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<title>Web Portals Bank on Open-Source Infrastructure LG #65</title>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<H1><font color="maroon">Web Portals Bank on Open-Source Infrastructure</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:ned@greatbridge.com">Ned Lilly</a></H4>
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<i>Wireless
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Developer Network (WDN) and GeoCommunity say sayonara to the database big
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boys.</i>
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<p>When a single company formed to operate two web portals
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for online communities, they turned to the biggest names in the business to
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build their technology infrastructure.
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<A HREF="http://www.wirelessdevnet.com">Wireless Developer Network (WDN)</A>
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for wireless communications professionals, and its sister site,
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<A HREF="http://www.geoComm.com">GeoCommunity</A>
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for geographic information specialists, used hosting services to license the
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use of Microsoft and Oracle respectively. The two sites were up and running in
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no time, offering virtual homes to thousands of professionals who needed
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industry news, software downloads, product reviews and live chats. But while
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the portals seemed a success on the surface, disaster lurked not far below.</p>
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<p>Within months, WDN ran into performance problems with
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SQL Server and security issues with MS IIS. Oracle 8i worked like a dream for
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the GeoCommunity, but the licensing fees threatened to crush the small
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company. As the portal expanded capacity and users, it knew Oracle's
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aggressive pricing structures would cut even deeper into its slim profit
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margin. That's when the company's technical staff began to push a radical
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concept: ditch the big boys in favor of a single open-source technology
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platform for both web portals.</p>
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<p>The web portals had to be able to serve web pages up
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24/7 without any crashes or service interruptions. The developers wanted to go
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with Linux because their experiences told them it was a stable and reliable
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platform for the web. They also knew firsthand that Apache web servers were a
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superior product, faster, more scalable and easier to configure, and optimized
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for the Linux platform.</p>
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<p>The technical staff had worked in both open-source and
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proprietary environments, and had come to believe open source was the more
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secure choice for web-based applications. In their view, open-source
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technologies grew up on the web, while most proprietary applications were
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later adapted to it. Throughout the open-source development process,
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developers drill down on security and performance issues for web applications.
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With hundreds of developers and users testing and tweaking the programs,
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security holes are often caught and corrected at an early stage of the
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development process.</p>
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<p>WDN's leadership quickly bought into the idea.
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However, many managers believe that "nothing good can be free" and
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subscribe to the common myth that open-source products lack professional
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technical support. But this company's senior management team was quickly
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sold on their developers' enthusiasm and positive experiences with open
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source.</p>
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<p>In fact, managers skittish about defying convention
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need only look around for evidence of the proliferation of open-source
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applications and tools in business. Linux powers an estimated 36 percent of
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Internet-connected servers today, while Apache web servers are on about 61
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percent of public web sites, according to the Internet research firm, Netcraft.
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Industry analysts at Forrester Research recently identified open source as a
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powerful growing trend in business with potential to radically reshape the
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software industry by 2004.</p>
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<p>Yet the database market, the core of web-based
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businesses today, still remains firmly in the grip of proprietary vendors such
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as Oracle, Microsoft and IBM. But in recent years, open-source databases such
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as PostgreSQL and MySQL have evolved to the point where they're beginning to
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compete with the propriety giants in performance and functionality. They're
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attracting skilled development and user communities, as well as enterprise
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business users across a wide range of industries, and are rising up to
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challenge the proprietary status quo in the competitive database market.</p>
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<H2>The heart of the portals</H2>
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<p>For WDN and GeoCommunity, the most difficult decision
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related to its technology infrastructure was its choice of the right database
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management system. The portals needed a system that was scalable and
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functional enough to handle thousands of visitors each month and power scores
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of dynamic applications, including e-commerce.</p>
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<p>The portals tested two of the most widely used open
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source databases,
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<A HREF="http://www.mysql.org/">MySQL</A> and
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<A HREF="http://www.postgresql.org/">PostgreSQL</A>. While MySQL was simple to
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configure and use, it lacked the transaction support and scalability that the
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company needed to run their highly interactive sites. MySQL has attracted a
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large user base, but the staff thought it seemed more suitable for
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lower-traffic web sites. The staff also ran rigorous tests on PostgreSQL, a
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heavy-duty object-relational database. It withstood the barrage of tests
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without flinching, supporting advanced features during heavy simulated
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transactions very well.</p>
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<p>After downloading their selection of open-source
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applications, including the Red Hat Linux operating system, Apache web server
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and PostgreSQL database, the technical staff configured the system in less
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than a half hour. The portals run 12 servers, with PostgreSQL powering dynamic
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applications such as book sales, message boards and mailing lists. The new
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system was up and running in minutes, with no interruptions, and neither web
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portal has since crashed or lost data.</p>
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<H2>Confronting the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) factor</H2>
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<p>Yet there are good reasons why open-source technologies
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were once the exclusive domain of skilled hackers and expert users. In the
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past, these applications purposefully lacked the bells and whistles of their
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proprietary competition and were difficult for the less advanced user even to
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install. Open-source programs have become much more user-friendly over time
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because independent developers have begun to pay greater attention to
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improving tools, additional features and perhaps most importantly,
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documentation.</p>
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<p>For WDN and GeoCommunity, the decision to migrate from a
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proprietary to an open-source system was less difficult than for most
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traditional businesses. The web portals employ technical staff with experience
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in both environments. At every level, the company embraced the idea of
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adopting a more flexible, and less financially draining, open-source
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alternative. They understood the open-source development model and bought into
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its underlying philosophy. Just as importantly, they possessed the technical
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skills to confront many of the issues that could arise in an open-source
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platform. In fact, with access to their new system's code, they could now
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even modify their software's features to better fit the company's needs.
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<p>Many e-businesses like these web portals, along with
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brick and mortar retailers that are moving into e-commerce, have similar
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needs, but lack the background and technical expertise to easily integrate
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open-source technologies or migrate to a fully open-source platform. These
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businesses simply want web sites that their customers and vendors can use
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without difficulty. They need database-enabled web applications with 24/7
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availability that won't crash or lose data--even with thousands of daily
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transactions. They want a site that always works, convenient ways for
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customers to buy their products, and secure methods through which to bring in
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their money. Because database applications are so critical to their mission,
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many businesses adopt well-known proprietary systems, feeling confident these
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companies will deliver quality and reliability. Yet the rising costs, the
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uncertain economy, and in some cases, the surprisingly unpredictable
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performance of commercial applications, all have begun to spark greater
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interest in open-source technologies today.
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<P>Still, these businesses are understandably skeptical
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about open source. They're used to the proprietary business model, and
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can't quite fathom why good software applications would be available to
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download for free from the Internet. The fact that these applications are not
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owned by a corporation causes suspicion and concern; if no single vendor owns
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it, people assume the software is not secure, powerful or reliable, and that
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it lacks accessible support and services. And the idea of thousands of
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independent developers around the world collaborating to create free software
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strikes many business managers as chaotic, which makes them even more
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reluctant to trust the results.
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<P>Slowly, these businesses are becoming educated about the
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open-source development model, which evolved not to make money, but to produce
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functional software efficiently. They're finding that while the development
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process varies for each open-source application today, the best projects most
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often attract a global community of highly skilled developers. And it's
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becoming clearer that these systematic meritocracies encourage rigorous
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testing and rapid development rates, and result in fewer bugs and security
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holes and more frequent releases of new and improved features.
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<P>A growing number of e-businesses such as WDN and the GeoCommunity are
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building their businesses on open-source platforms. These web portals have
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found that the software's fast-evolving development cycles, its lower costs,
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and its customizability make it ideal in their high-growth, quick-changing
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industries. The lower overall cost of open-source software is attractive to
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small and mid-sized businesses like these, who often have to spend
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thousands--even hundreds of thousands--of dollars on purchasing or licensing
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proprietary applications alone.
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<P>Another
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important advantage is that its code is open and modifiable. The open-source
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model rests on the belief that software develops faster and better when its
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source code is accessible to all skilled developers. Mature open-source
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technologies such as Apache, Linux, and PostgreSQL have thrived under the
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principles of open collaboration. Similarly, businesses that employ open
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source technologies can benefit both from open source's accelerated
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development model and free access to its internal code, which enables them to
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modify the code as needed. Open-source technology is highly conducive to
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innovation, and ensures that most of the applications it produces improve
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continuously and quickly. Companies that use it usually find that their
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software programs evolve as quickly as their businesses do.
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<H2>Why isn't everyone using open source?</H2>
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<P>The perceived lack of professional support services
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for open-source software remains the stumbling block to its widespread use in
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business and industry. Business managers want to be able to call a service
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center when problems arise. In the past, those experiencing problems with
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open-source applications could send out an e-mail and usually within hours
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receive the right solution from the developers themselves. These informal
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networks of technical support can provide the highest possible levels of
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support, but they are not always immediately available, nor can they scale to
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meet the growing demands.
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<p>The issue of technical support was important to WDN and
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GeoCommunity because they knew they would occasionally need a technical safety
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net. They purposely chose applications with strong development communities in
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order to get the help they need directly from their web sites. Their technical
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staff concedes that companies without their own in-house technical staff need
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more comprehensive support. It's the one issue that continues to scare
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managers away from open source.</p>
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<p>Fortunately, entrepreneurs always rush to fill a vacuum.
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Red Hat was one of the first companies to provide support for the Linux
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operating system, and now a slew of other companies are springing up to
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provide support, training and consulting services for some of the best open
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source database applications. The open-source support gap is shrinking fast,
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which is good news for emerging companies in need of an affordable platform
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for their growing business.</p>
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<P>In
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the meantime, the WDN and GeoCommunity remain satisfied with their open-source
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decision, and the reliability, error reporting, community support, clean
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designs and strict adherence to industry standards that came with it. It's
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also refreshing that with open source, there can be no effort to force
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"lock-in" or add proprietary hooks that will prevent transition to other
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products in the future. As one senior staff member said, "It's truly been
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a liberating experience to use good products that were designed simply to meet
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a need--not to further a corporate agenda."
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Copyright © 2001, Ned Lilly.<BR>
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Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
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Published in Issue 65 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, April 2001</H5>
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