Open Doors to Open Source

Publishing date: Mar 13, 2006 07:48

Linux and other open source programs have proven robust, inexpensive and inherently secure. That's why they are playing a growing role in running a variety of small business servers.

Open Doors to Open Source

Statistics on the growth of a few open source programs-such as Apache (a webserver), Linux (an operating system), FreeBSD (an operating system), and PostgreSQL (a database server) - show that Linux and other open source applications are finding increasing acceptance in the global marketplace in small and large companies alike. In this article, we'll consider why open source is growing so fast, and what it means to small companies.

Apache: On the Warpath: Apache is a free open source webserver that runs on most operating systems. The following graph shows how it has been taking market share from Microsoft's webserver (and others) since 1995.

Source: Netcraft.com

It's not that Microsoft hasn't tried to take over this market. Users have found Apache to be easier to implement, more secure, and more reliable than its competitors. It is also more reparable when there are problems (after all, you have the source code) and, most of all, it is free.

Operating Systems: The largest and most successful software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers have all chosen free open source operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD as their primary platforms for serving their high performance Web sites.

Large, Successful SaaS Providers Choice of Operating Systems
Source: Netcraft.com

Salesforce.com	CRM - Sales	Linux and FreeBSD
Taleo.com	Recruiting	Linux
Journyx.com	Timesheets	Linux
Rightnow.com	CRM - Support	Linux
Netsuite.com	ERP	Linux

These companies absolutely cannot afford downtime. They have plenty of money; they aren't choosing Linux because it's free.

Red Hat is a company that sells services and support for the Linux operating system. They have annual sales of $257 million and their five year stock chart shows substantial growth.

(NasdaqNM:RHAT) Source: Yahoo.com

How does a company that gives away its products show this kind of revenue growth? Basically, they sell support and other services to large enterprises who are converting from Windows and Unix servers to Linux.

Apple Computer released OS X a few years ago, which is essentially code added to the FreeBSD operating system. If you have a Mac, you have a free open source operating system under the hood. Apple's five year stock chart is even more impressive than Red Hat's, although the iPod certainly has something to do with that. Companies such as Apple Computer and Red Hat that are embracing open source in one way or another are succeeding in the marketplace because of it.

(NasdaqNM:AAPL) Source: Yahoo.com

As for the future, Linux is looking strong.

Advisory services predict that Linux's share of the server market will grow from 19 to 26 percent by 2010. What's more, Linux will have the strongest relative growth of any server operating system, including those from Microsoft. Shipments will increase from 1.4 million units in 2005 to 2.4 million in 2010. Revenue will grow to $11.5 billion by 2010.

A Free Database Server? PostgreSQL is an open source database server that had 1.2 million downloads in 2005 alone and has recently received commercial support from Pervasive Software, the original makers of Btrieve. PostgreSQL is a free object-relational database. It offers an alternative to proprietary systems such as Oracle, Sybase, IBM's DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server. Similar to other open-source projects such as Apache and Linux, PostgreSQL is not controlled by any single company, but instead relies on a global community of developers and companies to develop it.

PostgreSQL is very stable and bug-free. Case in point, thousands of Journyx Timesheet customers have used PostgreSQL for more than nine years with zero incidents of data corruption.

Why the Open Source Movement is So Powerful

Software is ultimately composed of congealed ideas, so ideas are very important in the minds of software developers. The key to market power in the software industry lies in the minds of developers. Fashion plays a role; some ideas are fashionable and some are not. The idea, or philosophy, of open source is powerful, frictionless and seductive. And like the 'little black dress' in the clothing world, open source may just stay fashionable forever.

Free redistribution: The software can be freely given away or sold. This makes for frictionless idea transmission.
Source code: The source code must either be included or freely obtainable.
Derived works: Redistribution of modifications must be allowed.

Apache is an open source webserver. PostgreSQL is an open source database server. Linux and FreeBSD are open source operating systems. There are many other examples, from applications to infrastructure. The philosophy associated with the term "open source" emphasizes collaborative development. This philosophy tends to quickly gain developer mindshare. Microsoft is visibly concerned about Linux's upsurge.

Mistakenly released internal Microsoft emails provide obvious testimony of this concern: Open source software [OSS] "poses a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in server space," the email said. "Additionally, the intrinsic parallelism and free idea exchange in OSS has benefits that are not replicable with our current licensing model and therefore present a long-term developer mindshare threat."

OSS developers benefit from a reduction in the friction-to-idea exchange that commercial enterprises engender through the use of lawyers, contracts and payments. They experiment with new tools immediately instead of paying for legally licensed access to technologies.

OSS is winning the minds of developers - and that is precious real estate.

How Small Businesses Can Use Open Source

Rolling out Linux in your company offers advantages. It's cheap, fast and is less prone to worms and viruses. The most common uses for Linux today in small businesses are server-based. Linux machines make good file servers, print servers, database servers and webservers. Open source software has been more successful so far in infrastructure software than in applications software.

File and Print Servers:: A file server differs from a desktop computer in that it is dedicated to storing files in a centralized location while permitting network access. By having a file server, users can save work and have access to files without having to carry around a disk. Access privileges can be restricted by file or directory, while a centralized location means once place to backup all files.

This is the most common type of server in small businesses. Linux works great as a network file server. Linux includes software called Samba that allows files on the server to be viewed and edited on any Windows PC or Macintosh computer. Samba is faster and more secure than the native file sharing services available on Microsoft Windows machines, and you can connect to shares on the Linux file server, just as you would on your Windows file server. Everything will look the same and there are no per-user licenses required.

My experience is that Linux performs better as a file server than Windows. The reason that this true--even when Linux runs on older and slower hardware--is that hardware resources focus on processing user requests rather than running the OS.

The same Samba technology that enables file service on Linux and FreeBSD also enables print service.

Database and Web Service: Database servers can be constructed using PostgreSQL or other free database engines. Connect them to Apache with Python, PHP or other languages and you have your own Web application environment. Indeed, Journyx got started as a Web-based accounting application built on PostgreSQL, Apache, Python and Linux.

What to Watch Out For

Many people have more skills in Windows than in Linux. This is particularly true in small businesses. Therefore, investment in learning may be steeper initially in open source than in Windows. If you are considering rolling out this technology in your company, keep in mind the skill levels of the people in the company regarding this kind of technology.

If you are currently using any of the on-demand SaaS applications such as Journyx or Salesforce.com, you are already using open source technologies.

With the growth in the OSS marketplace, led by Linux, more and more companies will be using OSS as a portion of their IT infrastructure, particularly in the arena of servers. As more applications become Web-based, there will be less and less reason for people to use Windows or Macintosh desktop computers. Companies like Num Sum and Writely provide traditional applications akin to Excel and Word through a web browser interface. Windows isn't going away any time soon, but its days are numbered. OSS is shrinking Windows lifetime for servers and eventually it may do so for desktop machines as well. And that should provide interesting developments for all of us to watch.

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