Educause 2008: Open Source/Community Source

Jonathan Markow, Executive Director, JA-SIG, Inc. answers the question, "Why open source?"
It's auditable, meaning many eyes are looking at it and can improved or fixed quickly.

Michael Korcuska, Executive Director, Sakai Foundation, mentions the advantage of community source is there is not a profit motive behind them, so the organizations are willing to give up territory, meaning that you are open to use which ever part of the software that meets your needs and there is no one to stop you. Also, it doesn't cost very much for universities to be in the game and be involved in developing systems that are core to the functions of universities: teaching and learning. I'm struck when I see commercial software companies that cost more for added features, and that is why open source beneficial as there is not an added cost to use more of the features of the software.

What is the difference between open source and community source. To be truly effective you want to make the whole process as transparent as possible, as this helps develop motivation amongst other things, says Michele Kimpton, Executive Director, DSpace Foundation, MIT. Developers are able to submit code via a variety of ways and then a set of commiters (at least in DSpace) review the code and drive the release process.

Kuali is definately more towards the community source model in that the license to use the software is free, but the commiters are specifically vetted and tendered by the institutions that are members of the community that specifically define and decide scope and functionality says Jennifer L. Foutty, Executive Director, Kuali Foundation. support is provied to the community via wiki's blogs, boards and some commercial vendors who are partners. But the priorities are set by members of the council that come from the member institutions.

Myths of open/community source. One myth is that Fedora is not the Red Hat Linux product, says Sandy Payette, Executive Director, Fedora Commons. This is the software that manages digital assets and collections. Also, open source is not free. There just isn't a fee provided to a vendor. There are a lot of costs in how to bring the systems together with other existing systems and creating new features that match up with your institution. Myth: is it reliable? Tim OReilly notes that if open source is not reliable, then the Internet is not reliable as much of its infrastructure is based on open source technology. Myth: not standard. in fact most project follow many standard, but they are not locked into one way of meeting their goals and in this way they are open.

Jonathan adds his thoughts. Myth: not secure. not true, they can be very secure as there are many eyes from different points of view looking at the software.

Myth: must build and not buy. also not true, as open source is built on community efforts including some of the best minds creating software creating excellent work and the effort is stored in community places and talked about at conferences so it is freely accessible.

Myth: open source means you are on your own. Your relationship with the community is more of equals than with a vendor relationship and plenty of access to peers to assist and open source usually has many ways of providing service, including vendors who are members of the community.

Enlightened Self-interest, is why institutions are in this field, and universities are not going away adds Barry Walsh, Indiana University (moderator).

Critical Success Factors: it is all about the community. Make sure that it matches your culture and needs and is the vibrancy of the community there? Is it a diverse community? Are there commercial participants as well as academic ones? How often do they release code? What is the infrastructure to support the community adds Michelle.

Michael adds that besides the community it is also about the product. Also he amends Jonathan's statement by adding participate to the build vs. buy paradigm. He thinks that commercial support in the community is important as environments change. Also you get more out of the products if you participate, and there are other ways to do so besides providing code, including sharing best practices with other members. Barry adds, "bring your brain, but park your ego at the door."

What do institutions need to be successful? It depends, states Jennifer, both at the front end of creating the software and the back end of implementing the software at your school. You can just download the software and install it at the lowest level of participation. You can also participate by paying dues to be a member of the community. The highest level is to truly be a partner by tendering resources and helping to set priorities. The advantage here is that you leverage your resources by the involvement of all the other members. At this level you are buying down the back-end implementation costs, as you already know how it works so it takes less time and effort to get to production. At the back end, especially with and ERP like Kuali there are factors such as integration, and replacement and by participating at the front end you drive down these costs.