Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1037
www.iltanet.org 44 Peer to Peer Open Source in Legal Open-source software is slowly working its way into legal through a few different avenues. OSS is embedded in any number of products and services that we use: IntApp, InterAction, just about every network storage device (except those branded as MS Windows), Postini and more. For a time, even Microsoft incorporated open source in the TCP/IP stack in Windows. We do not see Linux dominating the desktop, and we do not see open source office suites replacing Microsoft office. We do see OSS making its way to the Windows desktop in the form of clever and useful utility applications, and in the server room where it is transparent to end users. Thus, it is in ancillary desktop applications for Windows and in the server room where we have an opportunity to add value to our businesses with open source. current favorite open source desktop applications include: firefox: • The Firefox Web browser is fast, safe and extensible. Available add-ons include security tools such as NoScript, research utilities such as Zotero and PDF-viewing utilities such as PDF Download. It often leads IE with new features such as tabbed browsing or a quick-searching location bar. (Look for coverage of Firefox in the OSS track at the annual conference this summer.) PDf creator: • PDF Creator is a neat little utility that shows up as a printer. With PDF Creator, the user can not only produce extremely clean PDFs, but join PDFs, add a watermark or print to other image formats. (Look for coverage of PDF Creator in the ILTA-U PDF session at the annual conference this summer.) The Development of OSS The term "open source" goes to the legal definition of the license under which open source software (OSS) is released. Unlike software released under a proprietary license that is protected by copyright law, software released under an open source license is generally unrestricted for any number of uses including modification, creation of derivative works and re-distribution. Most of these provisions are best appreciated by software developers, but the benefits are shared by all. Of course, there is the additional benefit that by affirmatively removing such copyright protections from software, we often don't have to pay a license fee to use the software. Software is a creative work, not unlike other creative works such as a book or a script for a play. In general, creative works are protected by copyright law, which prohibit distribution, modification, creation of derivative works and usage without the permission of the author. A high school teacher who wants to put on a production of "High School Musical," a movie producer who wants to make a movie based on the play "Amadeus" and a Harry Potter fan who writes a "Harry Potter Lexicon," are not allowed to so without the permission of the copyright holder to whom they will likely have to pay a fee. Over time, copyright protections expire, and we are left with a new set of rules where we can freely produce derivative works. For example, Lawrence Olivier plays Hamlet and wins Best Picture. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas turn "Hamlet" into a beer-swilling spoof called "Strange Brew." The hit musical "West Side Story" is a musical adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet." Opening a creative work to modification by the general public produces both misses and hits. Many in the developer community see the affirmative removal of copyright protection on software as a means to attract a broader user base, especially those users who are capable of improving the software, to sustain the software over the long term. Many of us are also convinced that the trend is toward increased open source. Where many see a risk — "Some stranger could break my software!" — we see an opportunity: "We are empowered to fix and improve our software, and/or ride on the coattails of others who do so." We find that while there are misses, the hits are not just good, but great — as good as or better than proprietary counterparts. Cost savings are simply icing on the cake. This is not to say that open source is a panacea, or that all software in the future will be open source. Open source has its place. Some applications, such as optical character recognition (OCR), and full-text indexing, are better left to proprietary solutions. Some proprietary pieces of software, such as Windows and Microsoft Office, are entrenched; and we are not going to give them up any time in the near future, even if there are quality open source alternatives.