monitoring, routing, Wi-Fi scanning, and VoIP software; security software, including firewall, IDS, disk encryption, and security testing; and storage, including monitoring and administration, backup, and NAS. Some of our picks were easy. For office productivity suite, what else but OpenOffice.org? For network intrusion detection, what else but Snort? And for security log analysis, nothing beats Splunk. Even in areas where good options abound, sometimes one solution is head and shoulders above the rest: In CRM, Sugar; in content management, Alfresco; in IP telephony, Asterisk. But in most categories, stiff competition made the choice difficult. Would it be JasperSoft or Pentaho for BI? Scalix or Zimbra for groupware? Compiere or Openbravo for ERP? How to select the best JavaScript framework from among the likes of Dojo, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype, Yahoo User Interface, and so many others? Choosing often wasn’t easy, but we took a close look and made our call. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/04/32TC-bossies-2008_1.html

10 Reasons the Linux Operating System so popular?

A Linux Distribution has thousands of dollars worth of software for no cost (or a couple of dollars if purchased on CD/DVD) Linux is a complete operating system that is: stable - the crash of an application is much less likely to bring down the operating system under Linux reliable - Linux servers are often up for hundreds of days compared with the regular reboots required with a Windows system extremely powerful Comes with a complete development environment, including C, C++, Fortran compilers, toolkits such as Qt and scripting languages such as Perl, Awk and sed. A C compiler for Windows alone would set you back hundreds of dollars. Excellent networking facilities: allowing you to share CPUs, share modems etc; all of which are not included or available with Windows 95. The ideal environment to run servers such as a web server (e.g. Apache), or an FTP server. A wide variety of commercial software is available if your needs aren't satisfied by the free software. An operating system that is easily upgradeable. After any length of time a typical installation of Windows and software gets into a complete mess. Often the only way to clear out all the debris is to reformat the hard disk and start again. Linux, however, is much better for maintaining the system. Supports multiple processors as standard. True multi-tasking; the ability to run more than one program at the same time. An excellent window system called X; the equivalent of Windows but much more flexible. SOURCE: http://www.webpromo-inc.com/linuxsite/whypopular.asp

Is OSS secure?

The debate

There is an ongoing debate on whether open source software increases software security or is detrimental to its security. There are a variety of different benefits and drawbacks for both sides of the argument. There are also a variety of metrics and models to measure the effectiveness of the security.

Benefits of open source security

• More people can inspect the source code to find and fix a possible vulnerability.

• Proprietary software forces the user to accept the level of security that the software vendor is willing to deliver and to accept the rate that patches and updates are released.

• The end-user of Open Source code has the ability to change and modify source to implement any extra "features" of security they may wish for a specific use, which can extend to the kernel level if they so wish.

• It is assumed that any compiler that is used creates code that can be trusted, but it has been demonstrated by Ken Thompson that a compiler can be subverted using an eponymous Thompson hack to create faulty executables that are unwittingly produced by a well-intentioned developer. With access to the source code for the compiler, the developer has at least the ability to discover if there is any mal-intention.

• Kerckhoffs' principle is based on the idea that an enemy can steal a secure military system and not be able to compromise the information. His ideas were the basis for many modern security practices, and followed that security through obscurity is a bad practice.

Government Findings

The most popular open-source software is also the most free of bugs, according to the first results of a U.S. government-sponsored effort to help make such software as secure as possible.

The so-called LAMP stack of open-source software has a lower bug density--the number of bugs per thousand lines of code--than a baseline of 32 open-source projects analyzed, Coverity, a maker of code analysis tools, announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded US$1.24 million in funding to Stanford University, Coverity and Symantec to hunt for security bugs in open-source software and to improve Coverity's commercial tool for source code analysis. The funding, announced in January, is for a three-year "Open Source Hardening Project."

In the analysis, more than 17.5 million lines of code from 32 open-source projects were scanned. On average, 0.434 bugs per 1,000 lines of code were found, Coverity said. The LAMP stack, however, "showed significantly better software quality," with an average of 0.29 defects per 1,000 lines of code, the technology company said.

There is one caveat: PHP, the popular programming language, is the only component in the LAMP stack that has a higher bug density than the baseline, Coverity said.

Of the other open-source projects scanned, Coverity found that the Amanda back-up tool had the highest number of bugs per 1,000 lines of code, with a bug density of 1.237. The lowest was the XMMS audio player, with 0.051 defects per 1,000 lines of code.

In absolute numbers, most defects were found in X, the low-level graphical interface software for Linux and Unix. Coverity found 1,681 defects in X, it said. With only six defects, XMMS also scored best in absolute numbers.

(Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,39315781,00.htm)

Drawbacks of open source security

• All people have access to the source code, including potential attackers. Any unpatched vulnerability can be used by attackers.

• Simply making source code available does not guarantee review. A good example of this occurring is when Marcus Ranum, an expert on security system design and implementation, released his first public firewall toolkit. At one point in time, there were over 2,000 sites using his toolkit, but only 10 people gave him any feedback or patches.

• Having a large amount of eyes reviewing code can "lull a user into a false sense of security". Having many users look at source code does not guarantee that security flaws will be found and fixed.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software_security)

As with any vendor, agencies should be asking who the provider is, what is the quality of the staff and if they used security best practices, she said. (Source-Elise Castelli -- http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3781023 -- Oct 21, 2008) Open Source Software and Security Computer security is the process of balancing the security requirements of a computer system with requirements for price, usability, user training and reliability. When considering software, it is natural to ask what impact the adoption of open source software has on this balance. In and of itself, open source software is neither more nor less secure than closed source software. There are famously secure examples of both open source software and closed source software just as there are infamously insecure examples of both open source software and closed source software. Open source does affect the security balance in a number of ways, but the influence of these effects very much depends on the specific circumstances involved. The source code is available to all.The availability of source code is a defining characteristic of open source software, but is not an unalloyed blessing: Anyone can contribute to the source code. Another defining feature of open source software, the ability of anyone, anywhere to contribute source code is a double edged sword:

• Attackers can attempt to add vulnerabilities to the source code. To prevent this most open source projects accept contributions only from trusted contributors. All other contributors have to have their contributions approved by a trusted contributor. The process of becoming a trusted contributor varies, but often involves long-term commitment to a project and the exchange of cryptographic keys so that trusted contributors can communicate securely. The use of version control systems allows tracking of which contributor makes which changes, when and the reason they give. Should a contributor be found to have introduced a vulnerability, all of their contributions can be isolated, examined and, if necessary, purged.
• Defenders can contribute fixes to vulnerabilities—the process of finding and fixing vulnerabilities is not limited to the resources and office hours of a single company, but the resources of the users of the software. A result of this is that fixes for known or actively exploited vulnerabilities tend to be issued substantially faster for open source software than for closed source software.

Malware writers target large pools of uniform, poorly maintained computers. Malware includes viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, rootkits and other software that have deliberately malicious effects or side effects.

• Currently, open source applications and operating systems tend to be relatively diverse (one consequence of being able to modify the source code is that people do), relatively well maintained (because of the technical barriers to using much open source software it tends not to be the software of choice for complete beginners) and a relative minority (again because of the technical barriers); all these factors make it a poor target for the writers of malware.
• The technical barriers to the use of open source are being lowered by better documentation and user interfaces, the diversity is being reduced through standardisation efforts and it is becoming widely used; these are progressively undermining the factors which make it unattractive to malware writers.
• Acceptance of input from non-professionals and emphasis on skills development in open source communities is likely to lead to an increasing number of individuals with the skills to write malware but without the professional ties which might prevent them from writing and releasing malware. This may lead to a long-term increase in malware.

Patented and trade-secret algorithms are largely unavailable to open source projects. Patents and trade-secrets are used by companies to protect their place in a marketplace. They are viewed with distaste by the free and open source movement.

• A number of important algorithms, particularly cryptographic algorithms, are patented or are trade-secret and thus unavailable to open source projects, since they are normally unable to meet even the most liberal licensing requirements. Patented algorithms eventually enter the public domain (as the widely-used RSA algorithm has), but trade-secret algorithms remain permanently unavailable.
• Trade-secret cryptographic algorithms have a long history of being both weak and leaked to the public. The tendency to weakness is due to the fact that the only known reliable way to determine the strength of cryptographic algorithm is to have a large number of cryptographers examine it—which is not possible to do while keeping it a trade-secret.

Open source software may not be tested for security vulnerabilities. Formal testing programs are used to great effect by many companies as part of ‘quality programs’ to reduce software defects.

• Open source projects rarely have the rigid infrastructure required for quality programs such as ISO 9000 implementation, but many of the methods used to implement ISO 9000 quality programs for software are amenable to automation. These include regression testing, unit testing and many compile-time code analysis tests. Most sufficiently large open source projects and several open source support sites (such as SourceForge) have automated methods for running such tests. In addition many open source projects have contributors who use the software in ISO 9000 contexts and perform checks within the context of their employer's organisation rather than the open source project, but feed bug fixes back to the project.

There are so many versions of open source software that making sure a bug is fixed in all of them is impossible. Anyone can make changes to and customisations of open source software and a sufficient number do that it can lead to confusion over which bugs affect which versions.

• There can be a confusing number of versions of open source software, but generally distributors (who package open source software into usable systems) have tools that allow tracking of what software is installed and there is an automated or semi-automated update of the software when security updates appear.
• The freedom to change also allows security specific customisation to be undertaken. Perhaps the best example of this is the Security Enhanced Linux project, undertaken by the USA's National Security Agency, which provides a significantly larger set of security features, at the price of significantly higher maintenance and operating overhead.
• Similar issues are faced by commercial companies who support several products. This is especially true of hardware vendors, for whom continuous upgrade to the current versions is not an option.
• The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures system, a vendor neutral system which provides a dictionary of vulnerability identifiers, effectively solves these problems for open source, closed source and mixed systems.

The above points show that open source is not a magic bullet for security but can directly influence security trade-offs in complex ways. (Source-http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/security.xml -- June 25, 2008)

Open Source Software A Security Risk, Study Claims Open source software is a significant security risk for corporations that use it because in many cases, the open source community fails to adhere to minimal security best practices, according a study released Monday.
The study, carried out by Fortify Software with help from consultant Larry Suto, evaluated 11 open source software packages and each community's response to security issues over the course of about three months. The goal was to find out if the community for each open source software package was responsive to security questions or vulnerability findings, published security guidelines and maintained a secure development process, for example.
Open source application server Tomcat scored the best in the study, titled "Open Source Study -- How Are Open Source Development Communities Embracing Security Best Practices?"
The remaining 10 open source application, tool and database packages -- Derby, Geronimo, Hibernate, Hipergate, JBoss, Jonas, OFBiz, OpenCMS, Resin and Struts -- had a dismal showing. Among these 10 packages, application server JBoss scored higher by providing a prominent link to security information on its Web site and easy access to security experts, but came up short for not having a specific e-mail alias for submission of security vulnerabilities.
"You don't want to report bugs to a general mailing list because it would go to the general public," says Jacob West, manager of Fortify's security research group. There needs to be a measure of confidentiality in reporting bugs so that the fix for them can be provided when the public is notified, so attackers don't get early information they can exploit.
But too often the open source communities that offer their software for free don't appear to be as mindful about security practices as their commercial counterparts, which charge for software and support, West says.
Fortify identified a total of 22,826 cross-site scripting and 15,612 SQL injection issues associated with multiple versions of the 11 open source software packages examined.
But when Fortify tried to reach out to the open-source software communities, with the primary point of contact a Web site and a general e-mail address, the security firm found that "in two-thirds of these cases, you didn't get a response at all," West says. "There are no phone numbers. Who do you go to ask for information? It's kind of hard to tell who these people are."

The report itself notes, "Open source packages often claim enterprise-class capabilities but are not adopting -- or even considering -- industry best practices. Only a few open source development teams are moving in the right direction."
West says Fortify did not conduct this study in order to condemn open source software, but rather to point out that the security practices need to improve because open source adoption by enterprises and governments is growing.
Howard Schmidt, former White House cybersecurity czar who's now a consultant, and also a board member at Fortify, says the study shows that when it comes to business adoption of open source software, "You've got to go into this with your eyes wide open."
The reality is that while open source software may appear more cost-effective and just as functional as commercial software in some instances, the question of maintenance must be examined very carefully.
"Who do you reach out to?" Schmidt asks. "What about the thousands of companies out there running Geronimo? And what about your supply-chain partners?"
The bottom line is that corporations may find they have to undertake remediation of open source packages on their own. "You are effectively on your own, absent your having an arrangement ahead of time," Schmidt says.
Government agencies and corporations need to decide if they're going to try to mitigate problems with open source software themselves, through risk assessment and code review, and whether they plan to give that information back to the open source community.
This is a fundamental question about the life-cycle development of the software, West says, adding that the study indicated to Fortify that the open source communities in these cases tended not to correct for indentified flaws in software versions over a period of time.

Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/072108-open-source-security-risk.html?page=2

What are different OSS licenses?

There are dozens of OSS/FS licenses, but nearly all OSS/FS software uses one of the four major licenses: the GNU General Public License (GPL), the GNU Lesser (or Library) General Public License (LGPL), the MIT (aka X11) license, and the BSD-new license. Indeed the Open Source Initiative refers to these four licenses as the classic open source licenses. The GPL and LGPL are termed ``copylefting'' licenses, that is, these licenses are designed to prevent the code from becoming proprietary. See Perens' paper for more information comparing these licenses. The GPL allows anyone to use the program and modify it, but prevents code from becoming proprietary once distributed and it also forbids proprietary programs from "linking" to it. The MIT and BSD-new licenses let anyone do almost anything with the code except sue the authors. One minor complication: there are actually two "BSD" licenses, sometimes called "BSD-old" and "BSD-new"; new programs should use BSD-new instead of BSD-old. The LGPL is a compromise between the GPL and MIT/BSD-new approaches and is primarily intended for code libraries; like the GPL, LGPL-licensed software cannot be changed and made proprietary, but the LGPL does permit proprietary programs to link to the library. The most popular OSS/FS license by far is the GPL. For example, Freshmeat.net reported on April 4, 2002 that 71.85% of the 25,286 software branches (packages) it tracked are GPL-licensed (the next two most popular were LGPL, 4.47%, and the BSD licenses, 4.17%). Sourceforge.net reported on April 4, 2002 that the GPL accounted for 73% of the 23,651 ``open source'' projects it hosted (next most popular were the LGPL, 10%, and the BSD licenses, 7%).
Source: http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_refs.html

Examples of Open Source Licenses by Category

.:: Licenses that are popular and widely used or with strong communities ::.

*Apache License, 2.0 *New and Simplified BSD licenses *GNU General Public License (GPL) *GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License (LGPL) *MIT license *Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL) *Common Development and Distribution License *Common Public License 1.0 *Eclipse Public License

.:: Special purpose licenses ::.

*Educational Community License *NASA Open Source Agreement 1.3 *Open Group Test Suite License

.:: Other/Miscellaneous licenses ::.

*Adaptive Public License *Artistic license 2.0 *Open Software License

.:: Licenses that are redundant with more popular licenses ::.

*Academic Free License *Attribution Assurance Licenses *Eiffel Forum License V2.0

.:: Non-reusable licenses ::.

*Apple Public Source License *Computer Associates Trusted Open Source License 1.1 *W3C License *wxWindows Library License *Zope Public License

.:: Superseded licenses ::.

*Apache Software License 1.1 *Artistic license 1.0 *Eiffel Forum License V1.0

.:: Licenses that have been voluntarily retired ::.

*Intel Open Source License *Jabber Open Source License

.:: Uncategorized Licenses ::.

*Affero GNU Public License *Boost Software License (BSL1.0) *Common Public Attribution License 1.0 (CPAL) *GNU General Public License version 3.0 (GPLv3)

Source (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/category)



Types of Open Source Licenses Open source licenses may be broadly categorized into the following types: (1) those that apply no restrictions on the distribution of derivative works (we will call these Non-Protective Licenses because they do not protect the code from being used in non-Open Source applications); and (2) those that do apply such restrictions (we will call these Protective Licenses because they ensure that the code will always remain open/free). To better appreciate the nature of these licenses, it is helpful to picture software licenses on a continuum based on the rights in copyright extended to the licensee. See Diagram 1 at the conclusion of this article. Software that has been placed in the public domain is free of all restrictions, all rights under copyright having been granted to the public at large. Licensors of Non-Protective Open Source licenses retain their copyright, but they grant all rights under copyright to the licensee. Licensors of Protective Open Source licenses retain their copyright, grant all rights under copyright to the licensee, but apply at least one restriction, typically that the redistribution of the software, whether modified or unmodified, must be under the same license. Licensors of propriety licenses retain their copyright and only grant a few rights under copyright, typically only the rights to perform and display. The following table, where the BSD license is used as an example of a Non-Protective Open Source license and the GNU General Public License as an example of a Protective Open Source license, displays these contrasts - see Diagram 2 at the conclusion of this article. Non-Protective Open Source licenses include: Academic Free License v.1.2; Apache Software License v.1.1; Artistic; Attribution Assurance license; BSD License; Eiffel Forum License; Intel Open Source License for CDSA/CSSM Implementation; MIT License; Open Group Test Suite License; Q Public License v.1.0; Sleepycat License; Sun Industry Standards Source License; University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License; Vovida Software License v.1.0; W3C Software Notice and License; X.Net, Inc. License; zlib/libpng License; and Zope Public License v.2.0. Protective Open Source licenses include: Apple Public Source License v.1.2; Artistic License; Common Public License v.1.0; GNU General Public License v.2.0; GNU Lesser General Public License v.2.1; IBM Public License v.1.0; Jabber Open Source License v.1.0; MITRE Collaborative Virtual Workspace License; Motosoto Open Source License v.0.9.1; Mozilla Public License v.1.0 and v.1.1; Nethack General Public License; Noika Open Source License v.1.0a; OCLC Research Public License v.1.0; Open Software License v.1.1; Python License; Python Software Foundation License v.2.1.1; Ricoh Source Code Public License v.1.0; and Sun Public License v.1.0. All of these, and additional new licenses, can be found on the Open Source Initiative website. Some Open Source licenses of both types include other provisions, such as restrictions on the use of trademarks, express grants of license with respect to applicable patents, disclaimers of warranties, indemnification of copyright holders in commercial distributions, and disclaimers of liability. However, none of these provisions are as fundamentally important as the obligations/restrictions that are imposed on redistribution rights under the Protective Open Source licenses, and it is with those restrictions on redistribution that we next focus.

Source: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20031231092027900

How is OSS developed?

The Open source software development method is very unstructured, because no clear development tools, phases, etc. have been defined like with development methods such as DSDM. Instead, every project has its own phases.
The phases specified here are derived from Sharma et al.[3]. A diagram displaying the process-data structure of Open source software development is placed on the right side. In this picture, the phases of Open source software development are displayed, along with the corresponding data elements. This diagram is made using the Meta-Modeling and Meta-Process Modeling techniques. In table 1, the activities displayed in the figure are explained. The process starts with a choice between the adopting of an existing project, or the starting of a new project. The difference between these two is explained in the section ‘New projects vs. existing projects’. If a new project is started, the process goes to the Initiation phase. If an existing project is adopted, the process goes directly to the Execution phase.


There are several ways in which work on an open source project can start:

1. An individual who senses the need for a project announces the intent to develop the project in public. The individual may receive offers of help from others. The group may then proceed to work on the code.
2. A developer working on a limited but working codebase, releases it to the public as the first version of an open-source program. The developer continues to work on improving it, and possibly is joined by other developers.
3. The source code of a mature project is released to the public, after being developed as proprietary software or inhouse software.
4. A well-established open-source project can be forked by an interested outside party. Several developers can then start a new project, whose source code then diverges from the original.

Eric Raymond observed in his famous essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" that announcing the intent for a project is usually inferior to releasing a working project to the public. It's a common mistake to start a project when contributing to an existing similar project would be more effective (NIH syndrome). To start a successful project it is very important to investigate what's already there.
It is hard to run an Open source project following a more traditional software development method like the Waterfall model, because in these traditional methods it is not allowed to go back to a previous phase. In Open source software development requirements are rarely gathered before the start of the project; instead they are based on early releases of the software product, as Robbins describes[4]. Besides requirements, often volunteer staff is attracted to help developing the software product based on the early releases of the software. This networking effect is essential according to Abrahamsson et al.[5]: “if the introduced prototype gathers enough attention, it will gradually start to attract more and more developers”. However, Abrahamsson et al. also point out that the community is very harsh, much like the business world of closed source software: “if you find the customers you survive, but without customers you die”. Alfonso Fuggetta mentions[6] that “rapid prototyping, incremental and evolutionary development, spiral lifecycle, rapid application development, and, recently, extreme programming and the agile software process can be equally applied to proprietary and open source software”. One Open source development method mentioned by Fuggetta is the Agile method Extreme Programming. All the Agile methods are in essence applicable to Open source software development, because of their iterative and incremental character. Another Agile method, Internet Speed Development, is also suitable for Open source software development in particular because of the distributed development principle it adopts. Internet-Speed Development used geographically distributed teams to ‘work around the clock’. This method is mostly adopted by large closed source firms like Microsoft, because only big software firms are able to create distributed development centers in different time zones. Of course if software is developed by a large group of volunteers in different countries, this is being achieved naturally and without the investment needed like with closed source software development.
source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software_development)


What motivates OSS developers?
Without software developers who are motivated to start and contribute to OSS projects, OSS projects cannot succeed. Factors that affect motivation are both intrinsic (cognitive) and extrinsic (social). The precondition for motivating developers to get involved in OSS projects is that they must derive an intrinsic satisfaction in their involvement in OSS projects. Relying purely on altruism makes OSS unsustainable. Intrinsic motivation is positively reinforced and amplified when social structure and conventions of the community by recognizing and rewarding the contributions of its members. Although many developers get involved in OSS development due to the need for functionality, many OSSdevelopers are not motivated by utility only. For example, neither Kimball nor Mattis, who started the GIMP project, had any graphic arts needs. They did not start the project because they wanted to use it.

We argue that learning is one of the driving forces that motivates developers to get involved in OSS projects because it provides the intrinsic satisfaction for OSS developers, and the role transformation in OSS communities that go along with learning offering the extrinsic motivation. Software systems are cognitive artifacts whose creation is a process of knowledge construction that requires both creativity and a wide variety of knowledge about problem domains, logic, computer, and others. In this sense, software systems, like books, are a form of knowledge media. Many OSS systems come into existence as results of the learning efforts of their original developers who try to understand how to model, or to change, the world with computational systems. When the source code became accessible to users, the knowledge and creativity therein also become accessible, providing the initial learning resource that attracts users to form a community of practice around the system. By participating in the community, developers and users learn from the system, from each other, and share their learning with each other.

Learning by doing. In this form of learning, the learners want to deepen their understanding of a certain domain by actually engaging in practical tasks that allow them to apply their existing knowledge and to perfect their current skills. By definition, hackers, who are behind almost every OSS systems, are people who enjoy "exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities" through programming rather thantheorizing. Linns Torvalds started Linux partially because he wanted to learn more about the architecture of Intel 386, and the perfect way of doing so was to develop an operating system for it. Peter Mattis described his "original impetus for GTK was simply (his) wanting to understand how to write a UI toolkit"

The social fabric inherent in OSS communities reinforces the intrinsic motivation for participating in OSS projects as a form of learning. Only in a society where technical supremacy is highly appreciated can developers acquire good reputations among their peers by displaying their skills through free distribution, and often wider acceptance, of their systems. The good reputation attracts attention, trust, and cooperation from others and lays the foundation for advancing the original developers agenda and the establishment and development of OSS communities. Members close to the center of the community enjoy better visibility and reputations than do peripheral members. The road to the core has to be paved by contributing more to the project and interacting more with their members. As new members contribute to the system and the community, they are rewarded with higher recognition and trust in the community, and higher influence as well. In the GIMP community, most developers who have contributed a lot are given the right to directly contribute to the system. Some even become Core Members. Rewarding contributing members with higher recognition and more important roles is also important for the sustainability of the community and the system development because it is the way that the community reproduces itself. In the GIMP community, 29Active Developers have not been active for at least a year, but the community is still prospering because many new developers have become competent participants along the path of LPP. From the log of source code commitments, we have found that 25 developers started contributing code in the recent two years.

Yunwen , Kouichi, Ye , Kishida . "Toward an understanding of the motivation Open Source Software developers." ACM Digital Library (ACM). 2003. IEEE Computer Society. 19 Jan 2009 <http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=776816.776867&coll=&dl=ACM&CFID=18390230&CFTOKEN=23250907>

Report: Open-source developers command up to 40 percent premium

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9882356-7.html

An Empirical analysis of open source software developers' motivations and continuance intentions

The set of possible motivators of OSS developers is extensive, containing both extrinsic and intrinsic aspects. Extrinsic motivators are environment factors brought by the organization to an individual, while intrinsic motivators or internal motivators are related to the needs satisfying the individual [27]. The set of all possible motivators is too extensive to include in one study. Therefore, we focused on those appeared to have the strongest effect: the intrinsic motivator helping and the extrinsic motivators enhancing human capital, career advancement, and personal needs.


2.1 Helping behavior

Many open source researchers have argued that altruism is the primary intrinsic incentive for participants. "Altruism... is a natural part of human nature [and]... is exhibited in some manner by everyone"[32]. Based on this viewpoint, developers make OSS contributions because they would like to lend a hand to others and simultaneously give something back to those who have assisted them [30]. In such a gift culture setting, given the abundance of resources, social status is determined not by one has but by what one gives away, such is the case in the OSS community [33].

2.2 Enhancing human capital

A number of economists and researchers regard enhancing human capital as one of several extrinsic incentives that motivate participants to engage in OSS projects. From the standpoint of labor economics, human capital as a determinant of productivity refers to personal skills, capabilities, and knowledge. Human capital involves the accumulation of investments in people through education and on-the-job training [28]. According to Ye and Kishida [42], OSS development provides examples of excellent programming to less skilled developers. However, the learning environment involves much more than the study of excellent craftsmanship. OSS communities posses the essential qualities that Wenger and Snyder [41] identified as "communities of practice," which are formed by people, mostly practitioners, who are "informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise." As a result of sustained learning overtime, the members develop a shared repertoire of experience, tools and ways of addressing recurring problems. Consequently, less experienced open source participants can develop skills that are useful when they enter/reenter the labor market.

2.3 Career advancement

Lender and Tirole suggested that participation in OSS development may advance a person's career in two ways: by demonstrating (or signaling) their capabilities and skills to potential employers and by using OSS involvement to acquire access to venture capital, acquire shares in commercial open source-based companies, or to launch a business endeavor.

2.4 Satisfying personal needs

Many OSS projects start because the people promoting them have not been able to find a program needed to perform a particular function. They arise to satisfy a work-related demand: to "fill an unfilled market" [5]. In many cases, OSS developers have the ability to modify OSS to satisfy personal or business requirements or help by knowing how to incorporate OSS into other products. The software and the knowledge to utilize it provide extrinsic value to the developer.

Source (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VD0-4MY0MHN-1&_user=650596&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2007&_alid=854470531&_rdoc=17&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=5968&_sort=d&_st=4&_docanchor=&ct=46&_acct=C000035098&_version=1&_urlVerson=0&_userid=650596&md5=682489763ff41d9bc384778a59ab5b#secx2)

(Here are 2 blogs from 2 actual OSS developers on what motivates them)
arun Says:
October 1, 2006 at 18:33 Fun (to play around and modify the code as u like !) and Satisfaction (that your software will be used by millions !!) are in my opinion the best things a developer can gain out of opensource :) And of course there will be a nice developer ‘n’ user community with you..
liquidat Says:
October 1, 2006 at 21:51 The dissertation has these aspects in mind - fun is mentioned in the title! The reason why I stressed out the money is that too many people think OSS is only developed for fun - in the way of “just hobby, nothing professional”. And that’s wrong. OSS is a good example that you can earn money doing that what you like most.
(Source: http://liquidat.wordpress.com/2006/09/29/what-motivates-open-source-developers/)

Where can I get OSS?

Open source software is unlike commercial software as you do not go online or to a shop and order a box containing a CD. Open source software is usually obtained by downloading it from a website. Many of the desktop applications are quick and easy to install.

Some examples of sources from which OSS can be obtained include: Open Disc, Portable Apps and Sourgeforge.

OpenDisc (http://www.theopendisc.com/) is a collection of some of the best and most popular open source applications. The Disc is available to download as an ISO file [definition] that can be burnt on a CD. It is then straightforward to install the software from the CD onto your computer. The file size is approximately 700MB so download will require a reasonably fast internet connection or will take a very long time. OpenDisc contains a variety of software which will run on the Windows operating system, making it easy for you to try out the selected applications, including OpenOffice, Audacity, Firefox, Gimp and Inkscape.

Portable Apps are Open Source applications that can be downloaded and installed on portable media (such as a USB flash drive or an external disc) so you don't have to install anything on your computer. These programs can be carried around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind. (Source: http://portableapps.com/about/what_is_a_portable_app)

The software includes applications such as Inkscape, Audacity, GIMP and OpenOffice. From the download page http://portableapps.com/download select the suite to download. The instructions are on the site.
The concept is that portable apps installs an Open Source menu program onto your USB flash drive from which you can then choose and add a wide range of programs to your key. The applications are installed on the USB flash drive and so any computer that has the drive inserted into a usb port effectively has the software instantly installed but not onto its hard drive. Take out the USB flash drive and the applications are uninstalled. The installation wizard will guide you through the installation of portable apps – and detailed instructions are on the website. When you run portable apps you will see a full list of available applications.

To use launch one of the applications, click on the link and you will have the software running instantly. As with all Open Source software it is perfectly legal to copy all or some of the applications to other USB flash drives. Every child in the school could have one to use at home and at school contributing to social inclusion and bridging the digital divide. Since all the applications move with the drive, you can use them on any computer without having to install anything and without leaving any code behind when you finish.

Sourgeforge (http://sourceforge.net/) is the repository for over 100,000 open source projects. The site is aimed at developers and more technical users and contains open source applications in various stages of development. For a novice user, the Sourceforge site can be somewhat intimidating, but if you are looking for a particular open source application, you are likely to find it there.

(Source: http://opensourceschools.org.uk/obtaining-and-installing-open-source-software.html )

After going to these sites, I found them all very easy to navigate and to find programs and software I was interested in downloading. I especially liked the Portable Apps website because they just make everything very easy and they have alot of different software.


Are there other OSS operating systems besides Linux?

The "open source" label came out of a strategy session held in Palo Alto in reaction to Netscape's January 1998 announcement of a source code release for Navigator (as Mozilla).

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software)

FreeBSD is a UNIX® like operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution. While FreeBSD and Linux are commonly perceived as being very similar, there are differences:

1. Linux itself is a kernel. Distributions (e.g. Red Hat, Debian, Suse and others) provide the installer and the utilities available to the user. http://www.linux.org/dist lists well over 300 distinct distributions. While giving the user maximum flexibility, the existence of so many distributions also increases the difficulty of transferring one's skills from one distribution to another. Distributions don't just differ in ease-of install and available programs; they also differ in directory layout, available shells and window managers, and software installation and patching routines. FreeBSD is a complete operating system (kernel and userland) with a well-respected heritage grounded in the roots of Unix development.[1] Since both the kernel and the provided utilities are under the control of the same release engineering team, there is less likelihood of library incompatibilities. Security vulnerabilities can also be addressed quickly by the security team. When new utilities or kernel features are added, the user simply needs to read one file, the Release Notes, which is publicly available on the main page of the FreeBSD website.
2. FreeBSD has a large and well organized programming base which ensures changes are implemented quickly and in a controlled manner. There are several thousand programmers who contribute code on a regular basis but only about 300 of these have what is known as a commit bit and can actually commit changes to the kernel, utilities and official documentation. A release engineering team provides quality control and a security officer team is responsible for responding to security incidents. In addition, there is an elected core group of 8 senior committers who set the overall direction of the Project. In contrast, changes to the Linux kernel ultimately have to wait until they pass through the maintainer of kernel source, Linus Torvalds. How changes to distributions occur can vary widely, depending upon the size of each particular distribution's programming base and organizational method.
3. While both FreeBSD and Linux use an Open Source licensing model, the actual licenses used differ. The Linux kernel is under the GPL license while FreeBSD uses the BSD license. These, and other Open Source licenses, are described in more detail at the website of the Open Source Initiative. The driving philosophy behind the GPL is to ensure that code remains Open Source; it does this by placing restrictions on the distribution of GPLd code. In contrast, the BSD license places no such restrictions, which gives you the flexibility of keeping the code Open Source or closing the code for a proprietary commercial product.[2] Having stable and reliable code under the attractive BSD license means that many operating systems, such as Apple OS X are based on FreeBSD code. It also means that if you choose to use BSD licensed code in your own projects, you can do so without threat of future legal liability. (Source: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/linux-comparison/)
   

Open Source

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(Source: http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Open_Source/)

Do Microsoft and Oracle believe in OSS?
The former CEO of the Open Source Development Labs has started a company offering private "open-source" services. The Collaborative Software Initiative (CSI), headed by former OSDL chief Stuart Cohen, will match companies that are looking to pool resources as a way to decrease software costs and ensure standards compliance. The Portland, Ore.-based company has received funding from OVP Venture Partners. Its advisory council members include IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Novell, which will also help the company with performance testing and benchmarking to make sure applications are optimized for certain server configurations, Cohen said. Evan Bauer, the former chief technology officer of Credit Suisse First Boston, has partnered with Cohen as the CTO for the new initiative. "Because of the success of Linux and open-source software and the work Evan and I have done in it, in IT it's the right time to do this," Cohen said. CSI isn't something that's come out of the blue, Cohen said, but rather is being driven by industries like finance, insurance, government agencies and retailers that are interested in a collaborative model. "They need the services. They don't want to form a dot-org or a foundation," he said. The company's model is not a far reach from what the OSDL did under Cohen's stewardship. OSDL, which recently merged with the Free Standards Group to form the Linux Foundation, was a nonprofit organization that worked on improving and establishing standards for Linux in high-end servers, telecommunications equipment and desktop computers. OSDL coordinated efforts among developers from multiple sources including large companies. Similarly, CSI will hire and manage a core team of application developers to work on a single project for, say, a half-dozen companies that have a limited number of developers. The companies will each pay a percentage to cover the cost for developers and for CSI's management of the community project, which includes code development, testing and support. "They will pay substantially lower or about half the price of what it would cost them on their own to outsource, maybe even less, because there's a shared cost," Cohen said. CSI also will organize and manage developers from the participating companies or government agencies to work on a common goal as a community. "In most cases, the core collaborators will include a trade association. In a number of these compliance areas, a trade association has done the work to define the product or problem, so they will be a part of the project to make sure we have written to the documentations they have put in place," Cohen said. In addition, CSI will take care of licensing the software from community projects to other companies, through a hosted-software or open-source license, depending on the wishes of the collaborative companies involved. "Our intention is to use commercially available and commercially accepted licenses, and there are certainly plenty of licenses out there that would meet our needs," Cohen said. "We are not locked into a particular one."(SOURCE: http://news.cnet.com/Start-up-looks-to-open-source-as-business-model/2100-7344_3-6176496.html?tag=mncol )

Open Source In the U.S. Government
A review of the current government IT climate shows the extent to which Open Source software has already become popular within the federal government. This is in addition
to the fact that Open Source solutions were used to program and operate the two most recent NASA Mars rovers. Historically, Open Source technologies had been discouraged within the Department of Defense (DOD). In 2002, MITRE Corp. found that at least 115 applications of Open Source origin, with 251 examples of use, were routinely utilized within DOD. Moreover,
MITRE estimated that these findings represented just “the tip of the iceberg.” The applications in use ranged from 25 examples of PERL scripting language, to 22 uses of
Apache web server, to19 examples of Linux, to 3 examples of Red Hat™ Linux, to one example each of many other applications.The same study revealed several other surprises. MITRE found that many DOD intranets depend heavily on Open Source, as does the department’s software development. Open Source is used extensively in security applications, and
research uses Open Source for the exchange of ideas and shedding of costs. Since Open Source had been discouraged within the department, why then was it being used at all? First, but not always foremost, is cost. The high capability-to-cost ratios are a powerful attraction. Second, many Open Source solutions are highly responsive. Third, there is a broader range of support options, from third-party to in-house to a combination of the two, with in-house providing support for critical components only. Security of the propriety software was often a concern, since only one major software firm—the respective vendor/developer—provided only after-the fact security patches. This security model results in aweakness not being fixed until it has been exploited by a virus or a hacker. After reviewing the MITRE study, the Chief Information Officer of DOD put Open Source on equal footing with other commercial off-the-shelf products.“With the expansion of open source,
the current reality is that users have a true choice between a variety of possible solutions to best accomplish their computing and networking goals.” Source: USA Today, January 7, 2004 .Among federal agencies, the National Weather Service has deployed Linux on an estimated 2400 workstations and servers, resulting in savings of almost 75%, largely because the operating system
requires less maintenance. Moreover, the National Weather Service plans to convert to Linux by year-end their systems at more than 122 forecast offices. The Census Bureau has developed a system to help citizens retrieve data using a variety of Open Source software applications, including Linux, Apache Web server, MySQL, and Perl (commonly referred to as LAMP).
Other agencies that are actively seeking Open Source solutions are the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and nearly every department in between. While the floodgates may not be completely open, clearly the wheel is turning and gate has begun to rise.

The model of Open Source development combined with the scope of government IT needs results in several obvious benefits:.
1. Cost Savings - Licensing Fees
Perhaps the most obvious reason for replacing proprietary software with Open Source
applications is the potential for eliminating expensive licensing arrangements with firms
that have no incentive to negotiate rates, regardless of the client’s relative size.

2. Solutions vs Software
Organizations using Open Source solutions own the features and functionality of the software itself. This is the difference between buying a direct solution and a ready-made
piece of software. Users are not dependent on outside forces to dictate the form, fit, and functionality of the application. With Open Source programming, the application received is precisely what
the customer wants: nothing more and nothing less.

3. Speed to Deployment
Because the core elements of Open Source solutions are developed by a worldwide community of programmers and engineers working together, market deployment of these solutions is often quicker than proprietary business models. Open source developers working directly with consumers, in this case government agencies, can apply the best technology to meet the agency’s immediate needs. Occasionally, good "Open source has numerous benefits, including breaking the relentless hold of technology lock-in, and cost savings in acquisition and life-time support costs,"
Lou Agosta, Forrester Research “Ultimately open source will become mainstream, not just the domain of "the four pony-tailed guys in the corner."

4. Cost Savings - IT Investments
Because Open Source solutions are scalable and interoperable, they can make use of existing IT infrastructures. This flexibility allows for the deployment of solutions that are
designed to work with multiple or existing systems, and which will preclude the necessity for costly upgrades in the future.

Source:
http://www.oss-institute.org/newspdf/walker_oss_white_paper_2292004.pdf

What are different OSS licenses?

Source: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical and http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd


Current Events
Obama wants to know: Why open source? Posted by Matt Asay

President Barack Obama is a smart guy. Where others zig, he zags. It's perhaps not surprising, then, that he's been asking around about the benefits of open source, according to Sun Chairman Scott McNealy, who has been asked by President Obama to author a white paper on the benefits the U.S. government can derive from open source. McNealy, cited in a BBC News story, wasn't shy in identifying them:

It's intuitively obvious open source is more cost effective and productive than proprietary software....The government ought to mandate open-source products based on open-source reference implementations to improve security, get higher-quality software, lower costs, higher reliability--all the benefits that come with open software.

While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. I wouldn't want the government mandating Microsoft software--why would I therefore seek an open-source mandate? Open source has done remarkably well in the U.S. federal government without mandates, and will continue to do so because of the benefits identified by McNealy. Will President Obama listen? I suspect he's more likely to do so. He'll get plenty of lobbyist cash from technology companies like Microsoft, but with few companies now solely dependent on proprietary software (indeed, I'd argue that there aren't any left), open source is going to be on everyone's agenda. For other positions on McNealy's open-source suggestions, see The 451 Group's Matt Aslett's blog and OStatic.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10147920-16.html?part=rss