Collaborative Open Source Software Reality or Dream? Lawrence Law The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Transcription

1 Collaborative Open Source Software Reality or Dream? Lawrence Law The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

2 Agenda About Open Source Software Alternative to Build and Buy? HKUST s s Experience Applications in HKUST Conclusion

3 About Open Source Software What is Open Source Software? Basic characteristics Free, no license fee Source code available Community contribution Examples Linux, Apache, Perl,

4 About Open Source Software (cont.) Many years ago Before the term open source appeared Examples : BSD Unix, Decus programs years ago Mostly system and infrastructure software Examples : Linux, Samba

5 About Open Source Software (cont.) 5-10 years ago More database and WWW related software Examples : Apache, PHP, OpenLDAP, MySQL

6 About Open Source Software (cont.) Recently Academic application software emerge Portal software uportal Digital Portfolio - DSpace Learning Environment - SAKAI Better organized project team Supported by fund bodies

7 About Open Source Software (cont.) Possible new model - commercial support for Open Source Examples Linux, Apache License - free Support - charged Competitions drive cost down

8 Alternative to Build and Buy? Always arguments between Build - develop in house Buy software packages Problems with build (self development) High development cost High maintenance cost Long development time

9 Alternative to Build and Buy? (cont.) Problems with buy High price High customization cost if the package does not suit the university Support issue when vendor out of business

10 Alternative to Build and Buy? (cont.) Is collaborative open source software an alternative to build and buy??? The borrow option Very different opinions

11 Alternative to Build and Buy? (cont.) Support People against - Difficult without support from commercial companies People for - Easier with source codes and community participation Cost People against High; need very skilful programmers People for no license fee

12 Alternative to Build and Buy? (cont.) HKUST s s Lesson/Experience All these observations (for or against) are correct!

13 HKUST s s Experience About HKUST Research university, specialized & focused A very young university, 14 years old All 3 schools win world recognition Business and Management EMBA ranked 6 th in the world (Financial Times) B&M research ranked 25 th in the world (U of Texas)

14 HKUST s s Experience (cont.) Engineering School Ranked 20 th in the world (THES) Science School Ranked 50 th in the world (THES) Science professor named Women in Science by UNESCO in 2004 for her research in Biotechnology

15 HKUST s s Experience (cont.) Save administrative budget to focus on research and teaching Seriously look into open source software in 1998 Lesson/Experience Treat Open Source as commercial software Ask same questions

16 HKUST s s Experience (cont.) How big is the user population (market share) Is the project management structural? Is it well documented? (good product) Do not jump into breeding edge unless you really prepare to Prepare to switch and run unsupported for a while (end of a product)

17 HKUST s s Experience (cont.) Borrow and Customize only No further major self development Customize if possible instead of modify Modify API not the main code if possible Need to be Maintainable by an average programmer with one to three years experience Reliable and sustainable

18 HKUST s s Experience (cont.) Under proper management, the DOWN side could be controlled Can then benefit from the UP side of Open Source software Less cost Easier to support with source code Adhere to open standard Modular (developed by different parties); more ready for grid computing

19 Applications in HKUST As production system To introduce new idea and concept when commercial software are not ready As a backdoor when commercial software raise their price

20 Applications in HKUST (supporting > 10,000 users) all based on open source software Imap Courier Webmail SquirrelMail Imap proxy Anti-virus Clam-AV Spam control Spamassassin Directory OpenLdap

21 Monitor Abnormal Network Traffic

22 Monitor Abnormal Network Traffic

23 Monitor Abnormal Network Traffic

24 Monitor Abnormal Network Traffic

25 Limit Infected PCs to Restricted VLAN

26 Limit Infected PCs to Restricted VLAN

27 Digital Repository Using DSpace

28 Digital Repository Using DSpace

29 Digital Repository Using DSpace

30 Digital Repository Using DSpace

31 uporal & SAKAI Portal uportal J2EE Tomcat Database PostgredSQL Single Signon CAS elearning - SAKAI

32 uportal & SAKAI (cont.)

33 uportal & SAKAI (cont.)

34 uportal & SAKAI (cont.)

35 Applications in HKUST (cont.) Others VoIP PBX? University financial system? Too early and risky to adopt at this stage

36 Conclusion Open source software is a viable solution if properly managed The decisive factors Effectiveness Cost of ownership Another choice to build and buy