Open Source - The Top Five Myths

Myth Number One: open source means Linux.

The stars have aligned for Linux. Several of the largest technology vendors are pushing Linux relentlessly, more for market share advantage than a burning desire to support open source. Users are benefiting tremendously from this push and are beginning to respond positively to the message of open source -- Linux is rapidly becoming an accepted operating system choice for IT operations. However, Linux is just one of 70,000+ open source software products that are available. IT organizations will rapidly move to a world in which selecting open source products will be a commonplace task.

Commentary: The rapid adoption of Linux is just the first round of what will be an ever-increasing use of open source by IT organizations. As Linux settles into everyday use, the next question will be, “what other open source products are there that we can take advantage of?” With over 70,000 choices available, IT organizations will be faced with selecting and assessing a multitude of open source products. However, it’s unlikely that the stars will align for the rest of these products, as the vendors promoting Linux have software products of their own threatened by open source. For the remainder of the open source products, IT organizations must be more self-reliant in the selection process. The Open Source Maturity Model can help in this process – it offers a formalized methodology for identifying, assessing, and implementing open source products.

Myth Number Two: open source only runs on Linux.

Well, there may be a lot of open source products, but you must run Linux to take advantage of them, right? Actually, no. Most open source products run on a variety of operating systems. Even if you run another operating system, you can take advantage of open source.

Commentary: Open source developers are passionate about their products. They release them as open source so that as many people as possible can take advantage of their functionality. Open source developers have no reason to lock users into a specific platform; in order to reach as broad a user base as possible, open source products are commonly released for a variety of platforms. Even if a product has not been released for your platform, its source availability means that it can be ported to the platform.

Most IT shops run a variety of operating systems. One of the real advantages of open source is that products are available (or can be easily made available) for most operating systems. And, instead of waiting for a vendor to decide whether it will support a particular OS, the power lies with the user. Any IT organization can take responsibility for moving a product to its own operating environment. Open source probably provides greater flexibility in choice of operating system than commercial software does.

Myth Number Three: Nobody runs open source in production.

Many IT organizations believe, with fervent support from their commercial suppliers, that open source is not ready for demanding environments. There are certainly environments that are best suited to commercial products, but open source is definitely used in production systems. If you’ve used Amazon or Google, you’ve used open source. Open source will increasingly be used in production environments.

Commentary: Some open source products are ready for production, while others are not; the key issue is whether the open source product you’re interested in is production-ready. It’s critical to assess the maturity of an open source product before you put it into production – finding out it’s not ready after implementation is a recipe for disaster. The Open Source Maturity Model was developed to enable a structured approach to assessing a product’s maturity and help avoid production disasters.

Myth Number Four: Open source will destroy the software industry.

Some vendors assert that open source is anti-capitalist and will ruin the software marketplace. Some developers believe that open source solves all problems and will wipe out commercial vendors. Neither side is right. Open source developers are very good at developing infrastructure, but have not yet addressed industry-specific applications (verticals, as they’re called). Free software in the infrastructure will increase demand higher in the application stack, and enable software vendors to sell more verticals. In the new world of open source innovation moves to the edge -- edge being defined as new software-enabled technologies (like Wi-Fi) or business-oriented applications that will garner capital investment.

Commentary: Open source enables businesses to shift their investment toward technologies and applications that directly improve business results. More capital can be invested in business-specific information technology. Open source has not yet proven that it can successfully deliver business-oriented applications. It may never do so. In the “innovation moves to the edge” world, there will be plenty of opportunity for commercial software vendors. They will need to ensure that they deliver innovation to their customers – it won’t be enough to rely on financial barriers to entry because open source is immune to financial issues.

Myth Number Five: Open source is just like commercial software.

This is tempting to believe – after all, software is software, right? Wrong! Open source software is created differently, distributed differently, and operated differently. Open source requires software users to be much more self-reliant. Failing to prepare to work with open source is asking for trouble.

Commentary: The difference between commercial software and open source is like the difference between having your kitchen remodeled by a general contractor and doing it yourself. Using a contractor, you provide input into the plan, write a check, and wait for your kitchen to be finished. When you do it yourself, you put together the plans, research the construction techniques, buy the materials at Home Depot, and, most importantly, install everything yourself. Using commercial software allows a more passive approach – you can rely on the vendor to take care of a lot of the work. Choosing open source means you must take a more active role, but you have much more control of the process. One is not better than the other; they’re just different. You must decide which is the right method to achieve your software goal.