ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

“The advances in all of the arts and sciences, indeed the sum total of human knowledge, is the result of the open sharing of ideas, theories, studies and research.” — Terry Vessels

The most popular web server over the past 10 years has always been FOSS-based, according to Netcraft’s statistics from Aug 1995 – Dec 2005. Apache is the #1 web server, currently with over three times the market share of its next-ranked (proprietary) competitor.

An edited extract from a FOSS primer, written by Tan Wooi Tong (2004) for the United Nations Development Programme-Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP):

Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) is a recent phenomenon that has the potential to revolutionize the software industry. It has already gained a strong foothold in the server software segment, with a leading market share worldwide in some software categories. It is also gaining ground in desktop applications and it has been predicted that its use on the desktop will become significant in the near future.

Interest in FOSS is growing globally, particularly in developing countries…. There are clear indications that the use of FOSS in government, industry and other institutions is growing [even in developed countries] and that there will be a need for graduates familiar with FOSS.

Lower Costs, Viable Alternative to Illegal Copying. The cost of providing computing and networking hardware, and the necessary software can be daunting not only for developing countries but also for underprivileged sectors in developed countries. Educational institutions that cannot afford to pay for licensing fees may resort to using illegal copies of the proprietary software. Students, who can ill-afford the purchase of licensed copies of proprietary software, may use illegal copies to do assignments at home or on their laptop computers. With its zero or negligible cost, FOSS can lower such barriers and discourage piracy tremendously. Unlike proprietary software, there is also no licensing fee for each user or computer. FOSS can be freely distributed once a copy is downloaded or made available on a CD-ROM.

Reliability, Performance and Security. Many studies have suggested that FOSS, especially more mature ones, have better reliability, performance and security. For example, FOSS database MySQL has six times fewer defects than proprietary databases (Reasoning Inc.), FOSS file server Samba running on GNU/Linux significantly outperforms Windows 20003 by about 100% (PC Magazine, 2002) and more (IT Week Labs, 2003). The development methodology, the availability of the source code and the large numbers of developers enables bugs, performance glitches and security vulnerabilities to be identified and resolved quickly by third parties. An independent audit of code is also possible only with FOSS and not with proprietary software.

Learning, Innovating and Verifying. The open philosophy of FOSS is consistent with academic freedom and the open dissemination of knowledge and information common in academia. Unlike most proprietary software, the source code in FOSS is available for users to examine and to modify. This gives students the opportunity to learn from studying high quality real-life programmes. An academic environment where FOSS is prevalent will encourage staff and students to tinker and experiment with, and participate in the development of FOSS that may eventually lead to innovative solutions. In addition, the validity of research findings arrived using FOSS can be verified, because the source code is available for examination.

(See also “Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!” by David A. Wheeler (2005).)