Open source

and

Open source
software development
 Overview

OSS –
(Open Source Software)

OSSD –
(Open Source Software Development)
 Free OSS ?

“Software that gives users rights to
run, copy, distribute, change and
improve it as they see it, without them
asking permission from or make
payments to any external group or
person”.

-Mitre FOSS report 2002

 Free as in “Freedom”

 Freedom to study the code
 Freedom to improve the program
 Freedom to run the program anytime, for any
purpose on any machine.
 Freedom to redistribute.
Free Speech not Free Beer!!
Open Source Software ?

 Free OS Software

Apache Linux
BIND MySQL
Emacs Open Office
FreeBSD Perl
Ghostscript Samba
Jakarta Sendmail
Jboss Snort
LaTex Squid
 Why OSS ?

 Customizable
 Improvable
 Redistributable.
 Runs Everywhere, for everyone.
 Transparency.
 Free !!!
 Next….


OSSD – (Open Source Software

Development)
 Surprising !!

How can the technical work of dozens, or
even hundreds, of developers be coordinated
without the usual project management
apparatus?
How do useful, well-designed products
emerge from the individual actions of
widely-distributed developers, with minimal
central planning and relatively impoverished
communication? 
People involved

 OSSD into commercial
world

 IBM considers it important
 Customers ask for it
 Developing in open community leads to innovation
 Develops open standards
 Strengths and Limitations of
OSSD
 Strengths

 Cheaper
 Runs for Everyone , Everywhere

 Limitations
 Product structure and Comprehension
 Effective ways of incorporating requirements of non-
developer users?
 With larger scale, will coordination needs force adoption
of “commercial” development techniques?
 How to collaborate on “big” features?
 How to respond to unanticipated events
