2. Open Source: It's Already Here Dave Cross Magnum Solutions Ltd dave@mag-sol.com http://mag-sol.com/talks/bcs/

3. Some Facts Linux is a great desktop operating system Anything you can do in Windows, you can also do on Linux

4. Some More Facts OpenOffice.org is as powerful as MS Office Mozilla is a better browser than IE Evolution does anything that Outlook does (and is less vulnerable to virus attack)

5. Or Opinons There are many more “facts” like these But they are just personal opinions They only convince Open Source fans (like me) So let's try another approach

6. Another Approach Who has used Linux? Who has used Linux today? Who has used any Open Source app today?

7. Another Approach Who has used PayPal today? Who has used Google today? Who has used Amazon today? These are all Open Source applications

8. Open Source Business All of these companies run their business on Open Source software There are many more like them What software are they using? What advantages do they see?

9. Web Site Software An operating system (e.g. Windows) A Web Server (e.g. IIS) A Database (e.g. SQL Server) A Programming Language (e.g..Net) What are the Open Source equivalents for these?

10. LAMP An operating system (Linux) A Web Server (Apache) A Database (MySQL) A Programming Language (Perl, PHP and Python)

11. Linux Unix Clone Originally for x86 architecture Now runs on many platforms Well established as an alternative to Unix Long heritage – GNU Project Many distributions Commercial support

12. Apache “A patchy server” Modular architecture that makes it simple to add new features The web server that all others emulate Phenomenally successful

13. Apache Runs the Web Source: Netcraft (http: // www.netcraft.com)

14. MySQL Small and fast database server Compromises RDBMS functionality for speed Alternatives SQLite (even smaller, even faster) PostgreSQL (slightly slower, fully featured) Most commercial DBs run on Linux One major exception

15. Programming Perl Long history of being used for the web Very high level language Very fast when used with Apache (mod_perl) PHP More like ASP Code embedded in HTML

16. Programming Python Similar to Perl More OO-based Other Alternatives Java (not Open Source) Mono (Open Source version of.Net)

17. Open Source Advantages Cost Security Support Quality Control

18. Cost No license costs Still pay for support and training

19. Security Source code is available to everyone Security becomes very important “Security by obscurity” is not an option Holes get fixed quickly

20. Support Most Open Source projects have very active support communities Most bugs get fixed within a day Fixes available immediately

21. Quality Programmer pride Constant peer review Meritocracy

22. Control You can see exactly what the program does You can change what the program does Documented interfaces and data formats Not tied to one company's view of the world

23. Conclusions Everyone uses Open Source software every day Some large businesses have already chosen to move to Open Source software Many of these businesses are very successful There are good business reasons for using Open Source software

24. Questions