Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

How to Misunderstand Open Source

Posted by timothy on from the in-light-of-recent-events dept.

Sam Hiser writes "This article intends to clear up some misconceptions about open source software development practices. It can help developers, IT and business managers transition from a closed development environment to an open one characterized by shorter time-to-market and lower costs. The author, Tom Adelstein -- an experienced CPA, code developer, project manager and consultant -- makes clear the notion that Open Source Software bears a mark of professionalism."

3 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. Not free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    We felt we got a free puppy too. The management of our shop actually concluded that Redhat Linux (EE) was more expensive to install and maintain in the short term than Windows 2000/XP. We haven't used it long enough to study any long term effects.


    The reasons?


    1) Installing software correctly (apache, mysql, sybase) is a time thief. Installation is sooooo much more straightforward in Windows.

    2) Propagating changes in configuration (and new versions) is a hell in Linux, especially Sybase and Oracle products.

    3) Less documentation (usually) from commercial vendors.

    4) Worse support (usually) from commercial vendors.


    We're hoping to see long term effects in stability. The problem is that NONE our eight Windows 2000 servers has ever crashed...


    That said, Linux is so much cooler.

    1. Re:Not free by fuzzybunny · · Score: 5, Interesting


      Good points, well stated, mod parent up pls.

      Let me give a counterpoint to this. I'm putting together an incident response team for a major bank here--we deal with vulnerabilities, security-related system outages, and investigations. I also have a fairly wide background in architecture design and implementation, and systems engineering and administration. So, having gotten that out of the way, a few statements. Flame away, but these are generalizations, based on opinion and experience:

      Windows boxes are usually a lot more straightforward up front. This is a fact. No amount of whingeing about webmin, apt-get/ports and whatnot will change this (although FreeBSD ports just rock.) To install, you put a CD into a drive and click some buttons.

      The real problems are twofold. First, as complexity rises (we're talking 30,000+ workstations here plus god-knows-how-many Windows servers) your ability to keep an overview of things like patch deployment, user rights, software versions, etc. becomes a nightmarish time-sucker. MS have made some steps in the right direction with things like SUS; nonetheless, I've always found software update implementations as well as user rights tracking, among many things, to be horrendously kludgey in pure Windows environments. I realize that a lot of this is usually due to crappy procedures; nonetheless, the common answer to something like a fucked-up desktop PC is to have it collected and re-installed. Great.

      The second is, and I'm sorry to say this, security. It is absolutely true that I cannot just "jump in" and fix code in, say, a Linux kernel, when a hole is discovered. Just based on experience, though, I have yet to see a single worm hit a Solaris (yes yes I know, open source) or Linux environment with anything approaching the ferocity of what we've seen in the Windows world.

      The last point I keep making is one that everyone knows, but management do an ostrich (stick yer head in the sand, pretend nothing's happening) anyway; that is, in a complicated IT environment (managers, listen up) you simply do not get around hiring a bunch of really smart people and paying them a lot of money. It is illusory to assume that simply because your software installs at the push of a button, your IT is stable and reliable.

      --
      Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
  2. Re:Open Source is good for the economy by aastanna · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That really depends who you work for. I do development for a living as well, but mine is based on specialized business knowledge developing custom applications and processes. Open source software is very useful in this context because it allows stable components to be aquired at no cost (for example a C++ XML parser, or a cross platform wrapper on things like sockets/pipes/threads). This allows more time and money to go into the business logic.

    If, on the other hand, you develop shrink wrap software for the mass market then open source can be detrimental. You now have no-cost compitition. However if that's what you're doing I don't see any reason your job shouldn't be outsourced to India or China.