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Open Source for the Enterprise
Dan Woods, Gautam Guliani
O'Reilly Media
219 pages, $32.95 CDN
Sample chapter online at http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensourceent/chapter/ch06.pdf

IBM has supported Linux for some time, and Dell's recent announcement that it is now shipping servers with the open source Web platform LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) is yet another indication that open source is entering the corporate mainstream.

Even so, some IT managers are still reluctant to use open source products. This book is the perfect antidote. You won't find any rants here — just a reasoned and prudent assessment of open source products, how to evaluate them and determine if they suit your organization's needs.

Maturity level is introduced as the key concept for evaluating open source projects. Determining maturity level is critical when considering open source software because it indicates the level of support available and also what skill levels will be required in house. The authors give a thorough description of how to assess maturity.

Because open source software is often created by developers for developers it usually lacks what the authors call "productization" - that is, installation wizards, configuration tools, and proper documentation. This is hardly an insurmountable shortcoming but it will increase set up costs and is an area where open source clearly differs from proprietary software.

The total costs of open source products, in terms of both human and financial resources, are closely examined and the issues raised by Microsoft's comparative "study" of open source versus proprietary software are quickly dismissed. Likewise, it seems laughable that Microsoft should criticize the security of open source given the number of security patches coming out of Redmond these days. Nevertheless, some discussion of this topic would have been welcome.

All the other major questions about open source are addressed. Should you purchase support or develop it in house? What does the SCO case mean? What are the various open source licences and what do they mean?

The handy appendices are organized by product type and give an excellent overview and assessment of the various software packages available.

The authors present a straightforward case for open source and refuse to get embroiled in any of the associated "ideological" issues. In an effort to present an impartial and reasoned case for open source the authors have steered clear of some issues that would strengthen their case but may be interpreted as "religious." Even so, they present a very convincing argument and show that there are sound practical reasons for using open source software in the enterprise.

About the Author : Peter Lavin runs a Web design and development firm in Toronto. For more information visit www.softcoded.com.