Disabling Globalization or The Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source

Disabling Globalization: Places of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Author: Gillian Patricia Hart

Combining richly detailed empirical research on transnational connections with bold and imaginative theoretical argument, this innovative study offers fresh critical understandings of globalization and unique insights into post-apartheid South Africa. Based on research conducted between 1994 and 2001, Gillian Hart traces political dynamics in two former white towns and adjacent black townships in the province of KwaZulu-Natal that are major sites of Taiwanese investment. Focusing on East Asian connections with these places, and on histories and memories of racialized dispossession, she highlights the fragility of the neoliberal project in post-apartheid South Africa. She also suggests how rethinking the "land question" in terms of a social wage could connect a variety of ongoing struggles. Hart provides a clear sense of how and why both popular and academic discourses of globalization are so deeply disabling. Readers will come away with more politically empowering understandings of social change in an increasingly interconnected world.

James Ferguson

An unequivocally excellent work of scholarship that makes significant theoretical and empirical contributions to the understanding of 'globalization' and the working of contemporary neo-liberal capitalism. Hart is especially innovative in placing the study of Taiwanese industrialists in South Africa in relation to both the agrarian history of Taiwan and China, and the way that Taiwanese overseas firms have operated in places other than South Africa. It is a very rare combination of talents and knowledge that makes such a study possible.

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The Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source

Author: Martin Fink

The manager's guide to using Linux and open source for competitive advantage.
Using Linux and open source technologies, thousands of enterprises are cutting costs, gaining flexibility, and discovering powerful new sources of business value. Now, there's an objective, realistic manager's guide to using Linux and open source technology for competitive advantage. Martin Fink helps you get past both the hypesters and the naysayers, so you can accurately assess the benefits, costs, and risks of open source in your organization. Writing strictly from the manager's viewpoint, Fink covers every step of the Linux and open source project lifecycle, and every crucial issue, from licensing to collaborating with the open source community of developers. Coverage includes:

• Assessing the costs, benefits, and risks of pursuing Linux and open source initiatives


• Open source licensing: avoiding the minefields


• Managing Linux and open source projects within your company


• Assessing the size, breadth, and capabilities of the open source community


• Building strong, positive, synergistic relationships with external open source communities


• The crucial role of Linux standards


• Integration, development, deployment, migration, coexistence, support, and training


• Understanding the difference between the Linux kernel and the Linux operating system


• Understanding and choosing Linux distributions


• How the open source paradigm impacts commercial software developers


• Open source business models: what it takes to make a profit from open source technology


• Applying the open source development methodology in a corporate setting

"A thought-provoking analysis of the role of open source software in the corporate environment. A must-read guide for managers considering how open source can help their organization."

—Tim O'Reilly, O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.

Table of Contents:

	Disclaimer and Notices	xv
	Acknowledgments	xvii
	Preface	xix
Part I	Groundwork	1
Chapter 1	The Business of Linux and Open Source	3
	Linux Adoption	3
	Crash Course in Linux and Open Source Lingo	5
	Linux Workloads	6
	Business Benefits	7
	Cost	8
	Availability of Trained Resources	8
	Support	9
	Control and Vendor Independence	10
	Software Development	10
	Upgrades	11
	Inhibitors to Linux Growth	11
	Application Availability	12
	Maturity	13
	Scalability	13
	Business Risk	14
	Who's Who in Open Source?	14
	Summary	18
Chapter 2	Linux--Heart of the Operating System	19
	The Operating System	20
	The Linux Kernel	22
	Kernel Design	22
	Linux Kernel Modules	23
	Linux Kernel Patches	25
	Kernel Fragmentation (or Forking)	25
	Linux Kernel Development and Version Control	26
	Multi-Platform Support	29
	Mass-Market vs. Non-Mainstream Processors	30
	Linux on the Desktop	31
	Vertical and Horizontal Scalability	32
	Embedded Linux	33
	Summary	34
Chapter 3	Open Source--Navigating the Legal Path to Freedom	35
	The Freedom to Be Open Source	36
	The Open Source Definition	37
	Intellectual Property and Reciprocity	39
	Dual-Licensing and Copyright Ownership	40
	Licenses--Open Source and Non-Open Source	42
	Open Source Licenses	42
	The GPL and LGPL	46
	Non-Open Source Licenses	50
	Export and Cryptography	52
	Open Source Development Methodology	52
	License	53
	Styles	53
	Attributes	54
	Summary	56
Chapter 4	Communities and Organizations	59
	Linux	60
	Kernel	60
	Processors	60
	File Systems	62
	Device Support	63
	Web Services and Application Servers	64
	Apache	64
	TUX	64
	JBOSS	65
	Languages	66
	GCC	66
	Perl	68
	Python	68
	Desktops and Office Productivity	69
	XFree86	69
	GNOME	70
	KDE	70
	Mozilla	72
	OpenOffice	72
	Databases	73
	PostgreSQL	73
	MySQL	73
	Personal Digital Assistants	73
	Handheld Linux	74
	Clusters	74
	Beowulf	74
	Organizations	74
	Linux International	75
	Free Software Foundation	75
	Open Source Initiative	75
	Open Source Development Lab	75
	Free Standards Group	76
	Embedded Linux Consortium	76
	Linux Documentation Project	76
	Summary	77
Part II	Operational Linux	79
Chapter 5	Distributions--Completing Linux	81
	Linux Distribution	82
	Packages	83
	Package Formats	86
	Distribution Vendors	87
	Mainstream Distributions	87
	Geographic Distributions	90
	Specialty Distributions	90
	Non-Linux Operating System Distributions	91
	Creating Your Own Distribution	91
	Supporting Multiple Distributions	92
	Standards	94
	Summary	94
Chapter 6	The Cost of Linux and Open Source	95
	The Costs	96
	The Open Source Effect	98
	Adapting to an Imperfect Solution	101
	Procuring Linux and Open Source Software	102
	Contracts	103
	Modifying Open Source Software	104
	Summary	104
Chapter 7	Standards--One Linux	107
	Why Standards?	108
	Free Standards Group	109
	Linux Standards Base	110
	LSB Distribution Components	111
	Conforming Applications	114
	LSB Futures	115
	Linux Internationalization	115
	Testing and Conformance	116
	Specialized Linux Distributions	117
	Summary	117
Chapter 8	Operations--Using Linux and Open Source	119
	Deployment	119
	Geographic Deployments	120
	Migration and Coexistence	121
	Hardware	122
	Data	123
	Programming Models	126
	Applications	127
	Desktop	127
	Licensing and Purchasing	128
	Support	129
	Commercial by Component	129
	Integrated End-to-End	130
	Self-Support with the Community	130
	Influence and Relationships	131
	Training	132
	Summary	133
Part III	Open Source in Business	135
Chapter 9	The Corporate Bazaar	137
	The Cathedral and the Bazaar	138
	Structure Follows Strategy	139
	Structural Bazaar	141
	Software Engineering VP	143
	Technology Team	144
	Human Resources	150
	Testing and Integration	152
	Finance	153
	Market Planning	153
	Go-to-Market	154
	Other Structural Elements	154
	Gated Communities	155
	Risks and Issues	156
	Summary	157
Chapter 10	Value as a Function of Time	159
	Pharmaceutical Industry	160
	Cost, Value, Return, and Time	161
	Recovering from Commodity	163
	Open Source Effect on Software	164
	Devaluation as a Competitive Advantage	167
	Value Stuck in Time	169
	Pilot Foundation Classes	169
	Jump	170
	Summary	173
Chapter 11	Business Models--Making Money	175
	Know Your Value	176
	Commercial Software and Linux	177
	Support and Services Tied to Open Source	178
	Aggregating and Enhancing	179
	Commercializing with a Dual-License	180
	Hardware	182
	Separate Device Interface from Device Functionality	182
	Open Documentation to the Hardware Interface	184
	Bundling with Hardware	185
	End-of--Life Model	185
	Building an Ecosystem	186
	Summary	189
Chapter 12	Integrating Open Source into Your Business	191
	Outbound Open Source	192
	Business Case	193
	Implementation	199
	Marketing	201
	Maintenance	202
	Inbound Open Source	203
	Training the Engineers	205
	Company-Specific Decisions	205
	Determining the License	206
	Firewall	206
	IT Development	207
	Indemnification	207
	Summary	208
Chapter 13	Human Resources--Getting Top Talent	209
	Employment Contracts	210
	Participation Policies	211
	Hiring the Right Person	211
	Technology	211
	Community Home	212
	Maintainer or Contributor	212
	Community Visibility and Respect	213
	Online Interactions	213
	Contributions	214
	Geography	215
	Count the Hops	215
	Structuring the Teams	216
	Hiring Visible Leaders	216
	Summary	217
Appendix A	References and Resources	219
Appendix B	Sample Copyright Assignment	227
Appendix C	The GNU General Public License	231
	Index	239