david cheung, cecid/hku 1 open source software and it’s impact to technology development dr. david...

David Cheung, CECID/HKU 1

Open Source Software and It’s Open Source Software and It’s Impact to Technology DevelopmentImpact to Technology Development

Dr. David Wai-lok CheungDr. David Wai-lok Cheung( 張偉犖博士 )

DirectorCenter for E-Commerce

Infrastructure Development

(www.cecid.hku.hk) The University of Hong Kong

Joint UNCTAD - UNESCAP Asia-Pacific Regional Conference.

E-commerce Strategies for DevelopmentBangkok, 20-22 November, 2002


What is Open Source What is Open Source Software (OSS)Software (OSS)

OSS are software that users have unrestricted access to the source code

OSS software may be used, copied, and distributed with or without modification, and may be offered with or without a fee

OSS developers and distributors can create profit on the sales of support and services


OSS Market Share - WebOSS Market Share - Web Web Server Market (web infrastructure)

Apache – 65% Microsoft – 25%

Source: Netcraft Survey


OSS Market Share - OSOSS Market Share - OS

Operating System for ServerLinux – 27%Microsoft – 49%

Unix – 12%

Netware – 12%

Source: IDC Market Research Sept 2002

Linux27%

Microsoft49%

Unix12%

Netware12%


OSS Market Share - DBMSOSS Market Share - DBMS

DBMS OSS : MySQL Approx. 4 million active installations worldwide

(~ 20% market share) up to 27,000 copies of MySQL downloaded per day! Corporate users include:Yahoo!, Cisco, NASA,

Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Google, etc. Many OSS in other areas - email, office desktop,

word processor, e-commerce, etc.

Source: MySQL Website (http://www.mysql.com/company/factsheet.html)


Linux in ChinaLinux in China

65% Chinese developers expect to write applications for Linux in 2003 Currently 44% are doing so

Intention to use Linux as a primary host operating system next year increases by 175%

Source: The Evans Data 2002 Chinese Developer Survey, Vol. 2


Benefit of Using OSSBenefit of Using OSS

OSS products have access to extensive technical expertise - involve thousands of motivated voluntary programmers

Rapid release of OSS distributes bug fixes and patches faster than many commercial products

Lower direct cost Can tailor the source code to meet

specific needs


Risk of Using OSSRisk of Using OSS

OSS products from a larger community with a well defined process would be more stable; otherwise the quality could be a concern

OSS tends to have weak GUI and be less practical -- much stronger in infrastructure software

Without a good leadership group, code base could be fragmented


The Trend in OpennessThe Trend in Openness Open & Standardized Data Format

• anti proprietary-data-format movement appearing from alliance of governments and users (many close software will be compatible to open-data format)

Open messaging standards will become dominant• software from different companies can talk to each

other freely as long as they follow the standards• different standards will be compatible


The Trend in OpennessThe Trend in Openness Open source software will become

production grade• Open standards and open source go hand-in-hand• In 10 years, 80% of software will be OSS

Vendor will compete on how “open” their software are• export/import standardized data

• competition will drive down software cost

• major expenses will be on services


Our Experience in OSSOur Experience in OSS Awarded a grant of US$ 1.2M by the

Hong Kong government to build an e-commerce infrastructure software based on the ebXML standard

ebXML is an open standard that provides EDI type services on Internet - give SME services that only big corporations can afford

Use OSS license to distribute products via www.freebxml.org; in two months, attracted users from more than 22 countries


A Solution for Developing A Solution for Developing CountriesCountries

• An XML-based email-like software that can transmit structured information from anywhere in the world• A pilot for the UN World Meteorological Organization via the Hong Kong Observatory to collect world weather information


The Economic ImpactThe Economic Impact

“An open-source document is much like a physics experiment to which hundreds of researchers contribute.” (Kogut and Metiu, 2001)

“Science has often been described as a conspiracy constructed to provide incentives to researchers to invest their time in the production and public dissemination of their knowledge.” (Dasgupta and David, 1994).


The Economic ImpactThe Economic Impact OSS is a sustainable model for the creation

and realization of innovative software for the society

OSS and open standards will drive down the cost of using information technology - key factor for growth

Developing countries, in aggregation, have a major share of the world’s brain power -- OSS could lower the threshold for entering the world of innovation and wealth creation


“Developing countries and their donor

partners should review policies for procurement of computer software, with a view to ensuring that options for using low-cost and/or open-source software products are properly considered and their costs and benefits carefully evaluated.”

-- Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and

Development Policy (Report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, UK, Sept 2002)

david cheung, cecid/hku 1 open source software and it’s impact to technology development dr. david...

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