Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for Libraries Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood University of the Punjab

Important Terms Software is written as text (source code) Software is most often distributed as an application (binary) that runs in a specific operating system and type of hardware Source code is modified (compiled) by another program (compiler) to create a binary Free software and open source are in most cases equivalent and may be found abbreviated as FOSS, F/OSS or FLOSS just give the concepts that code is separate from application and that there is an important freedom in being able to see the source as without it you can never fix any bugs

FOSS Definition Software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. Wikipedia

What Does ‘Free’ Mean? Freedom to run the program for any purpose Freedom to study and modify the program Freedom to copy the program so you can help your neighbor Freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits Freedom, not for free libre, not gratis

Open Source Criteria Free Redistribution Source Code Derived Works The 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 Code The 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 Groups The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor The 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.

Open Source Criteria… Distribution of License The 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 Product The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. License Must Not Restrict Other Software The 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-Neutral No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface

Web Server Market Share

Market Penetration 67% percent of the World Wide Web is powered by Apache 75% of all Domain Name Servers use Bind 42% of all Email Servers run Send Mail PHP is used to power 9 million web sites

Reduced Costs For a company of 50 users Use of GNU/Linux Microsoft Solution software: $87,988 FOSS Solution Software Cost: $80 Use of GNU/Linux Intel saved $200 million Amazon saved $17million Public sector organizations savings Government of Sweden: $1 billion Government of Denmark: $480-$730 million

FOSS Strengths Ability to fit local needs No restrictions on use Availability of the source code means that you can modify and enhance the software to more closely fit your own needs. No restrictions on use No restrictions on how the software is used and no  invoices for each user license. Low cost No 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 SW.  Innovation With open source code, users keep-up innovating, improving which means often much faster development cycle when compared to proprietary software.

FOSS Strengths.. User-driven Collaboration Traditional 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. Collaboration Vibrant local, national and global user groups collaborate in creativity, development and trouble shooting. Transfer of Technical Know-How Being active member and part of OSS community, your team members will learn the minimum required know-how of SW & technologies in use.

FOSS Strengths... Reliability Security and Stability OSS 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-in Unlike 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

FOSS Weaknesses Unanticipated Efforts Lack of Coordination A library 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 Coordination The decentralized development of open source software means that progress can be chaotic and there may be delays in addressing bugs. Inadequate Technical Support Documentation tends to be limited and aimed at developers. There usually is limited technical support, especially for users of the software. Risk of discontinuation Development or support may discontinue. The same risk exists with commercial options.

Library-related OS Software DSpace Greenstone Koha Fedora Keystone LibraryFind Evergreen MyLibrary OpenBiblio YAZ

Koha: First Open Source ILS 300+ libraries worldwide Horowhenua Library Trust Nelsonville Public Library Crawford County Federated Library System 10 Libraries Howard County, MD 1 million volumes Central Kansas Library System Near East University Library 1.5 million volumes Delhi Public Library 2 million volumes

Koha vs. Commercial ILS S.No Core services Alice Libsys New Genlib Soul VTLS Libsuite Koha 01 Acquisition  02 Cataloguing 03 Circulation 04 Web/OPAC 05 Serials 06 Biblio format 07 Data exchange 10 Standards 11 Cost (Approx.) 3.5 Lakh 4.5 Lakh 3.5 50000 8.00 lakh FREE 16

FOSS in Pakistani Libraries   CDS-ISIS provided the foundation to library automation in Pakistan Zebra Server, Yaz Client and MarcEdit PakLAG implemented 10 Zebra based OPACs at LOC gateway Koha ILS Exploration Initiated UMT, further Explored NRSP, joined IIU and PakLAG. PakLAG KOHA Six Languages Virtual Key Boards, Urdu Marc Export facility, Printing of multilingual spines, book card, membership cards, catalog cards etc. PakLAG among Pay-for-Support Companies First in South Asia PakLAG Koha: Adopted by Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad HITEC University Wah Cantt. Health Services Academy Islamabad

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