Archive for the ‘Open Source’ Category
Open Source Technologies
Open Source Technologies is the choice of today for developing small, medium, or large scale web based applications involved in an outsourced product development company. Because of its simplicity, robustness, scalability, and cost effectiveness, organizations from all over the world have adopted open source to serve their essential business needs.
As the name suggests, open source technologies are open for everybody. There is no license required with open source technology for working in every field whether mobile software development or any other. Anyone with required expertise and knowledge is free to use open source and manipulate it as per their needs. The most popular example of open source is Linux. It is the most dynamic network Operating System.
When we talk about open source web technologies, PHP and MySql are on top of the list in an outsourced product development company.
PHP is among the most dynamic scripting language being used in web based application development. It provides the simplest way of creating dynamic web pages, whereas MySql is the most popular relational database management system.
PHP and MySql are together used for development of dynamic web sites. Both of these are the most widely used web technologies nowadays. The structure of PHP and MySql makes them faster than other web technologies being used in the web development nowadays. PHP is considered as more user friendly in comparison to others also has more flexible and dynamic characteristics. It’s considered as cross platform compatible and is more stable, it’s also easy to fix problems in PHP.
Earlier, people had an incorrect opinion that PHP can be used for development of smaller dynamic web sites with less functionality. However, this perception has been proved wrong and PHP is now widely adopted as the most preferred web technologies all over the world. One with less knowledge of HTML can also work easily with PHP and have flexible updating process which is usually needed by any website. The most popular web portal Yahoo! is developed using PHP and MySql, which itself describes the capability of the tough combination of PHP and MySql. PHP and mysql makes designing part separate from the content, which while updating needs only to update the database.
Nowadays, with increasing demand of e-Commerce several merchants and business entrepreneurs have ventured into online commerce. They are using open source content management systems such as Joomla, OSCommerce, Magento, ZenCart and many more feature rich content management systems. All these content management systems are developed using PHP and MySql. And they reduce the need of having knowledge of HTML for content updating. After all these the combination pf PHP and mysql is found to have lots of advantage over ASP and sql. The views about PHP are changing and software development companies prefer PHP over other languages for website development. Slowly the PHP Dynasty is rising to conquer the website world.
PHP and MySql both offer high level of security and scalability that is required for online commerce. In addition to it, both are open source technologies. This means one doesn’t need to pay a single penny for using PHP and MySql or any of the above mentioned content management systems based on PHP and MySql.
Open Source vs Microsoft
Microsoft is making strides with many development platforms, with their latest “Microsoft Expression Studio 4″, designed to make website design and development more efficient. Microsoft Expression Studio 4 allows web designers and developers to join together and create applications that are dynamic. Microsoft is endeavoring to make web design more flexible, faster, and improve upon the level of customer engagement, with more streamlined creation and easy video publishing. Website Design PA companies can then use Microsoft’s latest professional suite of design tools to better convey to clients and customers how the end result of their website or design project will be, and then finish the process to deliver a successful final product.
The benefit of Microsoft web design software is that it’s used by many companies and comes with a great reputation and support. Companies that do website design in PA understand that an effective website contains great content and information that can be shared through a variety of mediums and experiences for customers exploring the web on a variety of devices, from computers, tablets, an iPad, eReaders, and mobile devices. Web development and design with Microsoft’s innovation has made it possible for users to have a rich experience with any device and is anticipated to allow websites better visibility on search engines. But Microsoft can be expensive and often comes laden with security issues, licensing fees, and be expensive to host. Additionally, Microsoft code and products are classically non-intuitive and non user-friendly.
The competitor to this is open source web design and development software, with Content Management Systems such as Drupal and WordPress, and Ecommerce platforms such as Magento. They create great quality and reliable website frameworks that support independent peer review, created by thousands of talented developers in public collaboration. Though this is a benefit, it can also be considered a negative, as the quality of the code is never 100% certain as it’s been developed by teams all over the world, as opposed to Microsoft which has “quality control” measures in place, as all code is developed in-house. Open source software is shareable and has excellent readability, meaning any developer who’s knowledgeable in your software framework may work on your website, or any open source developer. You have the freedom to share your website with any development company you choose, but web designers and developers can only make changes if they have access to your hosting server. They’re then able to make changes to your source code.
Like Microsoft, open source software is capable of building flexible and differentiated high-quality applications for mobile devices as well. Another benefit to open source software is the lower costs—using open source software can effectively minimize expenses, saving you money on both licensing and maintenance fees. Pennsylvania Web Design Company is happy to help you find the best open source software that’ll meet your needs and company requirements. It’s easy to assess, develop, and then design an open source website that’s customized for your organization.
One drawback to open source software is customer support. You could encounter issues getting support for open source software (with Drupal for instance), that you wouldn’t encounter when using commercial software, as venders are obligated to assist you. But it’s easy enough to find answers, because forums are full of support. For open source applications, you may have to pay someone to fix it if your question or problem can’t be found on forms or can’t be answered by other developers.
Web Design PA companies can work with you to determine which software would be best for your business. Learn more about Web Design in PA and how businesses create affordable and well-functioning websites for companies and small businesses.
Open Source Database Features
There are positives as well as negatives for PostgreSQL, Ingres, and Firebird. All the three have similar features. It’s really difficult to justify the best among the three. It’s a particular feature in the wish list or inclination with (out) reasons (like the support community which is usually positive,
But an opinion clash could always be there) – which impacts in the choice. All the three have their limitations and have also proved their worth as a part of successful enterprise Ecommerce solutions
In general, most Open Source database features are supported by all databases with minor OEM application development. To name a few, we can categorize them as follows:
SQL Compliance
ACID compliance, Locking and concurrency support, Foreign
Key constraint & Transaction support
Functional features:
1. Views, schemas, sub-select, stored procedure, triggers, xml support
2. Tablespace feature
3. UNICODE support
4. API support
Non-functional factors:
1. Performace & Availability
2. Stability & Flexibility
3. Web and Data-warehousing strengths
4. Security, Authorization, and SSL support
5. Replication, Load-balancing, and Clustering support
6. Ease of installation, configuration, management, and administration
7. Hot backups
8. Admin and migration tools/scripts
9. Easy to learn & use
10. Good documentation
11. Distribution License & Support
It would be a continuous task to figure out what features distinguish one database from others. To begin with, here are a few pointers
Comparison of Selling Points
MySQL Points in favor – This is the most widely accepted open source database in use. This simple reason is quite compelling to select among various options.
It claims to be comparatively easier to learn and use.
The popularity provides for a lot of options in Administrative
tools.
The architecture provides for plugging storage engines.
Many options exist in the market to cater to various needs e.g. InnoDB.
Commit grouping, gathering multiple transactions from multiple connections together to increase the number of commits per second.
It is available on Novell Netware OS also besides the generic lot of Win, UNIX, and Mac family.
Points against it -
Even the current version lacks many SQL RDBMS features.
For instance, its handling of dates allows storing a date with a day beyond the last day of a month with less than 31 days, and arithmetic operations are vulnerable to either integer overflow or floating point truncation. Though these can be taken care of by running special SQL modes.
There are many such features that have been criticized and are slowly being taken care of in newer releases. Version 5.0, for example, supports views, stored procedures and cursors, and version
Open Source Erp Development
ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is a software solution that supports and supervises all business processes. In other words, ERP is a basic need for every business enterprise. While in large enterprises and corporate houses, implementing an ERP system is a costly and time-consuming affair, the scenario with small and mid-size companies is completely different. Since implementing heavy ERP software is an expensive option, most of the small and middle-sized companies are opting for open source ERP development.
Open source ERP offers well-maintained functionality, which can support and help all internal business processes. Open source ERP solution is built with easy to understand and easy to use user interface for free. This is the reason why small and mid-size enterprises are going for this option. They can simply download the software and customize it according to their wants and needs. They also come with extensive documentation and support from skilled developers. Given below are the advantages of using Open Source ERP:
There is no licensing fee
Open Source ERP comes with rich features
It is coupled with healthy data model
It is supported by energetic development community
Open Source ERP receives frequent updates and wide support
It is scalable
It has a flexible open architecture
Its ownership cost is very low
Given below are the best open source ERP tools:
Openbravo: Openbravo is one of the most powerful open source ERP solutions that offers greater support from large partner network, especially from European countries. This solution offers a flashy modern user interface, which is the main USP of this system. The tool also offers a manufacturing module as an integral part of the ERP solution. It offers accounting, warehouse, management, sales, and Point Of Sale.
Compiere: Compiere is one of the most popular and established open source ERP solutions, with almost more than a million downloads. This ERP solution is supported by a strong network of developers and partners. For this reason, many consider this system as the future of ERP solution to take you and your enterprise to the next level. This solution supports Point Of Sales, warehouse management, accounting, project management, and E-commerce.
Adempire: Adempire is a spin-off project from Compiere. This ERP solution is built to take Compiere to new heights. Along with offering all features that Compiere does, this solution offers a free web-based user interface and a manufacturing module additionally.
Postbooks: Postbook is a sister project of OpenMFG, which is manufacturing-oriented software tool. It offers accounting, CRM solution, an integrated purchasing module, and warehouse management.
Opentaps: Opentaps is built on Apache OFBiz foundation. This all in all ERP solution offers CRM, Point of Sale, warehouse management, on-line store, and accounting at once. Opentaps is relatively new compared to other open source ERP solutions, but it already shows great potential to be a big player in the field and has a bright future.
Open Source Business Model
Introduction
The open source business model is a business development methodology that offers a practical and open access to the source of the product. It is also referred an open source to different possible approaches while on the other hand is also considered as a critical strategic in the business operations.
Before the open business source was adopted, there were different phrases that were used to describe this concept. Open source business model gained its popularity with the rise of the internet that provided an access to other variety of production models interactive communities and communication paths. The open source business model allows the occurring of different ideas and agendas, approaches as well as priorities from more closed models with centralized development. The principles and the practices are mostly used to development of the source code for the software to be availed to the collaboration of the public and are commonly released as open source software.
Business model
As portrayed by the oracle, the business model is a term that is used to a wide range of the formal and informal descriptions used by most enterprises in representing different aspects of its businesses that include its offerings, infrastructure, trading practices, strategies, organizational structure, policies and operational processes.
By the use of the open source business model, the organizations are able to enterprise and describe their business models. This is likely to have more impact and effect to the usage of the model compared to the traditional models because it has more concentrated closed source models that other with single distinctive closed models. The organizations are able to analyze most of the activities that happen in the organization like the strategies that are used in learning the organization. (Weber, 2005, p. 45)
Most companies that have been using the closed source business model have found it difficult to venture in to software market due to lack of open source approach. The closed source business models tend to operate in limited peripheral with the third party on none-disclosure agreements. In most cases the closed source models uses paid developers to achieve their goals while on the hand open source business model, their goals are achieved through the efforts of voluntary workforce for those involved though the data wring is done by paid programmers. The new code is developed and then reviewed mostly by a large number of people and since some of these people are familiar with these system, their views are take and analyzed therefore quality is assured. (Lerner & Tirole, 2005, P. 99-120)
In this case the open source business model will eventually supersede the traditional or closed source business model in some way or another. This evidenced as most businesses are willing to give their information in the internet through the use of software and reach more people for recommendation than other tradition models would do. Lerner, 2006, p. 111-119)
Conclusion
With the rise of the internet, the open source business model has been on the growing tread for most of the businesses have gone in the software business. Open source business model has to be approved by millions of people as they are familiar with the system. The closed source business model cannot give all the business information due to limitation given through their limited interaction with the third party.
The closed source models end up using more money in paying the developers to achieve their goal without recommendations from the users of the system as compared to open source model that has to certify by millions of people. This has contributed to shifting of most businesses from the closed source business model to open source business model.
