Why look at open source now?

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Why look at open source now?

Contents

by John Houser, published January 29, 2008

Introduction

Many librarians were shocked and dismayed by SirsiDynix’s recent announcement that it would concentrate development on its Rome platform (now called Symphony) and would not release another version of the Horizon integrated library system. For some, this was the last straw leading to an examination of open source options: one more disappointment at the hands of a library software vendor at a time when many libraries have been finding it hard to manage the rising costs of software licensing, maintenance, and support fees. But there are other reasons for looking at open source now. The open source development model promises freedom to its participants: the freedom to download, test, modify, and put into production software without paying licensing fees.

In addition, the open source world now offers something that wasn’t available even five years ago: a comprehensive toolkit of library-relevant code and programmer’s tools that can be used to create library applications without writing huge amounts of new code.[1] At the Code4Lib conference in February of 2007, Casey Durfee of the Seattle Public Library demonstrated a prototype discovery tool, an OPAC replacement, which was based on open source tools that required less than 300 lines of code.[2] Simply put, the investment in programming resources necessary to create a new library application is much less than it used to be.

At the same time as coders have been creating new development tools, another change has been occurring that will have a profound effect on libraries: the establishment of service providers who specialize in support of open source applications for libraries. This development allows any library to purchase support for an open source application and to benefit from the predictable cost and service guarantees that are typically negotiated in the form of a service level agreement (SLA), while still benefiting from the open source development model. Notable examples include LibLime, which provides setup and support services for Koha, an open source integrated library system (ILS), and Equinox Software, which supports Evergreen, the open source ILS software now used by the libraries of the Georgia PINES program.

Finally, there is the model offered by the Georgia PINES program for what can be done with a grand set of service goals, even with limited technical resources. The Georgia PINES folks describe it this way,

PINES creates a statewide "borderless library" that provides equal access to information for all Georgians. Georgians with a PINES library card have access to materials beyond what is available on their local shelves and enjoy the benefits of a shared collection of 8 million books that can be delivered to their home library free of charge.
If you are a resident of Georgia, you are eligible to receive a free PINES library card.[3]

Furthermore, the Georgia PINES system does not require users to search in multiple catalogs for available resources. Searches in the PINES catalog show local materials first, and then other materials, but one search finds it all. The Evergreen software PINES uses was developed and brought to production in approximately two years by a design team consisting of a Linux systems administrator, a system support specialist and user interface developer, a database developer, and a systems developer.

Imagine what the combined resources of libraries could create.

What is meant by open source

Open source software is computer software whose source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner.[4]

No license fees

Open source software projects typically select a license for their software that insures that the software is, and will continue to be, free to download, modify, and use. Example licenses include the GNU General Public License (currently in version 3), or the Apache License (currently in version 2), but there are many others.[5] No license fees may be charged for software using these licenses. However, companies are free to offer packaging, maintenance, or user support services related to the software. This is how companies like Red Hat, Inc., which creates the Red Hat distributions of the Linux operating system, make their money. The low cost of acquisition associated with open source appeals to many organizations. However, organizations that utilize open source software may not save money overall if they choose to redirect into development the money that would normally be used to pay license fees.

Quality

Peer review is a concept familiar to librarians as a critical part of scholarly research and publishing. It is also essential to the creation of high quality software. Companies that keep their code proprietary necessarily limit the number of people who see the code they produce. Small firms, such as those who have traditionally created library applications, often release code that has received little or no review at all. This results in bugs. The public code released by open source projects can be, and often is, reviewed by many programmers. Bugs are generally found and fixed rapidly.

Collaboration

The collaborative process used to create open source software, while increasing quality, also enables cost sharing. Some open source projects are started explicitly in order to share the responsibility and cost of development amongst a group of sponsoring organizations or individuals. Certainly, resource sharing is a concept familiar to libraries and in keeping with library professional values. But since any developer can make changes to the code of the open source project—at least on his or her own server—changes can happen very fast even in this kind of cooperative environment. (Of course, negotiation may be necessary to add a code change to the common distribution of the source code.)

Rapid development

More developers can lead to more rapid development. Open source projects make it possible for any organization or individual to contribute code to their software. Many open source applications are also designed in such a way as to encourage and facilitate extensions or add-ons. Thus, the number of programmers and other people contributing to the project is often much larger than would be possible for a single organization or company to allocate. Firefox, Wordpress, MediaWiki, and Drupal are all examples of applications that are currently used by libraries, that have been designed to be extensible and that have very active development communities.[6]

Multiple choices for support

Because the companies providing support for open source applications generally do not own any exclusive rights to the software they support, their customers are free to purchase additional support services from other service providers, or to switch providers. A change in provider does not require a disruptive and expensive software migration. Because most open source software projects use freely available and widely supported development tools, it is also generally easy to hire technical personnel to support them. For organizations that employ in-house developers, support for open source software generally comes from within the open source community itself and is free, although active involvement in the community does require a commitment of time.

Conclusions

Libraries value low cost, high value services to patrons. Open source methodologies, open source development tools and code libraries, and open source support firms are opening new paths to high quality services and applications for libraries that are willing to look at alternatives to commercial software. The open source model offers librarians the capability to create the software that we’ve always wanted—-standards compliant[7], interoperable, extensible and scalable software that does what we want it to do: help customers find information quickly, conveniently, no matter where that information resides.

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ Examples of the tools available to a library developer today include Index Data’s Z39.50 code library Yaz, the Apache Foundation’s indexing tool Lucene and their search server Solr.
  2. ↑ Durfee used Lucene, the Apache Foundations indexing tool, Solr, their enterprise search server, and Django, a Python-based web development framework.
  3. ↑ http://www.georgialibraries.org/public/pines.php
  4. ↑ This concise definition was taken from Wikipedia in August 2007. The Wikipedia definition has since been expanded considerably.
  5. ↑ A useful comparison of the various open source licenses in use today can be found here.
  6. ↑ Firefox is a web browser with approximately 16% of the US market today (more in Europe). WordPress is blogging software. MediaWiki is the software used by Wikipedia. Drupal is the website content management software used by the Ann Arbor District Library at [1]. Note that PLN is based on MediaWiki, the director/managing editor uses Firefox for all editorial maintenance work, and the PLN Highlights blog is a WordPress blog.
  7. ↑ How many commercial library systems now fully support the NCIP circulation standard? How about Shibboleth authentication?

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