A Brief Review of “Open Source for the Enterprise” by Dan Woods and Gautam Guliani
Review by Mark Weisler, March 2006
“Open Source for the Enterprise”, ISBN 0-596-10119-8, published by O'Reilly, is an excellent book. Anyone in information technology (IT) should consider it required reading. The authors explain the nature of free and open software and how it is changing the IT landscape.
They explain how open software is different from proprietary software, how to obtain open software and how it is supported. The book explains what to expect and not expect in open systems. The authors analyze the skills gap that exists in an individual or an IT group when first approaching open software as this gap can cause frustration or project disappointment if not managed properly. The book offers strategies for the exploration and adoption of open source that reduce the frustration and risks of this new technology frontier.
Open source software is a major force in IT now and IT is, in turn, a major force in global society and economics as described by Thomas L. Friedman in “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century”, ISBN 0374292884. Hence, the technology described by Woods and Guliani is important to all of us as it helps connect people all over the world to share knowledge, distribute work, and open and develop markets.
The authors paint a realistic and complete picture of the open source world yet convey the excitement that the empowerment of open source brings to the world. I highly recommend the book to IT, consultants, and administrators who are in a position to influence or consume IT services.
I recommend that people new to open source find a good “live CD” distribution of Linux (maybe from http://distrowatch.com/) as a quick, no-risk way to experience open source software, and attend Linux user group meetings for a while to augment what is learned through this book.
About Mark Weisler: I've been in the IT industry for 31 years as a programmer, network designer, systems architect, consultant, and manager. I have used Linux since 1995 for many application areas and notably network services in an enterprise setting.
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