COMMENTARY--It is time for the users to wrest back control to create operating environments that best suit their individual needs.
Few milestones stand higher than the emergence and evolution of open source computing in the last two decades of information and communication technology.
Over the next five years, it will transform the way software is developed, sold, and supported; organisations, particularly at enterprise level will harness its cost-saving and flexibility benefits to underpin business returns on their technology investments.
When Richard Stallman's group at MIT developed a Unix-like operating system (GNU) in 1984 that could be copied, modified, and distributed freely by and to anyone, few but the nerdiest of our ICT compatriots recognised its importance, at least not until Finnish-born Linus Torvalds worked on its kernel to deliver his unified Linux to the world in 1991.
While many in ICT have had a nodding acquaintance with open source, its implementation by some pretty heavy duty governments and global companies has rapidly accelerated its acceptance over the last 18 months--and now it has been awarded a sort of reverse respectability by being at the centre of a US$3 billion lawsuit.
The litigation has been brought by the Santa Cruz Organisation (SCO) against IBM, claiming that IBM contributed source code to Linux that contains SCO Unix intellectual property, and that commercial users of Linux could also be liable.
The action has inflamed the open source community, particularly as SCO has not specified just which source code is involved. Major open source vendor Red Hat has replied with a counter-action designed to force clarification of this issue and kicked in US$1 million to set up a defence fund for open source use generally, not just Linux.
SCO followed up its IBM action with an initial licensing demand of US$699 per processor, to rise to twice that after October 15, 2003, to absolve users from future action.
IBM denies SCO's claims and describes the increasingly heated flurry of assertions and counterclaims as the sort of "bump in the road" that afflicts the evolution of any major development in ICT.
The whole affair has stalled open source uptake to varying degrees depending on which analyst you believe, but the fact remains that the entire ICT vendor community--with Microsoft a notable exception--is working to port their offerings to the pervading open source environment.
Open source has broken the shackles of proprietary software, offering users an alternative to being locked into vendors' high-priced licensing demands to cover their development and marketing costs--and some hefty profit ambitions.
Led by IBM, major vendors like Oracle, Sun, HP, and SAP have thrown their weight behind open source, offering service level agreements for Linux as they do for their own proprietary products, giving CIOs the confidence to adopt open source and reap its cost benefits through flexible procurement options and inherent standards.
Bankers like Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase, manufacturing giant DaimlerChrysler and others of their ilk have adopted open source totally or in part, driving exponential growth over the last year or two.
Governments too have recognised it (open source is firmly planted in the White House) with growing enthusiasm: South Australia is considering a bill which would give preference to open source over proprietary; NSW has set up evaluation program involving 40 agencies and other states follow a similar path. At federal level, the National Office for the Information Economy is working with organisations like the Australian Unix and Open Systems Users Group and major vendors to explore procurement options and set local standards.
IBM has joined with National ICT Australia and UNSW to open its first Centre for Advanced Studies outside the US to enable global collaboration on open source.
The Australian enterprise that doesn't have an open source component in its strategic plan for the next year will be paying too much for its ICT in the year after. It's that simple.
Richard Hogg is National president of the Australian Computer Society (ACS). The ACS is the recognised association for Information Technology (IT) professionals, attracting a membership (over 16,000) from all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services. A member of the Australian Council of Professions, the ACS is the guardian of professional ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community to ensure the beneficial use of IT.
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It is time for the users to wrest back control to create operating environments that best suit their individual needs..."
Why did *they* give up control? We certainly never did!
Henry Keultjes
Microdyne Company
Mansfield Ohio USA