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Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for Libraries

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood

University of the Punjab

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

Open Source Criteria…

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Web Server Market Share

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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

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Reduced Costs For a company of 50 users

– 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

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FOSS Strengths

Ability to fit local needs– 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.

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FOSS Strengths..

User-driven– 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.

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FOSS Strengths...

Reliability– 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

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FOSS Weaknesses

Unanticipated Efforts– 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.

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Library-related OS Software

DSpace Greenstone Koha Fedora Keystone

LibraryFind Evergreen MyLibrary OpenBiblio YAZ

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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

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Koha vs. Commercial ILSS.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

Lakh

50000 8.00

Lakh

4.5

lakh

FREE

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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

FOSS in Pakistani Libraries

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Thanks for your attention