FUD and a reason to be cheerful
FUD
Here is a link to a document by Stephen Abram about Integrated Library Systems Platforms on Open Source . It was originally circulated by hand to a few his company’s own customers and leaked via the wikileaks site. Stephen has since released it on his blog, along with his explanation and a request for respectful discussion.
To me, it looks like the document essentially a marketing document about the virtues of the vendor for which Stephen works. I don’t think it aims to be a balanced discussion on the pros and cons of Open Source software in libraries. I’m disappointed that some claims made are unsubstantiated and that some of the unsubstantiated claims are about rival products. I do not think the tone of the article was the best choice.
I do not think that many of Stephen’s claims are backed by formal literature, nor that the claims about why libraries develop Open Source are accurate. I spent the last few weeks extensively researching the literature and analysing my own survey and interview data with six libraries that originally developed major Open Source library software – Koha, Evergreen, VUFind, Blacklight, Scriblio and SOPAC2 . I submitted the resulting paper for peer review on Monday, but since I was sponsored by the good folk at VALA to write the paper for the VALA 2010 conference on February 9-11 2010, I can’t say anything about *what* I found out until then.
A reason to be cheerful
I’m feeling a bit down about the FUD around Stephen’s paper – but I cheer up when I think about what is happening in Canberra this weekend. Some of the cleverest and most civic-minded Australian programmers have descended on the nation’s capital for a one and a half day “hackfest” using Australian government web based datasets and services. Govhack participants will then have 90 seconds to pitch their product to the judges at the end of the day. Products are beginning to trickle out, like these preliminary visualisations of government agencies that perform arts, indigenous and health functions from Rob Manson. This event is being run in conjunction with the MashupAustralia competition that runs until 13 November.
What do I want to see in my world? More Open Data and community effort, less FUD.
Fear not the men behind the smoke and mirrors, m’lady, for they are reacting in fear to the approach of the monster known as Open Source! The more companies that spread misinformation about open-source software, the more it reinforces my belief that the open-source model is going to take over software development in general. How to monetize that software is why documents like Steve’s get produced. They can’t compete with free software and cheaper maintenance fees (in most cases) and will use the power of the pen to stave off the competition. But in effect, it’s like blowing a bridge to slow down a tank – you might put them off for a bit, but once the engineering brigade gets there, they will cross.
Great article, and keep up the great work!