01344nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005100055210005100106260004200157520093900199100001901138700001701157856003601174 2011 eng d a1913-610200aCost Optimization Through Open Source Software0 aCost Optimization Through Open Source Software aOttawabTalent First Networkc01/20113 aThe cost of information technology (IT) as a percentage of overall operating and capital expenditures is growing as companies modernize their operations and as IT becomes an increasingly indispensable part of company resources. The price tag associated with IT infrastructure is a heavy one, and, in today's economy, companies need to look for ways to reduce overhead while maintaining quality operations and staying current with technology. With its advancements in availability, usability, functionality, choice, and power, free/libre open source software (F/LOSS) provides a cost-effective means for the modern enterprise to streamline its operations. iXsystems wanted to quantify the benefits associated with the use of open source software at their company headquarters. This article is the outgrowth of our internal analysis of using open source software instead of commercial software in all aspects of company operations. 1 aVonFange, Mark1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/40802391nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004300055210004000098260004200138520200800180100001702188700001602205856003602221 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Cloud Services (April 2010)0 aEditorial Cloud Services April 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc04/20103 aCloud computing may be the biggest game changer within the enterprise since the adoption of the Internet in the 1990s and the personal computer in the 1980s. The economic climate, coupled with the rate at which technology is changing, is forcing companies to reduce information technology (IT) expenditures, increase productivity, and build more collaborative solutions as opposed to building everything internally. Cloud computing allows companies to outsource functions that are not core to their business or have become a commodity. Much of the technology driving cloud computing services is open source software. The LAMP stack has become widely adopted as the standard engine running much of the cloud services. With the exception of Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, most cloud service providers have embraced open source software, allowing them to drive costs down while providing reliable services for their customers. Pay-as-you-go is the new economic model for IT as we enter a new decade. Gone will be the days of making large purchases of commercial software with huge maintenance costs. In this new world, enterprises will consume only the services they need, only when they need them, and will pay for the resources required to scale up and down as necessary. This paradigm shift should force IT executives to focus more on building business functionality and less on managing and maintaining infrastructure and commodity applications. Open source software will play a huge role in making the shift to cloud computing economically feasible. At the same time, commercial software companies are racing to the cloud and are struggling to replace their expensive software licensing models with a pay-as-you-go model in order to make them an attractive alternative to open source software in the cloud. It should be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years. The articles that follow provide insights into what cloud computing is and how it is changing the IT landscape.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aKavis, Mike uhttp://timreview.ca/article/33802246nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245006200055210005900117260004200176520182300218100001702041700001802058856003602076 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Communications Enabled Applications (May 2010)0 aEditorial Communications Enabled Applications May 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc05/20103 aAs anyone with a smartphone can appreciate, the power of having a mobile phone that can can access the Internet creates significant value for users and opportunities for businesses. This device-level integration of communication services and web applications is now common. However, we are only now scratching the surface of the next step in value: application-level integration. The ability to integrate communications services within web applications opens up tremendous opportunities. Examples of communications enabled applications include simple click-to-call links on a website, conference calls initiated by applications or users in response to events, interactive voice response menus, and any number of other ways that communication services, such as messaging, voice, and conference calls, can be integrated into an application to add value. I recently had the pleasure of coordinating the activities of a group of entrepreneurs, developers, and architects as they explored together how CEAs can add value to their offerings and their business ecosystem. The Elena Project was funded by IRAP to stimulate small technology companies to develop working prototypes of CEAs and expand the capabilities of the Coral CEA business ecosystem and sandbox. The project focused on using four voice services and the open source web conferencing tool BigBlueButton. Among the outcomes of this project was the realization that significant value can be leveraged when communications features become integral parts of applications. In this issue of the OSBR, a diverse group of authors share their experiences and knowledge to help others explore the value CEAs could bring to their own offerings. All of the authors in this issue participated directly in the Elena project or present analysis relating to Coral CEA. 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aMcPhee, Chris uhttp://timreview.ca/article/34601899nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004000055210003700095260004200132520151800174100001701692700002001709856003601729 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Go To Market (July 2010)0 aEditorial Go To Market July 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc07/20103 aHistorically, the concept of going to market is fraught with misinterpretation, doubt, and anxiety. In Canada, the term "go to market" typically means the task of readying a product for market. In this context, it is interchangeable with "commercialization," which is another concept suffering in Canada from a definition that generally does not go beyond a software maker's front door. In other parts of the world, and specifically in the U.S., the term "go to market" is clearly interpreted as meaning all the activities required to successfully launch a product into the marketplace and realize both market share and profit. Going to market is about bringing the right benefit to the right market at the right price through the right channels. Ideally, the entire go-to-market process begins with the identification of a problem or sought-after benefit that a market segment has deemed a priority. More realistically, though, it begins with identifying the segment that best suits the software offering and then determines the business model, positioning and message, pricing, channels, and engagement techniques that will work best in building share in that segment. This issue attempts to take some of the doubt and anxiety from what seems to be the daunting task of pushing a product out of the door and into the harsh realities of a demanding market. It provides clear-eyed discussions of some of the main components, tips and advice from the "battle-scarred," and useful tools that can be readily used.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aKershey, Corien uhttp://timreview.ca/article/36101845nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004400055210004100099260004200140520145600182100001701638700002001655856003601675 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Growing Business (June 2010)0 aEditorial Growing Business June 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc06/20103 aGrowth is important for any business, especially technology companies that operate in an environment of constant innovation, advancement, and evolving consumer needs. It is essential to maintain long term profitability, develop a brand, and attract new investment. But the path to successful growth is not obvious, and is filled with hurdles. Growth requires capital, making consistent revenue a necessity. But figuring out the smartest way to invest capital to promote growth can be a daunting task. Growth can also require some experimentation with different stategies, weathering the occasional failure along the way, in order to find one that is the right fit for the company. But where do you start? Book stores have hundreds of books on business growth, with many promising a surefire strategy for success. But the reality is that there is no single growth formula that works for all businesses. Entrepreneurs must understand what drives their business--something that might be very different from other, similar businesses--and leverage this knowledge in order to grow. Growth requires focus, and energy must be directed on one particular aspect at a time, such as revenue growth, market growth, product line growth, or even shareholder growth. Trying to extend in all directions at once is a sure path to failure. Disciplined, incremental, consistent growth is the formula for success, no matter how that success is defined by the business.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aMacAulay, Mekki uhttp://timreview.ca/article/35402292nas a2200145 4500008004100000022001400041245003500055210003200090260004200122520188800164100001702052700001702069700002402086856003602110 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Mobile (March 2010)0 aEditorial Mobile March 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc03/20103 aOpen source software and hardware has become an accepted way of developing new and interesting applications in many information and communication technology domains: operating systems, databases, Web infrastructure, and applications. It's not surprising that with the increasing popularity of mobile handheld devices, users and researchers have explored the power of open approaches to providing innovative new applications and services in this domain. However, unlike personal computers and the Internet, mobile handsets were tightly controlled by mobile network operators (MNOs) who developed a vertical ecosystem by integrating the communication infrastructure, the handheld device hardware, and often the applications installed on those devices. The software and protocols running the mobile communications infrastructure and devices are often standardized by membership-only bodies, where large MNOs and manufacturers have a predominant influence. These players invest significant financial resources into shaping the industry along their vision to gain a competitive advantage. A current example is the ongoing battle about the dominant radio access technology for 4G cellular systems: LTE vs. Wimax. These trends have changed recently. Companies such as Google, Nokia, or Openmoko and Industry Alliances such as the Open Handset Alliance are providing the core building blocks, both in hardware as well as software, of increasingly open mobile devices. This issue of the OSBR reviews the relevant trends in the open mobile platform space from a number of perspectives. As the articles in these issue show, there is a lot of exciting ongoing work that brings the power of open source development to the mobile space. This trend is not just confined to the mobile devices as there are also efforts in the development of open mobile infrastructure elements and whole systems.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aKunz, Thomas1 aLefebvre, François uhttp://timreview.ca/article/32900833nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004000055210003700095260004200132520048400174100001700658856003600675 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Startups (February 2010)0 aEditorial Startups February 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20103 aBob Sutor, Vice President of the Open Source and Linux division at IBM, recently stated that "there doesn't seem to be very many good guides about the nuts and bolts of starting an open source business". He speculates that one reason is that "there is no one way to start and run a business that involves open source". The authors in this issue of the OSBR are serial entrepreneurs, startup founders, and professionals who provide services to and interact daily with startups.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/32201278nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004600055210004300101260004200144520091700186100001701103856003601120 2010 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Success Factors (January 2010)0 aEditorial Success Factors January 2010 aOttawabTalent First Networkc01/20103 aThe editorial theme for the January issue of the OSBR is "success factors". Which factors separate the open source projects that provide quality software and receive wide-spread adoption from other projects which are not well maintained? What traits should a business look for when considering which open source software to use? How does a company decide which open source project to contribute to, partner with, or use as a base to build its products or services? The authors in this issue explore: the importance of well defined processes, the value of documentation to end users, the diverse tasks of a community manager, the value provided by participants who don't contribute code, and how a community can assist in creating training materials. Each concentrates on a particular success factor, and as a whole, provide a fuller picture of what to look for in a successful open source project or company.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/31400749nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004300055210003800098260004200136520036100178100001700539700002300556856003600579 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Arts & Media (October 2009)0 aEditorial Arts Media October 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc10/20093 a The editorial theme for the October issue of the OSBR is arts and media. While code development is often described as an art form, it is less common to see a connection between traditional arts and open source. The articles in this issue explore that connection and the nascent possibilities for content creators, user communities, and entrepreneurs. 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aWhitehead, Anthony uhttp://timreview.ca/article/29301470nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005400055210005100109260004200160520106600202100001701268700001501285856003601300 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Business Intelligence (September 2009)0 aEditorial Business Intelligence September 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc09/20093 aFor the past decade, traditional proprietary tools from Cognos, Business Objects, Microstrategy, Hyperion, Oracle and Informatica have dominated BI environments throughout North America and Europe. The larger the customer it seemed, the bigger their appetite for spending money on proprietary BI tools. BI vendors have made billions selling software to larger clients throughout North America, much of it in the form of multi-million dollar site licenses. Large customers continue to pay huge perpetual annual maintenance fees, usually 20+ % of the initial license cost. Costs for additional users and new features requiring additional license fees can quickly add up to 40% - 50% of the annual BI budget. This has caused many organizations to scrutinize and question the value of their ongoing BI software expenditures. In these challenging financial times, cost conscience CIOs and Directors around the world are looking for ways to reduce the ongoing costs of administering their BI program, and a large number of them are turning to open source BI tools.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aSelim, Sam uhttp://timreview.ca/article/28300959nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004100055210003800096260004200134520057500176100001700751700002100768856003600789 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Collaboration (July 2009)0 aEditorial Collaboration July 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc07/20093 a The editorial theme for the July issue of the OSBR is "collaboration". While online collaboration has been a hallmark of open source software (OSS) communities, the articles in this issue demonstrate that open collaboration extends far beyond the creation of software. The authors discuss diverse collaboration opportunities including: brainstorming across disciplines, social innovation, aggregating non-profit donations, the green environment movement, open educational resources, introducing students to communities, and managing single-user software applications. 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aHuddart, Stephen uhttp://timreview.ca/article/26600875nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004900055210004600104260004200150520050800192100001700700856003600717 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Commercialization (February 2009)0 aEditorial Commercialization February 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20093 aThe number of market offers that rely on open source to generate companies' revenues is increasing. Open source has transformed how we develop software, hardware, content, and scientific knowledge. It is now transforming how we commercialize the market offers that generate revenue for companies that rely on open source projects. Commercialization is the theme of the February issue of the OSBR. The focus is on how new market offers that use open source to make money.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/22501899nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005500055210005200110260004200162520149000204100001701694700001801711856003601729 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Enterprise Participation (January 2009)0 aEditorial Enterprise Participation January 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc01/20093 aIn The Role of Participation Architecture in Growing Sponsored Open Source Communities, Joel West and Siobhan O'Mahony argue that "to some extent, firms and technical communities have always collaborated to create standards, shared infrastructure, and innovation outcomes that are bigger than any one firm can achieve." and that "there is increasing evidence that path breaking innovations cannot occur without a community to interpret, support, extend and diffuse them". When considered in this light, it should not be surprising that more enterprises, both large and small, are increasing their participation in open source communities to drive innovation. The theme for this month's issue of the OSBR is enterprise participation and the authors provide practical advice for effective enterprise/community collaboration. Their experiences provide perspectives on: i) the Eclipse Foundation, which maintains an ecosystem of over 150 enterprises that participate in Eclipse open source projects; ii) an independent software vendor that sells closed source solutions constructed on top of an open source platform to large enterprise customers; iii) the impact of major players collaborating on a common open source platform for the mobile industry; iv) the role users can play in the very large (over 14 million) GNOME community; and v) the lessons a scientist from the National Research Council of Canada learned when he released software and started a small open source community.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aSmith, Donald uhttp://timreview.ca/article/21801617nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245003900055210003600094260004200130520123800172100001701410700002001427856003601447 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Geospatial (March 2009)0 aEditorial Geospatial March 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20093 aThe recent emergence of MapQuest, Google Earth, Garmin GPS, and many other modern geospatial products make it seem that mapping technologies are a relatively new component of today's information technologies. In fact, the mapping industry was one of the original adopters of technology when geographic information systems were first developed over 40 years ago. The fruits of this backroom technology, once the domain of highly trained specialists, is now being leveraged by hundreds of millions, if not billions, of consumers around the world. Open source geospatial technologies have followed this same path from niche technology to mainstream component and are now critical to many of the applications that business and consumers use on a daily basis. Google Earth, for instance, incorporates a critical component of the open source geospatial stack to deliver satellite imagery to several hundred million installations around the planet. In the following articles, you will learn more about how these critical niche technologies have evolved from small grassroots activities to thriving technology projects under the umbrella of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, and ultimately into key commercial components of industry.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aMcIlhagga, Dave uhttp://timreview.ca/article/23301206nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245003800055210003500093260004200128520083000170100001701000700001901017856003601036 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Open APIs (April 2009)0 aEditorial Open APIs April 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc04/20093 a A few short years ago, the term "Internet" reflected the technical savvy sitting at a workstation reading email or using a search engine to find data. Today, people of all ages are using all manner of devices to: obtain public transit directions with Google Maps, share photos using Flickr and videos using YouTube, Tweet their whereabouts, meet new friends through Facebook, and perform countless other activities which have quickly become ubiquitous to every day life. This new generation of online activities is the result of open APIs, mashups, and rich Internet applications. These concepts are the focus of the April issue of the OSBR. The authors have done an excellent job of taking the editorial theme of "Open APIs" from the mysterious realm of programming into their applicability to daily life and business. 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aWeiss, Michael uhttp://timreview.ca/article/24001105nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005200055210004900107260004200156520070300198100001700901700001700918856003600935 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Open Source in Government (May 2009)0 aEditorial Open Source in Government May 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc05/20093 aLast summer, the Center for Strategic and International Studies published the sixth update to their Open Source Policy survey. The survey "tracks governmental policies on the use of open source software as reported in the press or other media." The report lists 275 open source policy initiatives. It also breaks down by country and by government level whether the policy on the use of open source is considered to be advisory, preferential, or mandatory. The editorial theme for the May issue of the OSBR is "open source in government" and we are pleased that the authors have drawn upon their experiences to provide insight into public policy regarding open source for many parts of the world.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aBowen, James uhttp://timreview.ca/article/24802434nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005100055210004800106260004200154520203300196100001702229700001802246856003602264 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Tech Entrepreneurship (August 2009)0 aEditorial Tech Entrepreneurship August 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc08/20093 aEntrepreneurship is the lifeblood of any technology business and really describes the character of those who would see their new ideas achieve commercial success. That character includes: risk taking and the ability to deal with uncertainty from many quarters, creativity and the ability to connect ideas in surprising ways, orchestration and the ability to marshal resources, and the ability to deliver a message with impact whether in the proverbial elevator or when the customer is listening to best and final offers. There is so much required of an entrepreneur, in some ways it is surprising that we have any at all. I've recently had the opportunity to witness a wide variety of entrepreneurs in action through the Lead to Win program. Lead to Win was started to assist innovation and entrepreneurship in the Canadian National Capital region. The program is certainly a response to the economic times and recognizes that when the tech sector is depressed, people who might otherwise find employment in established companies are more likely to start a business of their own. Lead to Win is designed to help entrepreneurs who have a deep technology background but need help building out some of the other dimensions of that entrepreneurial character. It has been a great pleasure to discover that the demand for Lead to Win has exceeded our expectations easily by a factor of two or three. The diversity of people, technologies and market opportunities that have come forward in what is often described as a government and telecom town is extremely encouraging. The patterns and themes in this diversity have the prospect of tapping into existing ecosystems and creating entirely new ones. This notion of entrepreneurship and how it unfolds in established and new fabrics of companies and customers is the centerpiece of this month's issue of the OSBR. Successful entrepreneurs do not exist in isolation and are able to see massive opportunity by leveraging those around them.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aHudson, David uhttp://timreview.ca/article/27501258nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004900055210004500104260004200149520086200191100001701053700001801070856003601088 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Value Co-Creation (December 2009)0 aEditorial Value CoCreation December 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc12/20093 aThe December issue of the OSBR continues our discussion on the topic of value co-creation. According to Prahalad and Krishnan, most of the succesful companies in 2015 will be using value co-creation practices and companies that do not make the efforts to adopt such practices will soon lack a serious competitive advantage. Business models based on value co-creation are not simply adopting a new possible way of doing business. Value co-creation business models follow the way society goes and missing this tendency might be critical for businesses. The key danger is to try seeing value co-creation within the context of our old thinking. This is an easy human mistake that could lead to the wrong questions to answer. In exploring value co-creation, we have not discussed all the possible answers, but have set a stage for finding the right questions. 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aTanev, Stoyan uhttp://timreview.ca/article/30601312nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004900055210004500104260004200149520091600191100001701107700001801124856003601142 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Value Co-Creation (November 2009)0 aEditorial Value CoCreation November 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc11/20093 aThe relationship between companies that produce and distribute goods and the consumers who purchase and use those goods is often portrayed as "us vs. them". While technology provides the tools needed for communication and collaboration, company-consumer collaboration is often met with skepticism. Is it possible for companies and the users of their products to form mutually beneficial relationships that create value? The concept of value co-creation attempts to answer that question and it is the editorial theme of the November and December issues of the OSBR. Co-creation: New pathways to value reminds us that "It is...the quality of the relationship that companies form with and facilitate among their customers, which will determine how knowledge is created, shared and transferred". The authors in this issue introduce us to who is involved in these relationships, their motivations, and techniques.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aTanev, Stoyan uhttp://timreview.ca/article/29901606nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004800055210004500103260004200148520121300190100001701403700001601420856003601436 2009 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Women in Open Source (June 2009)0 aEditorial Women in Open Source June 2009 aOttawabTalent First Networkc06/20093 aWhether you look at industry studies, online articles, or perhaps even around your own company, you'll see that women make up a small percent of the people working in free/libre and open source software (F/LOSS). Over the years there's been a growing interest in why so few women participate in this rapidly growing community and, more importantly, what can be done to help encourage more participation. Fortunately, members of the community - both male and female - are actively ramping up their efforts to attract more women to the F/LOSS community. Resources such as LinuxChix.org, the Geek Feminism Wiki, as well as publications, blogs, and articles written by and about women, draw attention to this growing, influential group of F/LOSS participants. Events, such as the Women in Open Source track at the Southern California Linux Expo, help women network and connect with other members of the F/LOSS community, while also increasing their visibility. In this issue of the Open Source Business Resource, innovative, energetic women discuss their specific projects, what other women in the field are doing, and their efforts to promote F/LOSS to people within their communities and internationally.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aKite, Rikki uhttp://timreview.ca/article/25501541nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004100055210003800096260004200134520119000176100001701366856003601383 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Accessibility (July 2008)0 aEditorial Accessibility July 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc07/20083 aMuch has changed since the term "open source" was coined ten years ago. The idea of sharing code, once relegated to research institutions and hobbyists, is starting to reach ubiquity in the consciousness of both government and business. More recently, this concept has extended beyond software. Everything from hardware to data to knowledge is becoming "open". Despite this trend towards openness--or perhaps due to the stark contrast openness provides--accessibility remains a difficult obstacle to overcome. The issues surrounding accessibility take many forms. In the first article, Pierre-Paul Lemyre from the University of Montreal reminds us that everything old is new again. While the difficulties surrounding the open source licensing of software are still being resolved, those same difficulties are now being experienced when providing open access to data and knowledge. He proposes a global licensing repository as a solution towards providing access while complying with licensing terms. Marco Zehe from the Gnome Accessibility Project concentrates on ensuring that the features found in software applications are accessible to all, including those with disabilities. 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/16400406nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245004900055210004600104260004200150520000800192100001700200700001900217856003600236 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Building Community (October 2008)0 aEditorial Building Community October 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc10/20083 a 1 aLavigne, Dru1 aWeiss, Michael uhttp://timreview.ca/article/19101086nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004300055210004000098260004200138520073100180100001700911856003600928 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Communications (April 2008)0 aEditorial Communications April 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc04/20083 aTwo reports issued this week provide very different numbers regarding the adoption of open source. IDC proclaims that "the economic slowdown in the United States may actually boost demand for open source services. If organizations adopt more open source software as part of a strategy to reduce software costs, the demand for related services should increase". The US-based survey reports that "almost 60% of the survey respondents said their company's spending on open source increased in 2007". This is in stark contrast to Statistics Canada's findings that "17% of private sector firms reported using open source software" and "3% of private firms and 13% of public organizations reported customizing open source software".1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/13401071nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245003900055210003600094260004200130520069400172100001800866700001700884856003600901 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Education (August 2008)0 aEditorial Education August 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc08/20083 aThe August issue of the OSBR is focused on "education". The relationship between open source software (OSS) and education is extremely broad and also very important. One could argue that OSS creation and adoption has been driven by faculty and research leaders, with eventual buy-in from the commercial sphere. This should not be a surprise; university research labs are populated with individuals possessing an abundance of creativity, a need to work with platforms for innovation, and a shortage of funding. My own lab's experience with clever graduate students and finite funding sources forced us to collaborate with the National Research Council of Canada on open source helicopters.1 aGoheen, Kevin1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/17200950nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005100055210004800106260004200154520054800196100001700744700001900761856003600780 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Enabling Innovation (December 2008)0 aEditorial Enabling Innovation December 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc12/20083 aThis issue of the OSBR provides many examples of using open source principles to enable innovation. These innovations go beyond code creation and address the diverse issues of: declining computer science enrollment, a lack of affordable publishing tools for online exhibitions, the rising costs of text books, the need for process automation in developing countries, easy-to-use and accessible solutions for the not-for-profit sector, adding open source to a proprietary Fortune 500 company's business strategy, and reducing duplicated costs.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aMuegge, Steven uhttp://timreview.ca/article/20901485nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004700055210004400102260004200146520112200188100001701310856003601327 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Enterprise Readiness (May 2008)0 aEditorial Enterprise Readiness May 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc05/20083 aIn January 2008, Gartner released their "Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users, 2008 and Beyond". Their analysis around open source included the key finding that it "has become impractical for mainstream IT organizations to avoid or ignore the influence of open source across a wide variety of industry market segments. Doing so will put organizations at a serious disadvantage against competitors that are leveraging mature, stable and well-supported open-source technologies for significant return-oninvestment and total-cost-of-ownership opportunities." Does this mean that the enterprise is finally ready for open source? As Bernard Golden points out in the first article, it is impossible to answer that question when it is framed that way--there are just too many open source projects, each possessing varying degrees of maturity and usability. Bernard further posits a key point that enterprises themselves vary from early adopters to pragmatists. Fortunately, resources are available for gauging the applicability of a specific open source product to meet the needs of a particular organization. 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/14401046nas a2200145 4500008004100000022001400041245005600055210005300111260004200164520060600206100001700812700001700829700001800846856003600864 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Health and Life Sciences (November 2008)0 aEditorial Health and Life Sciences November 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc11/20083 aThe length of Wikipedia's list of open source healthcare software may come as a surprise to many readers. This issue of the OSBR provides an excellent introduction to the complexities and interoperability issues associated with healthcare software and the role open source can play in helping to resolve these issues. This month's authors also provide insight into an open source projects that follows open standards, lessons learned from providing a reference implementation, the benefits of a healthcare ecosystem, and the value of open source projects working closely with standards organizations.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aBarry, Brian1 aTanner, Peter uhttp://timreview.ca/article/20200812nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004700055210004400102260004200146520044900188100001700637856003600654 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Interoperability (January 2008)0 aEditorial Interoperability January 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc01/20083 aIn December, the Open Solutions Alliance published CEO Predictions 2008 which contains the responses received from their 2007 Customer Forum Series. A key finding was that the interoperability of open source with other open source and proprietary solutions was a primary concern. Several of the CEOs polled included interoperability in their answer to the question "what is the biggest challenge for the open source software industry in 2008?".1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/11101197nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004100055210003800096260004200134520084600176100001701022856003601039 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Open Data (February 2008)0 aEditorial Open Data February 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20083 aOn February 8, as the Open Source Definition and the Open Source Initiative entered their second decade, Bruce Perens published his reflections in State of Open Source Message: A New Decade for Open Source. He states his intent was to provide "another way of talking about Free Software, tailored to the ears of business people". Seeing that Gartner is predicting that "by 2011 at least 80% of commercial software will contain significant amounts of open source code", it would appear that the open source message has succeeded in reaching the ears of business people. While awareness of open source code has reached a certain level of maturity, the innovation possibilities extend beyond the code itself. As you'll see in this issue of the OSBR, awareness of open "data" is still in its infancy, resulting in many untapped opportunities.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/11901891nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004000055210003700095260004200132520154200174100001701716856003601733 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Procurement (March 2008)0 aEditorial Procurement March 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc03/20083 aEarlier this month, the European Commission issued a press release stating that it "will take a more pro-active approach to its own use of open source" and that "for all new development, where deployment and usage is foreseen by parties outside of the Commission Infrastructure, open source software will be the preferred development and deployment platform." While this is a strong stance regarding the use of open source, the European Commission still considers itself to be "an early adopter of open source". Canada has yet to issue such a clear cut procurement policy towards open source. It has been five years since e-cology corporation made its recommendations in its fact finding study funded by the Canadian Federal Government. The current official position is that "departments and agencies base their decisions to acquire, develop and use software (including open source software) on their business needs and the principles set out in the government's Federated Architecture Program." The Canadian Federal Government's position is wide open to interpretration and often leaves open source contractors to struggle against departments who are ignorant of and perhaps hostile to open source, and a bidding process that uses terminology which assumes a proprietary business model. Citizens are also affected, as can be seen in the example of Statistics Canada requiring the use of a particular proprietary operating system and software application in order to complete a mandatory Canadian Automated Export Declaration form.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/12601501nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245003600055210003300091260004200124520116000166100001701326856003601343 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Security (June 2008)0 aEditorial Security June 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc06/20083 aIf you google the phrase "open source security", you'll find plenty of articles which debunk the "myth" of open source security, fuel the debate of Linus' law vs. security through obscurity, or argue which type of software, proprietary or open source, is more secure. Yet, the question "which type of software is more secure?" is impossible to answer. Software security is highly dependent upon many variables: the programming language used, the practices implemented by the individual programmers, the processes imposed by the specific organization overseeing the programmers, and the configuration of the software by a particular end-user. This issue of the OSBR examines several facets of open source security. Jake Kouns from the Open Security Foundation introduces an open source project which manages a global collection of vulnerabilities, available for free use by the information security community. David Maxwell from the Coverity Scan project discusses their report on code defect trends from an analysis of several hundred open source projects, representing 55 million lines of code, through 14,000 build sessions over a two year period. 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/15401349nas a2200133 4500008004100000022001400041245005000055210004700105260004200152520094900194100001701143700001901160856003601179 2008 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Social Innovation (September 2008)0 aEditorial Social Innovation September 2008 aOttawabTalent First Networkc09/20083 aIf the overwhelming response we received to this month's call for submissions is any indication, those engaged in open source are also passionate about social innovation. We could have easily published a 100 page issue, but opted instead to save some submissions for upcoming issues as they are also suited to the themes of Building Community and Enabling Innovation. Tony Bailetti of the Talent First Network is one of the driving forces behind the OSBR. He is guest editor this month and I think you'll agree that he has done an excellent job of finding authors from industry, academia, and non-profits who are on the frontlines of social innovation in Canada. This issue is jam-packed with resources and examples of initiatives--enough to leave you thinking "I had no idea so much was happening in Canada". They aren't meant to be exhaustive, but the insights and lessons learned can be applied to similar initiatives across the globe.1 aLavigne, Dru1 aBailetti, Tony uhttp://timreview.ca/article/18101260nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004500055210004200100260004200142520090200184100001701086856003501103 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Business Models (August 2007)0 aEditorial Business Models August 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc08/20073 a At the close of the 20th century, Tim O'Reilly wrote The Ten Myths About Open Source Software: Do any of these still sound familiar? 1. It's all about Linux versus Windows 2. Open source software isn't reliable or supported 3. Big companies don't use open source software 4. Open source is hostile to intellectual property 5. Open source is all about licenses 6. If I give away my software to the open source community, thousands of developers will suddenly start working for me for nothing 7. Open source only matters to programmers; most users never look under the hood anyway 8. There's no money to be made on free software 9. The open source movement isn't sustainable; people will stop developing free software once they see others making lots of money from their efforts 10. Open source is playing catch up to Microsoft and the commercial world 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/8101222nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245005900055210005600114260004200170520083500212100001701047856003601064 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Clean Intellectual Property (December 2007)0 aEditorial Clean Intellectual Property December 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc12/20073 aAs 2007 draws to a close, three emerging trends are gaining momentum. The first is that companies are releasing formerly proprietary code under an open source license. The second is that open source companies are being acquired or are issuing public offerings. The third trend is that very large number of citizens increasingly uses the Internet to oppose politicians and law makers who threaten, sometimes unwittingly, the fundamental principles of open source development. These three trends tie into this month's editorial theme: Clean intellectual property or clean IP. In a nutshell, clean IP is about reducing license incompatibilities and non-compliance with licensing terms. Clean IP significantly affects the value of the code released as open source and the value of a company that develops and markets software. 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/10101130nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245005300055210005000108260004200158520075600200100001700956856003500973 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Defining Open Source (September 2007)0 aEditorial Defining Open Source September 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc09/20073 aIn his book Foresight and Understanding: An Inquiry into the Aims of Science, Stephen Toulmin wrote "Definitions are like belts. The shorter they are, the more elastic they need to be. A short belt reveals nothing about its wearer: by stretching, it can be made to fit almost anybody." Keep in mind the nature of elasticity while reading through this issue of the OSBR. The theme this month is "Defining Open Source"; however, you'll find that the articles build upon and extend both the Open Source Definition and the Free Software Definition. This stretching in order to fit almost anybody is bound to make the open source purist uncomfortable; it is our intent to provoke thought and we look forward to receiving and publishing reader feedback.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/7300393nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004800055210004500103260004200148520002900190100001700219856003500236 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Introducing the OSBR (July 2007)0 aEditorial Introducing the OSBR July 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc07/20073 aWelcome from the Editor.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/9201290nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245004000055210003700095260004200132520094200174100001701116856003501133 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Licensing (October 2007)0 aEditorial Licensing October 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc10/20073 aIn his book Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law, Lawrence Rosen defines licensing as "the legal way a copyright and patent owner grants permission to others to use his intellectual property". When you consider that the bread and butter of a company usually revolves around its intellectual property, it's not suprising that open source licenses are often regarded with suspicion. How is it possible for a company's interests to be protected by a license written by another party? And how can a company provide "open" access to its intellectual property without "giving away the store"? Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer for Sun Microsystems, once stated in an interview: "While open source licensing lets people have access...this doesn't have to mean that chaos ensues." This issue of the OSBR provides insights to help navigate the chaos that is often associated with open source licenses.1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/6201035nas a2200121 4500008004100000022001400041245003900055210003600094260004200130520068900172100001700861856003500878 2007 eng d a1913-610200aEditorial: Support (November 2007)0 aEditorial Support November 2007 aOttawabTalent First Networkc11/20073 aWhat is your first thought when you encounter the term "open source support"? A programmer typing the answer to a question using a chat utility? Hours spent scouring the Internet for a working configuration sample? Contacting a support engineer at a commercial call centre? If you find it difficult to think about a support engineer, you're not alone. Actuate's recently published 2007 Open Source Survey of senior personnel from financial services, Telco, and public sector organizations across North America and Europe indicates that 46.3% of respondents cite the lack of availability of long term support as a major barrier to their company's adoption of open source technologies. 1 aLavigne, Dru uhttp://timreview.ca/article/53