Has security become a non-issue for enterprise Open Source?

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“We don’t say, ‘please use it because it’s cheap’; we always say, ‘use it, because it’s better’,” he said.

Padisetti admitted that some customers have voiced security concerns, especially prior to implementations of business-critical software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

However, he said most Open Source security concerns have been unfounded, and the few remaining concerns stem solely from interoperability issues between Open Source and proprietary systems.

“In the Open Source world, we are always trying to catch up with proprietary products to make sure that they [Open Source systems] talk to proprietary products properly,” he said. “If they don’t talk, then it’s hard.”

Padisetti highlighted issues with Open Source ERP systems that work with Microsoft Office but not Word Perfect, and other database applications that are not interoperable with Microsoft Excel.

“Having to save and export into a different format creates opportunities for errors in the data and [opportunities for] manipulation of the data,” he told iTnews.

But as the market matures and large software vendors such as Microsoft and IBM open their arms to Open Source products, Padisetti expects that a ‘community revolution’ is in the making.

“Open Source products are maturing,” he said. “There are more women coming into it [the Open Source industry] now; more awareness is created, therefore they [Open Source products] are more suited for enterprise use.”

VITTA’s Hoareau agrees, noting that the increasing popularity of Open Source is likely to continue as more educators embrace ICT across the curriculum and find new ways of engaging their students.

She called Open Source Software ‘great’ for teaching students about computer programming, since Open Source code is freely available for students to view and manipulate.

The Open Source community was also credited with the creation of educational activities that could grow students’ interest in ICT.

Hoareau mentioned as an example the Google Highly Open Participation contest, in which students from across the globe were invited to participate in Open Source translation activities, logo design, documentation and training, and programming.

“The key to this was that the tasks were real,” she said. “These little bite-sized jobs would be of real benefit to the Open Source projects that participated, and gave students a sense of achievement.”

“VITTA sees the emergence of Open Source software as a major development in the history of Information Technology,” she said. “It is likely to continue to have a major impact in the future, and today's students should be learning about it.”

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