10/07/2008 Open Source Software An Introduction to FOSS in Libraries and Information Centers Christopher Ritzo GSLIS PhD. Candidate IMLS Scholar, Youth Community Informatics

10/07/2008 Open Source Software An Introduction to FOSS in Libraries and Information Centers Christopher RitzoPerson who likes to use and GSLIS PhD. Candidate experiment with FOSS. IMLS Scholar, Youth Community Informatics

What is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)? "Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in."

A more philosophical definition “Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer." Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.” Free Software Foundation:

But this talk is not about the philosophy of FOSS Raging debates in the FOSS community since its inception. Richard Stallman: Linus Torvalds: A Couple Interesting Books I haven’t had time to read yet: The Cathedral & The Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. Raymond Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity by Lawrence Lessig

Still awake? blah, blah, blah... software licensing... Zzzzzzzzzzz … free as in free speech? Not free beer? Wait, I like free beer... “free” = legal, open licensing

It’s all about options With a little effort, free, legal and fully compatible is totally possible. Questions: So what kind of Open Source software is available? How can I use this in my library? Is it compatible with...? How do I install it? Is it just for Linux computers?

How can I use FOSS in my library? Library Systems Staff Computers Patron Computers Technical Expertise

Demonstration Ubuntu Linux Desktop customizations: language preferences, window managers Obtaining software and running system updates Desktop software: Open Office (compatible to Powerpoint, Excel, Word,etc.)‏ Mail clients: thunderbird, evolution Server software ILS systems: Koha Evergreen

Linux – Open source operating system Alternative to Windows, Mac OS Linux “distributions” – often very similar but with different programs and graphical user interfaces (GUI) called the desktop environment. Customized to specific tasks, user communities, hardware requirements, etc. Ubuntu- Kubuntu - Xubuntu - Ubuntu Studio -

Pros & Cons Pros: Infinite customizability. The ability to fine tune the desktop environment, programs and if necessary the entire operating system to suit the local user community Better security on public computers running linux Freedom from software licensing expense or threat of legal action. Contractual support for open source ILS products Cons: Infinite customizability May require staff/patron training to learn new desktop environment Requires some technical staff to manage Community based technical support is often slow and sometimes not helpful

Open Source Support Models Community Support Model People writing open source software and supporting it are usually volunteers, balancing development and support with the demands of life. The "community" for open source projects can be large or small, depending on the popularity of the software. This is the community model, which works theoretically, and well if a project has a strong development community and popularity of use. But support from the open source community can often be slow and is not guaranteed to be helpful. Organizations often depend on local developers to implement bug fixes, enhancements and customizations. The resistance to using open source products in the corporate IT world, in higher education and in libraries, is that support in the traditional sense is non-existent.

Commercial Support Model for FOSS Commercial companies have begun to emerge to address the support needs of organizations wishing to use open source software. In the library community, LibLime now provides commercial support for the three most mature open source ILS products ( Open Source Support Models

Links, Resources, etc. Software: Sourceforge Open source for windows Google: “open source” + ??? iBiblio.org linux software archive: Open source ILS: Koha Evergreen Linux Distributions: Ubuntu- (used in demo today)‏ Distrowatch Community & Commercial Support: OSS for Libraries Code 4 Lib -- Library-in-a-box Linux in Libraries mailing list LibLime eIFL-FOSS Tactile Technology Collective Public Software Foundation

Links, Resources, etc. Articles: Living With Linux (Library Journal, 4/15/2004) New group advocates for FOSS in libraries How-to: How to build your own Linux distribution Linux From Scratch:

10/07/2008 Open Source Software An Introduction to FOSS in Libraries and Information Centers Christopher Ritzo GSLIS PhD. Candidate IMLS Scholar, Youth Community Informatics