[Facil] [OTT-GOSLING] G&M Sep 13:Should your firm be FLOSSing?
Stéphane Couture
steph at stephcouture.info
Mar 16 Oct 08:36:47 EDT 2007
Décision importante d'une fédération syndicale canadienne.
Stéphane
Tracey P. Lauriault a écrit :
> pour ton info. The Canadian Labour Congress est l'union des unions!
> C'est formidable!
>> Source: globeandmail.com: Should your firm be FLOSSing?
>> Address :
>> <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070912.wgtfloss13/BNStory/GlobeTQ/ho
>>
>> me>
>> Date Visited: Tue Oct 16 2007 01:36:19 GMT-0400 (EDT)
>>
>> Should your firm be FLOSSing?
>>
>> PAUL CHIN
>>
>> Special to the Globe and Mail
>>
>> September 13, 2007 at 12:01 AM EDT
>>
>> The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) had no problem going against the
>> grain when it decided to forgo the widely used Microsoft Office suite
>> of business applications. Instead, it chose to replace its aging
>> WordPerfect installations with OpenOffice.org - for free.
>>
>> Yes, there was a clear financial motive: By steering clear of Office
>> 2007 and installing OpenOffice.org for its 100-plus users, the CLC
>> saved an estimated $60,000 in licensing fees.
>>
>> "But it's not just about the money," says Andrew Southworth, the
>> network technician responsible for all IT services at the CLC. In
>> fact, says Mr. Southworth, the philosophy and principles behind open
>> source software also struck a chord with the CLC and aligns with its
>> community-based activities.
>>
>> Free/libre/open-source software (FLOSS) - or simply "open source
>> software" - has long since evolved beyond a grassroots social
>> movement started by idealistic software programmers who refer to
>> large proprietary software makers collectively as "The Man." But are
>> companies any more willing to adopt open source software nowadays
>> than they were a decade ago?
>> tech
>> Enlarge Image
>>
>> The question for me was not 'why OpenOffice.org?' but 'why
>> Microsoft?' Andrew Southworth says. (Patrick Doyle/For the Globe and
>> Mail)
>> The Globe and Mail
>>
>> To proponents of open source, it's not just about the source code
>> that's freely available to the general public. For many adopters,
>> it's about freedom. Open source represents minimizing dependence on
>> large software companies that generally prevent users from changing
>> or adapting their products, either by keeping the source code secret
>> or by strict copyright rules. It also allows for greater flexibility
>> and control over customization.
>>
>> But fear and doubt remain major impediments to wider adoption of open
>> source software, explains Mike Gifford, president of Ottawa-based
>> open source web development firm OpenConcept Consulting Inc.
>>
>> "Downloading and installing [open source] software is `scary' after
>> all," says Mr. Gifford, who also volunteers his time as an
>> OpenOffice.org marketing representative seeking to raise awareness of
>> its open source office suite. Most people, he says, will use
>> proprietary software preinstalled on workstations and servers and
>> make the best of it.
>>
>> The CLC wanted to avoid falling into that trap. Mr. Southworth was
>> concerned about the long-term accessibility of documents used within
>> the CLC.
>>
>> He was reluctant to have the organization bound to a particular
>> vendor and its propriety file formats. Choosing Office 2007 would
>> leave the future of the CLC's documents in the hands of Microsoft's
>> development cycle. OpenOffice.org's transparency and inherent support
>> for the open standard-based OpenDocument file format allayed his
>> concerns.
>>
>> "I need to think beyond today [and consider] tomorrow's needs," Mr.
>> Southworth says. "While Microsoft is touting its own open format, we
>> in the IT field know that Microsoft is in the business of selling
>> software, not document management. So the question for me was not
>> `why OpenOffice.org?' but `why Microsoft?'" Despite the freedom open
>> source software offers application developers and users, there's one
>> important caveat: You have to know what you're doing, and you have to
>> have the resources with which to do it.
>>
>> Prescient Digital Media, a Toronto-based Internet and intranet
>> consulting and development firm, was able to combine its in-house IT
>> expertise with the services of a freelance developer to build its
>> corporate website using the open source content management system,
>> Plone.
>>
>> It was a move that saved the company between $10,000 and $20,000.
>>
>> "The software is absolutely free. The catch is that you still have to
>> customize and configure it yourself," says Toby Ward, president of
>> Prescient Digital Media.
>>
>> But not everyone has the resources or the skills to carry out this
>> type of development.
>>
>> For Maxime Laforest, IT director of the Montreal-based paper products
>> manufacturing company De Luxe Paper Products, the decision to
>> implement the proprietary portal solution intraNET was an easy one.
>>
>> "We are quite short on IT personnel and programmers," admits Mr.
>> Laforest. He found it simpler to look for a proprietary, ready-to-use
>> solution that requires minimal development.
>>
>> Mr. Laforest also preferred the personalized attention and support
>> offered by his chosen software vendor. The relatively informal
>> support structure of open source software - usually in the form of
>> community-based websites and discussion forums - makes
>> troubleshooting a do-it-yourself process. While this can help
>> companies with in-house experts avoid having to pay pricey support
>> contracts, it does little for those who don't have the time or
>> resources to go digging though online knowledge bases and forums.
>>
>> "When something goes wrong with an open source application, you
>> either have to have someone internally with extensive programming
>> experience or wait for someone in the volunteer community to help,"
>> says Tim Dorey, founder and president of Windsor-based Vialect Inc,
>> the makers of the proprietary portal software intraNET.
>>
>> Mr. Dorey admits that open source software has its place, but he
>> cautions that he has seen too many open source projects peak and then
>> fade away after the community loses interest or loses members.
>>
>> But that won't stop open source software proponents. In addition to
>> using an open source solution for its own website, Prescient Digital
>> Media has begun incorporating open source portal and content
>> management system products such as Joomla! and Liferay on client
>> projects.
>>
>>
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>> criticism or review as permitted under provisions of Copyright
>> Act C-42(fair dealing) in Canada, and under Title 17 U.S.C. Section
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>>
>> -- Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur --
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