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Open Source Software
Term Paper ID:38997
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Essay Subject:
Analysis of the comcept of a support system...... More...
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9 Pages / 2025 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Analysis of the concept of a support service for people who use RFCs (Requests for Comments) or open source software. Why they are vital to Internet commerce. Deconstruction as a posibility for Open Support.
Paper Introduction:
T Part TMA Question Summary Requests for Comments and open and closed source software are vital toInternet commerce in terms of the network standards and software that canbe developed to power the Internet marketplace Requests for Comments orRFCs are documents used by the Network Working Group to introduce newmethods concepts and innovations about advances in the Internettechnologies An RFC is comprised of a series of documents or memorandatargeted for peer-to-peer review so other members of the Network WorkingGroup can offer constructive criticism
Text of the Paper:
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They wouldsubscribe to the Open Support service and choose the appropriate supportplan for their needs. I improved upon my original summary in two ways-by tying together thediscussion of RFCs and open and closed source software, which were inseparate sections in the original paper, and by adding the section on OpenSupport, which had not yet been conceived when I wrote my original paper.In the beginning, I saw RFCs and the issue of open and closed sourcesoftware as separate and unrelated issues. Customers who do not wish to usetheir credit card online for fear of identity theft can opt to receive aregular hard copy bill each month and pay by personal or cashier's check ormoney order.The Product and the Market Open Support is the service that many organizations and individualshave often wished were available, and its market is anyone who uses RFCs oropen source software. Closed sourcesoftware, on the other hand, is made by commercial software developmentcompanies and must be purchased to be used. Retrieved on January 7, 2 7 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Software The Internetwould continue to bring forth new products to support, keeping my businesssupplied with prospective customers, and I would be able to expand mycompany at little cost as long as I kept abreast of my competitors toensure that they did not displace my business. Open and closed source software is also an integral part of poweringthe Internet marketplace. OpenOffice can be downloadedfree, and visitors to the site can join the community and participate inprograms and projects. Retrieved on January 7, 2 7 from: ftp://ftp.rfc- editor.org/in-notes/rfc2555.txtOpen Source Software. This new structure willbe more effective than the traditional one because using the Internet in asmall business allows it to expand by giving it worldwide exposure atminimal cost. In summary, deconstruction is a possibility for Open Support and wouldoccur along the lines that separate products being supported. Users that encounter problems often have toresort to trying to find solutions by discussing them with other users inan online forum. Open Support will need to develop its branding for optimum customerrecognition. In this case, they likely have lost morethan just time; they may have purchased other components to support theopen source software and invested time and money in developing additionalsoftware that works with it. Since the product is a service, many of the problemsassociated with physical products, such as manufacturing, warehousing,transport, obsolescence, and customer returns, will not be an issue. Once I recognized how advantageous support could be for both RFCs andopen source programs, the concept of Open Support arose easily. This will provide new opportunities formy business, because I can expand to support them. Open source software provides an advantage to users in that itis free, as opposed to closed source software, which must be purchased,sometimes at great expense. The peoplewho need to work with RFCs need a service such as Open Support, and thosewho have had difficulty making open source software work in theirorganizations will be anxious to have a solution that allows them to keepusing free and low-cost open source software without having to make a hugeinvestment in consultants' fees to make it work for them. For every closed source program developed, there are usually a numberof open source alternatives. Closed source software, on the other hand, hasdedicated organizations with commercial interests who are ready to fixproblems quickly ("Open Source Software"). As it is a new service, customers will not be familiar withit yet, and they may be less inclined to trust it as a result until thecompany develops a customer base and a strong brand identity. Tomaximize reach, the company can post links to its web site on otherproducts' web sites in return for posting their links on the Open Supportweb site. At thatpoint, my summary changed in character because I was no longer writingabout disparate and unrelated issues but about one issue-the need forsupport. RFCs arenecessary because they represent the research output of numerousindividuals or groups and explain original and still-unexplored conceptsthat have not actually been implemented on a commercial basis. The disadvantage is that there are many rivals working tocopy such concepts and offer them as their own. In addition, OpenSupport's web site can be set up to appear in the list when users do asearch on "open source software" and related subjects; this would beverified on such sites as Google, AOL search, A9, Alta Vista, and the othermost popular search engines. This is a form of advertising that costs the company nothing butthat can bring in much greater numbers of customers. While this might seem like a smalldisadvantage in contrast with the benefit of obtaining them free, in facttrying to make open source software work without support can be quiteproblematic, and in the end many companies and individuals that use iteventually find that they must hire consultants to help them-a highlyexpensive proposition, since everything a consultant does is "on theclock." Likewise with RFCs, understanding, managing, and using them isdifficult for the unschooled user who may need to use them but is notnecessarily in a position to spend hours each week tracking and studyingthem as new ones continue to arise and old ones change in status. Therefore, if he has difficultyimplementing it, discovers bugs, or needs help making it work with hisexisting system, help is available-generally for little or no further costbeyond the cost of buying the software package. Open source software is a computer program whosesource code is made available to the Internet community, who are free tomodify, reverse engineer, and redistribute it in the unmodified form.Users need only follow a basic copyright to use it. However, after reflectingfurther on them and attempting to develop an e-business concept of my own,I realized that they had something in common; both were things that peopleand businesses needed to manage and leverage in order to be successful, andboth were difficult to use because of the lack of support. When a software user purchases a closed source software product, hegenerally receives free support for that product for as long as the productis supported by the company that makes it. Although this distinction makes open sourcesoftware seem very attractive, such software may have defects and bugs andcould require patches that may not be readily available, since no one ownsit. Since the service would be offered online, customerscould charge it to their personal credit card, such as Visa, Mastercard, orAmerican Express. RFCs that areaccepted by the Internet Engineering Task Force- Today there are thousands of RFCs available on the RCF Editor sitehosted by the IETF, and the RCF Editor assigns a unique serial number suchas RFC 2555 to each of them. Theirevolution can be benefited through the suggestions, better alternatives,and workarounds proposed by other scientists who read them, and they arealso beneficial to peers that are doing their own research. In some cases, RFCs can be labeled obsoleteif they are superseded by another RFC ("3 Years of RFCs"). The Internetwill affect the new view for my business by continually bringing forth newopen source software and new protocol and infrastructure requirements thatcan be supported, much like RFCs. Revenue Model The revenue streams for Open Support would come from organizationsthat deal heavily with RFCs and find it difficult to keep up with changesand their implications for e-business, as well as users of open sourcesoftware who would like support for the products that they use. The proposed solution would exist in the form of a serviceorganization called Open Support, which would keep its customers current onRFCs through an easy-to-read monthly e-zine that informs them of importantRFC changes and explains how these impact their e-businesses, as well asproviding support for open source software. An RFC is comprised of a series of documents or memorandatargeted for peer-to-peer review, so other members of the Network WorkingGroup can offer constructive criticism or suggestions on it. The site would also post a toll-free numberfor customers wishing to speak to someone on the phone regarding theservice, as well as a feedback mechanism through which they can e-mail thecompany with questions or comments.Question 2.[Here you must submit the critique you wrote].Question 3. Furthermore, any end products developed usingopen source software could encounter legal issues when an organizationtries to market them. However, with RFCs andopen source software, users were left to their own devices to make themwork and understand their use. The software cannot bemodified without permission, nor can it be reverse engineered orredistributed. My business could be viewed as a collection ofsmall businesses, each of which addresses a narrow area of support, such assupport for individual open source programs. For example, rivaling the closed sourceMicrosoft Office is a package called OpenOffice, available atOpenOffice.org, a multiplatform and multilingual office suite that includesword processing, presentation, spreadsheet, and other office tools such asBase, Calc, Draw, Math, Impress, and Writer. Since open source softwaredoes not need to be purchased, the only way Open Support could be aprofitable e-business is for customers to purchase support, and this wouldbe available in a variety of forms, from regular monthly or yearlysubscriptions to one-time emergency consultations. T171 Part 2, TMA 4Question 1.Summary Requests for Comments and open and closed source software are vital toInternet commerce in terms of the network standards and software that canbe developed to power the Internet marketplace. Requests for Comments, orRFCs, are documents used by the Network Working Group to introduce newmethods, concepts, and innovations about advances in the Internettechnologies. RFCs have beenhelpful in defining many of the standards that are commonly used, such asthe Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, in which RFC 2616 forms the mainprotocol used in building web pages. I revised my summary accordingly, explaining first RFCs and thenopen and closed source programs, and ending with an introduction to myconcept for Open Support.Question 4. Tofacilitate this, the company can offer its service free of charge to aselect group of reviewers at esteemed computer-related publications who canuse the service for a month and then report on it in their publication.This is a no-cost means of obtaining brand identity and advertising thatwill go far toward gaining a customer base for Open Support.Richness and Reach The richness of Open Support is that it capitalizes on the advantagesof RFCs and open source software while minimizing their disadvantages.Since Open Support will be offered in a large variety of configurations toaddress the specific range of needs that a particular user might have, itis robust enough for everyone and can reach virtually everyone. References3 Years of RFCs. There is no vendor support for open source software as there is forclosed source software, a factor that makes it extremely risky forbusinesses and other organizations that are dependent on the software tooperate their businesses. Consideration of the importance of RFCs and open and closed sourcesoftware to the e-business community resulted in a concept that couldbecome an excellent e-business-a support service for RFCs and open sourcesoftware that makes them as low-risk and easy to manage as closed sourcesoftware. They would be offered the option to have the service feedebited to their card on either a monthly or an annual basis, with theannual payment option providing a 1 % discount since that option requiresless administrative work for the company. Themarket should be ripe for a service such as Open Support, as thosecompanies and individuals who have already had to work with RFCs and closedsource software are acquainted with the drawbacks of doing so. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types ofsoftware. RFCs help define the infrastructureof the World Wide Web and pave the way for e-commerce through theirestablishment of network standards used in e-commerce. A separate business forsupporting each popular open source program in wide use is foreseeable, andeach of the individual businesses would function roughly the same exceptfor the exigencies of their particular supported software. Open Support could easily be affected by deconstruction, first becauseit already covers two distinct support areas-support for RFCs and supportfor open source programs, and second because it would make sense todeconstruct the business in terms of the types of support that were mostpopular to subscribers. Ultimately, they may be forced to purchase closed sourcesoftware after all, simply because they cannot get the open source softwareto work properly on their system.
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