[Coin-announce] First open-source lab of its kind at a US public university

[Robin Lougee-Heimer]

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2004/Dec04/opensource.htm


"OPEN SOURCE" CONCEPTS CHANGING SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
12-06-04 
By David Stauth, 541-737-0787 and Diane Davis, 541-737-8945
SOURCES: Scott Kveton, 541-737-9322
Curt Pederson, 541-737-0739 
CORVALLIS - Oregon State University has formed an "Open Source Laboratory" 
- the first such facility at any public university in the nation - and is 
becoming an educational leader in this concept, in which computer software 
is developed and given for free to anyone who wishes to use it. 
OSU's Open Source Lab has been instrumental just recently in the 
distribution of a new web browser, Mozilla Firefox 1.0, which offers an 
alternative to other web browsers and has gained international attention, 
not to mention about six million downloads in its first month. 
But the popularity of that particular software is just a small part of the 
action in the open source computer community, which officials believe may 
change the face of the software industry and make sophisticated programs 
more easily and inexpensively available to many users. 
At OSU, it's also saving the university substantial amounts of money and 
greatly expanding the educational opportunities open to students. 
"Open source software is as much a philosophy as it is a technology 
business," said Scott Kveton, associate director of OSU's Open Source 
Laboratory. "It can be of enormous value to higher education and we expect 
many other universities may soon follow OSU's lead in this area. But at 
its best, this is about helping people and communities develop, 
participating in larger projects that benefit all." 
Open source software, Kveton said, is not a fixed product that a user buys 
off a shelf from a company with proprietary ownership of the program. 
Rather, it's software in which the computer coding is made available. 
Other users can read it, improve it, adapt or customize it for their own 
needs, and share it. This collaborative process often yields software of 
high quality that evolves quickly, he said. 
Private companies whose business is based on selling computer hardware 
often use open source software, and provide some of its biggest support 
and funding. 
The Open Source Lab at OSU, begun last February, is a way to organize and 
increase the university's commitment to this software concept. More 
information about the lab can be found on the web at http://osuosl.org. 
Software is already available at OSU that can perform many tasks, ranging 
from managing computer networks to student "help desks," automated web 
processes, web browsing, and productivity software such as word 
processing, spreadsheets or presentations. 
"Developing software at the university is not our main thing, so it makes 
sense for us to share and help serve the needs of the higher education 
community as a whole," Kveton said. "In addition, this presents unique 
learning opportunities for students, and builds links of collaboration 
with like-minded institutions around the world." 
There are very few other open source labs in the world, Kveton said. But 
the idea is catching on. 
"We're involved in one project right now with a group of other 
universities, including the higher education systems in Indiana, Hawaii 
and elsewhere," Kveton said. "This is a $6 million project that will 
create a comprehensive suite of software to serve the financial systems 
needs of all Carnegie-class institutions." 
One department at OSU is contributing a small portion of the funding for 
the project because it wants this software customized for the particular 
needs of OSU, Kveton said. But in the end one version of this expensive 
and sophisticated program will be available for free, to anyone. 
The Open Source Lab not only organizes the development of new software, 
but also identifies other open source programs created elsewhere which may 
be useful to university faculty, staff or students. 
The recent initiative with the Mozilla software is another major success 
story, Kveton said. 
"This is a non-profit company that we've worked with for some time, and 
the new web browser called Firefox they've created is extraordinarily 
popular," Kveton said. "People are using it because it can be used on 
almost any computer and has the ability to help block pop-up ads, provide 
protection from fraud and other useful features. It's probably the biggest 
success story so far with open source software, and is really raising the 
awareness of this industry." 
OSU's laboratory has the capacity to handle well over 250 million Internet 
"hits" a day - an infrastructure built in part with student assistance - 
and anyone who downloads Mozilla's new web browser first goes through the 
OSU computer to be routed to one of many local sites around the world, 
called "mirrors," where it can be downloaded for free. 
Aside from helping others, OSU's innovative new lab also helps the 
university, officials say. 
"The Open Source Lab is saving the university money at a time of 
decreasing state resources," said Curt Pederson, vice provost for 
information services. "It's already helped save the university thousands 
of dollars by coming up with new solutions to otherwise expensive 
problems." 
Donations of bandwidth, equipment and other costs from organizations such 
as Mozilla and other open source users in the community have helped 
support the OSU Open Source Lab, and specific funding is sometimes 
provided by groups or agencies that need a specific type of software 
developed. 
More than half of OSU's infrastructure now operates on open source tools, 
including e-mail, web servers, and domain name space management. It also 
will gain growing use on computer desktops, providing systems that are 
more secure, more resistant to viruses and can be customized to meet the 
university's needs, Kveton said. 
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Robin Lougee-Heimer
IBM TJ Watson Research Center
ph: 914-945-3032   fax: 914-945-3434 
robinlh at us.ibm.com
http://www.coin-or.org

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