Open source software issues and challenges in public administration

Government and the public to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on our nations most pressing challenges. The free software foundation1 and the open source initiative2 maintain. Open source on the desktops of the swiss federal court and. Of course, ensuring that security patches are actually installed on enduser systems is a problem for both open source and closed source software. Open source software for the public administration based on further study, the austrian capital will decide by mid2004 whether to start phasi ng in the open source. Below are only a few resources that may help departments and agencies understand the value of open source software and development communities within the public sector, as well as how public institutions can engage with, and implement similar initiatives to realize the greatest returns for. Do show students how to setup, update, and install new products under gnulinux, and any other specific procedures needed for the new software they are not familiar with. Developers can take advantage of existing code bases and, its hoped, mold that code to their needs quickly and at less cost than developing code from scratch. Modernising public infrastructure with free software. Open source software in government challenges and opportunities. But some open source leaders, like richard stallman, have argued that the cloud is a threat to open source software. Read this article to learn about the sources, nature, faces and publicness of problems of public administration. Open source issues in business by cestjon mcfarland holly towle1 i.

Policy recommendations for public administrators on free and open. May 05, 2008 open source software products tend to be more reliable and benefit from continuous development. The future of open source survey conducted by black duck software and north bridge revealed that more than 78% of business today use open source software. Fossa developers choose to use open source code to accelerate. Open source in the enterprise brings opportunities and challenges when large it organizations embrace open source software, good things can happen. This move was necessary, as the previously deployed allinone platform that was used. The challenges open source projects face today by community team may 12th, 2017 looking back at the history of open source software, theres certainly a lot to be proud of. Jul 31, 2012 there are a number of different oss licences that are used by the open source community when making software available, and their terms vary considerably. Issues, challenges, and opportunities in open source software. General services administration gsa in partnership with challengepost that empowers the u. Open source software security risks and best practices.

This study focuses on issues related to its licensing, need of open source software. Such software is incredibly flexible and can be developed at a lower cost than the former. When open source software is called free, it is a reference to the rights the software consumers receive, not the cost they must pay. This document gives an overview of some common issues in open source licensing and license compatibility. Thus, public administration becomes the result of a kind of social contract, according to which state powers are transferred to government institutions, and the people are the source of these. Policy recommendations for public administrators on free and. This defines the distribution policies and the methods in which others can use the software. Kathy lee and morgan senkal discuss these challenges and offer possible solutions. They say the ease of saas entices people to use proprietary software and give up the freedom that true open source code offers. Sometimes the term open source os is used interchangeably with public domain pd software, but theyre not the same thing. In this article we examine ethical issues that have been raised by open source software and its challenge. The government will continue to encourage the use of open source software solutions by developing a. Ida study into the use of open source software in the public sector 10 global ict use in public sector several reports are analysing the use of ict in the european public sector, but none of them is focused on the use of open source software oss. Most open source software relies on users to install updates manually, and projects often make it possible to download several different versions of the same applications.

Open source on the desktops of the swiss federal court and federal administrative court. Weve seen above that if you exercise a little judgment in picking through your alternatives, you will generally find one or more of quite respectable quality. The typical business models around open source software oss generate many procurement challenges when compared to the business model of proprietary software. Need for the use or implementation of open source software in government sector is increasing.

Open source software security challenges persist using open source components saves developers time and companies money. Network time foundations membership highlights larger initiative extending engagement across open source software communities. Open source is powerful, and the best developers in the world use it, but its time to stop ignoring the security concerns and start tracking the dependencies in your software. Open source in the enterprise brings opportunities and. In todays rapidly evolving markets, companies that consistently innovate, most quickly and at the least cost, will win. Introduction open source software oss and the emergence of an entire open source movement have practical, political, economic and ethical ramifications for software development and software use. Open data challenges and opportunities for national statistical offices english abstract. Issues and challenges in public administration by a. Within this context, this manuscript provides policy recommendations on issues and challenges pertaining to the use of free and open source software by european public administrations. Opportunities and challenges much more than a buzzword, open source software is becoming an increasingly important part of the information. Founded in 2000, the linux foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the worlds leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards. The ways in which all open source1 licenses are the same are greater than the ways in which they differ but their differences can still be significant.

Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer. Public sector forums survey of open source software in local government1 common concerns. Three pillars of open source governance informationweek. The proliferation of open source technologies, libraries, and frameworks in recent years has greatly contributed to the advancement of software development, increased. Try the latest software from one of the best research laboratories in the world.

The 5 most common problems in open source software. The challenges open source projects face today sourceforge. Yves lucet open source software opportunities and challenges april 25, 2004 been using the same system, different security arrangements would have been needed. Everyone is making it up as they go along while others guidelines can help an it manager create corporate opensource policies, theres. Benefits of opensource software to healthcare community. Government preferences for promoting opensource software. Working for the government presents two major hurdles in open source development. Introduction open source software presents issues of increasing significance for businesses. A discussion on open source software and open standards in public administration took place last week at the canada school of public service. Issues and challenges in open source software environment with. Open data initiatives are transforming how governments and other public institutions interact and provide services to their constituents. The formal name for open source is freelibre open source software. Open source projects should always have a software license of some kind. The 4th international conference on organization and management the 6th.

Many software developers are already switching from proprietary to open source software due to the latters numerous benefits. It is the quality of the work, not the individual, that shall determine who contributes to open source. If you are not already familiar with these issues and your business is using or considering the use of open source software, its time to take note. It creates value for citizens, public and private sectors when applied. A fundamental tenet of open source software is that the licenseeuser must get both the access to source code and, more important, the right to make changes to the source code to correct defects and bugs, customize programs or add features as the licenseeuser deems appropriate. Free and open source software, foss issues, foss challenges, foss adoption. Open source management challenges, best practices and key goals in development. Open source software oss came into existence with the development of. Open data initiatives are transforming how governments and other public institutions interact and. See footnotee 1 for the purpose of this guidance, foss refers to software that users are allowed to run, study, modify, and redistribute without paying a licensing fee. An important step to consider when allowing developers to contribute code is the license which should be applied to the proposed code.

I am not sure one can be considered more secure than another. Three pillars of open source governance open source software has morphed from its underground diy roots to become a common tool that runs essential parts of many. And if companies in this aspect, the chances are high that they would soon get pwned. As a result, many companies find themselves using several different versions of the same tools, which can lead to compatibility problems, confusion and poor performance. Pdf issues and challenges of free and open source software. Utilizing open source software can bring significant benefits. Open source software and open standards in the government of. Challenges and possible solutions 55 business excellence and management volume 2 issue 1 march 2012 the egovernment. Dec 11, 2012 common open source software legal issues are explained below.

Legal issues and best practices around procuring or deploying. Open source management challenges, best practices and key. Since open source depends on the community to resolve and fix issues, the issue is addressed when the. Pdf open source software for the public administration.

The gnu general public licence gpl version 3 includes the restriction that any copies of the oss subject to patent licences must be royalty free. This really doesnt have any counterpart in closed source. However, it is important to understand that there are also risks associated with using open source software, and in some circumstances, the risks may outweigh the benefits of using the open source software. Another advantage of open source is that, if you find a problem, you can fix it immediately. This chapter challenges existing impact assessments of open data in the public sector for three reasons. An introduction to the legal issues surrounding open source software by daliah saper saper law offices, llc 505 n. Obstacles to government adoption of open source software. Issues and challenges in public administration in a dynamic and turbulent environment where social, economic and political problems mount and the demands of society increase faster than the capacity of available resources to provide for, government, especially the administrative organization for carrying out policies and. The gnu general public licence gpl version 3 includes the. Study into the use of open source software in the public.

There are three major issues in using or reusing opensource software. All meritbased systems produce the best of the best. An example of these reports, called public strategies for the information society in the. May 01, 2017 the future of open source survey conducted by black duck software and north bridge revealed that more than 78% of business today use open source software.

Towards a global research infrastructure for multidisciplinary study of free open source software development, in open source. An introduction to the legal issues surrounding open source. They say the ease of saas entices people to use proprietary software. Release governmentfunded software as oss by default we repeatedly heard from interviewees that software developed using public government funds should be released as oss by default, unless there was an approved justification to do otherwise. Introduction open source software oss and the emergence of an entire open source movement have practical, political, economic and ethical. Opensource software operates under licenses such as apache 2. Enterprises are leveraging a variety of open source products including operating systems, code libraries, software, and applications for a range of business use cases. Source code can be thought of as a kind of blueprint for the software, a form that is ideal for gaining understanding of how a program works or modifying its design. Opensource softwareby edwin baker, partner, stephen reeves, senior associate, and jeremy harris, partner, kemp little llprelated contentthis note sets out the origins of opensource. And, as youve seen in our ongoing series, using open.

They increase transparency and value to citizens, reduce inefficiencies and barriers to information, enable data. Free software in public administration is not a short. Developers can take advantage of existing code bases and, its hoped, mold that code to their needs quickly and at. As such, open source motivations have a strong moral component.

It would be best to just leave open source development as meritbased. This is one reason to invest liberally in developing open source application softwareto work out a more costeffective way of meeting elearning software challenges. Public administration challenges in a developed society the developed countries are identified by certain parameters like highly developed economy, greater technical infrastructure, high. Sometimes, though, choosing proprietary software makes better business. Issues and challenges in public administration in a dynamic and turbulent environment.

Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software the u. Aug 15, 2015 open source software is increasingly important in the technology industry. Management system, open archive initiative, general. The lessergeneral public license lgpl is like the gpl, but it allows works licensed under it to be linked to by closedsourced proprietary software. Redesign sometimes involves the dropping or simplification of problematic. The benefits and challenges of open source software. Organisational challenges in 2001 the swiss federal court moved its it infrastructure to solaris by sun microsystems, using staroffice as a text processor. In order to avoid security issues when adopting open source. The administration made a commitment, as part of its second open government national action plan, 17 to develop an open source software policy that, together with the digital services. Unavoidable ethical questions about open source markkula.

This is without a doubt, one of the biggest challenges for companies leveraging open source. Open source software seems like a perfect fit for government it projects. Time will tell if the cloud increases the use of open source software or decreases it. Some argue that when open source projects grow in size they open themselves up for security risks and hazards brought about. This study focuses on issues related to its licensing, need of open source software, open source software in government and its challenges along with recommendations will be explored. However, open source software development may not be as easy as it sounds. The groups first project was the continued development of the ooxml filter in libreoffice. In a survey by blackduck software, 43 percent of the respondents said they believe that open source software is superior to its commercial equivalent. Many local, regional, and national governments are engaged with open source software and communities.

While using open source comes with cost, flexibility, and speed advantages, it can also pose some unique security challenges. An introduction to the legal issues surrounding open. October 17, 2019 the open source initiative osi, the global organization working to promote and protect open source software, is pleased to announce the new affiliate membership of network time foundation ntf. Open data challenges and opportunities for national.

This resource is based on the approaches to ethics outlined in the markkula center for applied ethics framework for ethical decision making. One of the latest versions of these licenses, the gnu general public license gpl version 3, has a clause forbidding the payments of royalties on copies of the oss. Two key challenges of using open source in the enterprise. Government crowdsourcing is a form of crowdsourcing employed by governments to better leverage the collective knowledge and experience of their people by tapping into their ability to. Issues in using open source software there are three major issues in using or reusing open source software. Open source software security challenges persist cso online. By definition, open source software is software for which the source code is available to anyone. However, proactive maintenance is essential when working with opensource software. Licensing licenses for oss come in different forms, and they all offer different terms of usage.

Id like to address two of the key challenges software executives face with regards to the use of open source as part of the software development and release process, and how you can. Approximately 55 people attended in person while more than 450 participated online, with about 100 of these coming from the general public. It offers free plans for public opensource projects and paid plans for private projects. May 24, 2014 issues and challenges in public administration by a. By using and reusing opensource code, the government saves resources.