Five Myths of Open Source

Presented at SSSI Going Places, 29th March, 2012

GAIA RESOURCES

Open Source5 Myths

Andrew DennisonGaia Resources

Open Source vs Open Standards vs Open Data

What’s it all about?

“Open-source software is software whose source code is published and made available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees”- Wikipedia

Overview

Overview

“Open source creates a license so that nobody can ever improve the software."

Overview

“If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs.”

Overview

Myth #1Open source software is

unsupported and unreliable

Unsupported?

Oracle 11g vs PostgreSQL/PostGIS benchmarking

• PostGIS was faster in 10 of 13 queries – in most cases much faster

Unreliable?

In 2011 Coverity Inc. reviewed the source code for around 100 proprietary and open source products and found……….

Unreliable?

• Open Source = 0.45 bugs / 1000 lines

• Proprietary = 0.64 bugs / 1000 lines

Myth #2Big companies don’t use

open source software

Myth #3It’s free

Certifications

Integration

TrainingSupport

Online Services

Proprietary Software

Software

Certifications

Integration

TrainingSupport

Online Services

Open Source Software

Myth #4Open Source is Unsustainable

Software

Certifications

Integration

TrainingSupport

Online Services

Certifications

Integration

TrainingSupport

Online Services

Myth #5Open Source

improves faster

Open Source Improves Faster

VS

What about spatial?

Desktop

Database

Javascript Libraries

Webmap Server

• Paul Ramsey – Beyond Nerds Bearing Gifts http://www.fosslc.org/drupal/content/beyond-nerds-bearing-gifts-future-open-source-economy

• Open Source Technology and ESRI http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring11articles/open-source-technology-and-esri.html

• OSGEO - http://www.osgeo.org

• QGIS - http://www.qgis.org

• GeoServer - http://geoserver.org

• OpenLayers - http://openlayers.org

• PostGIS - http://postgis.refractions.net

References and Resources

Questions?

• If you want to know more, please contact me

andrew@gaiaresources.com.au@andrew_dennison

(08) 9227 7309 0459 990 256

• Web site:www.gaiaresources.com.au