Being smart about open source: 5 practical tips for government use

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

There are clear benefits to open source options, but the “openness” should not be the most significant factor in determining a good fit.

There is much written about the pros and cons of using open source software, generally with more emphasis on the pros. Open source evangelists have even convinced foreign governments (India and the United Kingdom, to name a few) to go so far as mandating the use of open source software. To make smart decisions, however, government agencies must carefully consider the project in question.  Here are five tips for making sure important questions are not overlooked.

1. Avoid silly policies and mandates

The overall cost of dependency on a piece of software in an organization tends to be significantly greater than the direct purchase or licensing cost. The effectiveness and benefit of a piece of software to your organization are determined more by its fitness for your purpose than the price tag. Getting the right tool for the right job matters more than whether there was an initial purchase or licensing expense.

Favoring open source mainly due to initial cost considerations, therefore, can be a mistake, as can ruling it out due to (sometimes unfounded) concerns about open source inherently lacking security.

Formal policies favoring or discouraging open source are based on broad generalizations. There are clear benefits to considering and even favoring open source options, but the “openness” of it is rarely a significant factor in whether it will be a good fit for your organization.

Rather than follow too-broad-to-be-useful guidance about whether open source is good or not, it’s better to consider each tool or piece of software you need and then make an educated decision on whether a commercial or open source option is the right choice for the project at hand. And if you do select open source, my second point suggests taking a fresh view of it.

2. Think of the open source tool as a vendor

Government agencies are familiar with vendor selection processes, which involve such considerations as initial cost, service-level needs and availability and cost of support, training and services. When considering open source as an option for any software need, ask the same tough questions of open source options as you would when selecting a vendor.

Open source usually wins in the “initial cost” category, of course. Vendors of commercial products that compete with open source solutions know that their value proposition must be sufficiently compelling for customers to go through an acquisition process instead of just downloading free software and getting started. Many prove their options are indeed worth the price, even when free and open source options are available.

Do the research and compare the options. Trust proven more than open. There is a theory that open source software, which is available to the eyes of many, has an inherent quality advantage. But most open source projects, despite being open to all, are in practice supported by only a few people. The “many eyes” benefit indeed applies to many much-used and much-loved open source systems, but the same benefit also applies to much-used and much-loved commercial systems. More paid staff support systems that are popular and profitable. So it's critical to consider more than just price.

3. Make the call at the right level

Often, open source software sneaks its way into organizations at the lowest levels. Individuals with little authority often do not feel empowered to consider other options that require spending money, so they frequently see open source as the only option. In some instances, these individuals may well prefer the open source tool, but in others they may believe a better option is not available to them simply because it’s not free.

Problems occur when a “free is the only option” or “free is the preferred option” mentality is applied to critical tools and systems that have a great impact on productivity. The capabilities and limitations of an entire organization are determined, to a large degree, by the capabilities and limitations of the tools they choose and use. Although direct cost matters, it is only one of many factors to consider. The impact to the capability, productivity and effort for the organization may well have greater costs.

4. Avoid vendor lock-in with open operating systems, tools, standards

A big consideration or reason for favoring open source is to avoid being locked in with a particular vendor. Being locked in can be a serious problem, especially if the vendor goes out of business or the relationship sours. Government organizations are particularly susceptible to vendor lock-in because of their scale of operations. The farther down in the technology stack that you go, with operating systems being the lowest practical level, the greater the risk of vendor lock-in as a serious problem becomes.

Yet open-source projects with too few active contributors can pose another sort of lock-in risk. So when assessing options, open standards can offer valuable insurance.  

Commercial vendors commonly collaborate with competitors and open source communities alike using open standards, and those standards can help avoid or reduce the potential impact of vendor lock-in. For example, many commercial organizations are investing heavily in virtualization and cloud technologies with the OpenStack standard. In some cases, preference should be given to vendors using open standards, so long as the standard itself is well established.

5. Encourage commercial to open source product conversions

Many commercial vendors produce open source software alongside their commercial offerings, and some commercial products convert to being open source. This can happen, for example, when a software product is deemed no longer profitable enough to justify continued resource investments, or when an organization's shifting focus means it no longer has the staff or capability to maintain it. Making products open source gives customers and motivated users a broader range of support options, with minimal cost to the vendor.

Government agencies should encourage vendors to make products open source when they no longer wish to invest in or support them. Doing so would help reduce the negative impact of vendor lock-in on old products. Because government agencies often use software products longer than vendors are willing to support them, arrangements to convert such systems to open source could benefit all.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.