By Lim Yee Hung

Open-source software - too complicated for me. Inferior for business. And somehow doubtful. Does the bias hold up?

For personal use

Teenager Paul Lee (not his real name), 16, has used open-source software (OSS) for years, and says he cannot understand the stigma surrounding it.

'I think I'm the only person in the whole school who has used OpenOffice,' said the student who studies at an internatoinal school, referring to the open-source office productivity suite. He described it as being similar to Microsoft Office 'except that it's free'.

He then proceeded to reel off a list of positives for OSS - from cost savings to the ease of obtaining the software.

The major plus point for him: reliability.

'Most open-source products are more reliable than products made by companies trying to profit from them,' said Paul.

'You don't get advertisements and they hardly ever contain spyware.'

Its low-key marketing may also be why few computer users know about OSS - and buy commercial software instead, he said.

He keeps tabs on the open source scene through SourceForge.net, an online repository of codes and applications for users. He also downloads software there.

However, he admitted that he has encountered problems using OSS as well, mainly with the small open source projects that can be downloaded on SourceForge.

'There tends to be more bugs and sometimes, the developers are not available and they do not get fixed fast,' he said.

'I have to uninstall (the software) and wait for the new version to come out.

He also mentioned that proprietary software, such as Microsoft Office, usually has more features than OSS that can help to spruce up one's work.

For example, there are more design layouts provided for PowerPoint presentations using Microsoft Office.

For the enterprise

Mr Lim (above) of Golden Village chose open-source software because it is stable and robust, and for Paul Lee, reliability is the key. Photot/ ROGER LIM

Golden Village (GV) is one of the companies here using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system, which is open-source, for its business servers.

According to its IT manager, Mr Roger Lim, the idea that open source is 'free and thus not good' is severely outdated.

He is justified in saying so. More than half of the world's businesses are adopting OSS in their operations today, according to a 2006 study by market research firm IDC.

GV itself has adopted Red Hat on its servers for three years and is one satisfied customer. It had used proprietary software before the switch.

The migration in 2003 was smooth and it took all of eight weeks to port over GV's servers to Red Hat.

Mr Lim told Digital Life: 'Cost savings was not the main issue for our decision to migrate; we were looking for a system that was more stable and robust.'

He said that he had faced problems like frequent downtime and system instability on the old system, from the strains caused by ticketing transactions.

According to Mr Lim, there can be up to 700 people buying tickets at the same time, from the website and at the box office.

Since its migration, the servers have been able to perform better using the same amount of memory, and are capable of handling the loads even during weekend surges.

In all, transaction processing has seen a 30 per cent jump.

Debunking six myths about open-source software

Myth #1: Open-source software is free, so it must be of poorer quality

The development of open-source software is spread out rather than centralised.

So the software draws from the talents of a wide range of people, who are given total creative freedom to innovate.

And despite the frequent revisions and improvements made to the software, there is quality control. Sometimes, hundreds of developers review the source code, any roughshod work is swiftly removed.

The final product can be on par, if not better, than commercial software.

However, some open-source software does do away with all the frills that proprietary software provides, so some non-critical features (such as in design) may be missing.

Myth #2: Open-source software may cause my computer to get hacked

Because the source code is visible to all, more eyeballs help pick out security holes and more hands are available to fix it. Many studies have concluded that open source software is just as secure as proprietary software.

A 2005 study by software engineering company Coverity found Linux software to be more secure than proprietary alternatives after analysing its code.

Antivirus vendor Trend Micro has even stuck its neck out to say that open source software is inherently more secure.

Myth #3: I'm not computer savvy, so open-source software is too complicated for me to use

Open-source software is often designed with lay users, who prefer an alternative to proprietary software, in mind. The interfaces are user-friendly, and in some cases, modelled after proprietary versions. Also, because open-source software usually excludes unimportant features and focuses on the basic tasks, users will find it easy.

Myth #4: Since there is no company behind it, I will have no support

Some major open-source distributors, such as Linux, provide comprehensive support plans. For all other open-source programs, you can count on the vibrant open source community: a simple cry for help on their Internet forums and help will be on its way. For example, if you need help with your Mozilla Firefox software, visit forums.mozillazine.org.

Myth #5: It will be too difficult to transfer my old files to the new software

Many open-source software have built in migration programs for you to transfer your old files into the new program. For example, the Ubuntu operating system has a Migration Assistant that allows you to move your files from the Windows OS to Ubuntu at the click of a mouse.

Myth #6: Open source software cannot meet the business needs of my company

Not true: big companies that use open source software include ABN Amro Bank NV to Yahoo, and many other billion-dollar companies are expanding their embrace of open-source programs.

According to market intelligence provider IDC, the revenue of servers, desktops, and packaged software running the open source Linux operating system is expected to exceed $35.7 billion by next year.

Related:
» Free software, open source ... and it's good
» Tell us what you think or your experience using OSS.