[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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>>
>> -- Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur --
>> tOM Trottier      tOM at abacurial.com      +1 613 860-6633
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