[Noisebridge-discuss] City of Berkeley explanation of why not using open source.. Open Source vs. "proprietary" software

[Asa Dodsworth]

 The City Of Berkeley IT staff say that Open Source Database software wold
not be desirable, would ya'll like to assess their assessment..
I ask as I'm a rent board commissioner who has been trying to understand how
opensource software can be used to address our software needs.

asa


Hi, Jay.   Here is a brief explanation of how Open Source would play into
your project and why it wasn't considered.

*Open Source would make the task of automating the Rent Board much more
simple.
*The biggest challenge the Rent Board faces is converting a manual system
that had loosely defined business rules that were not consistently applied
into a software system that rigorously enforces business rules.  We have
agreed that there is no off-the-shelf solution that can meet the Rent
Board's needs.  As we've seen over the past year, the process of formalizing
business rules is a cultural problem rather than a technological one.  Once
we have accurately and thoroughly defined the business rules, the software
development process is essentially the same whether we choose Open Source or
proprietary tools.
*
Open Source would require less of an investment for the Rent Board.
*Since we have determined that there is no readily available off-the-shelf
solution to adequately fulfill the Rent Board's needs, the only software
required is server, web server and database software.  Since the City has an
existing Enterprise agreement with Microsoft and is using virtualization,
there is no cost to the Rent Board for server and web server software.  The
City could choose to use MySQL for a database platform, but since Oracle
acquired Sun Microsystems, MySQL Enterprise edition (required for an
enterprise application like RTS) would be roughly the same cost as SQL
Server.  Since our network engineers, database administrator and programmers
are all familiar with SQL Server and do not have MySQL experience, there
would be an additional ongoing cost to train staff and keep them educated on
two disparate database platforms.

*Open Source prevents prevents price gouging and other predatory practices
by companies like Microsoft and Oracle.*
In theory, this is correct.  The source code for Open Source software like
MySQL is published intermittently so that any developer can support the
software should the vendor's business practices take an unattractive turn.
However, a customized version of MySQL, for instance, carries other risks.
First, database design and coding is extremely specialized and not something
most programmers are familiar with.  It's possible that the 3rd party that
supports the product is not qualified to modify the code.  Secondly,
maintaining a customized version of the software is expensive and not most
vendor's core business.  It's unlikely a vendor would modify something like
a database engine or operating system unless they had very specialized needs
and experience to address those needs.  Once a vendor has modified the base
code, it could become proprietary unless they turn around an publish it,
thereby counteracting the benefit of going with Open Source in the first
place.  In terms of City staff modifying Open Source software, the cost
would be very high, we would need specialized, dedicated staff to maintain
and support the software, and the risk of the software becoming unstable
would be very high.  City programmers are competent at creating small,
specialized applications for those needs that can't be filled by commercial
software -- customizing databases and operating systems exceeds their skill
set.

*Open Source is like alternative energy -- it's the right thing to do and we
should support it or else it will never get a solid foothold.
*First acknowledging the points made above, this is a valid point.  Open
Source may be a viable option for the City in the future but it is not
currently viable.  Municipal governments typically let private enterprise
work out the kinks before taking risks on new technology.  In the past 5
years, we have slowly but steadily begun using cloud services for some
applications -- when it made sense and we could justify the risk.  If we are
to use Open Source in the future, we will approach it in the same,
deliberate way and with adequate research and preparation.


-- 
Keith Skinner
Renegade Image <http://renegadeimage.wordpress.com/>
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Renegade-Image/150788618296324>
Berkeley Afoot <http://urbnwokker.wordpress.com>
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