Evaluating Open Source Software

Abstract

There is an overwhelming amount of open source software (OSS) available today that can be used throughout the software development life cycle. Nowadays, it is generally not a matter of whether one should use OSS, but rather, where one should use it. If one were to start a new software development project, he would probably begin by looking for various types of software to aid in the development, such as an integrated development environment, version control system, and a bug tracking tool, to name a few. If he looked exclusively for OSS, he could use Eclipse for the integrated development environment, Subversion for the version control system, and Bugzilla for the bug tracking tool. These products are available for download and are open source. Looking outside the development environment, one's deployed system may require a database. A person could use a proprietary database such as Microsoft (trademark) Access, Microsoft Sql Server, Oracle (trademark), or an open source option such as MySql. When looking to fill a technological need, OSS may be a viable option. In July 2008, the U.S. Air Force Office of Advanced Systems and Concepts funded Georgia Tech Research Institute to create and release an open source version of FalconView. Used by the Department of Defense since the 1990s, FalconView is a comprehensive mapping tool that supports various mapping formats and includes ample map analysis tools. With both government and private applications moving to open source development, the proper evaluation of OSS throughout the program is imperative to making informed decisions that could affect the life cycle of the project. What are some of the factors that must be considered when choosing whether to use OSS? What is OSS? Is OSS an open system? Are the releases controlled? What is the maturity of the open source community? Do you need to modify the source code? Is OSS the full solution? Does OSS offer maintenance and support?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA527804

Entities

People

  • Matthew Kennedy

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Configuration Management
  • Control Systems
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Life Cycles
  • Military Acquisition
  • Open Source Software
  • Relational Database Management Systems
  • Software Development
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Engineering

Readers

  • Database Systems and Applications
  • Software Engineering.