Economics of open source library software: evidences from Indian libraries

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-04-2018-0036
Date01 July 2019
Pages337-355
Published date01 July 2019
AuthorRaj Kishor Kampa,Purnima Kaushik
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services
Economics of open source library
software: evidences from
Indian libraries
Raj Kishor Kampa
Department of Library and Information Science, Khallikote University,
Berhampur, India, and
Purnima Kaushik
Department of Library and Information Science,
University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to studythe adoption and use of open source software (OSS) in the
libraries of Institutions of National Importance (INIs) in India vis-à-vis their economic impact on adopting
libraries.Besides, it aims to study the business model of OSS.
Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses the adoption and use of OSSin the libraries of
INIs, India, and their economic impact on the adopting libraries. An online survey was administrated to
library professionals of INIs to know the adoption and use of OSS in their libraries and its acceptability.
Descriptivestatistics and Pearsons chi-square are used in this study.
Findings The ndingsof the study reveal that the librariesof INIs adopt and use OSS in integratedlibrary
system (ILS)(18.4 per cent), digital repository(95.2 per cent) and library website (65.5per cent). Koha, DSpace,
Drupaland Joomla! are the most favouredOSS among the libraries ofINIs. The results reveal thatfavouring of
OSS and having a policy on OSS by the libraries have a positive and signicant relationship with their
adoption anduse of OSS in the libraries. The resultsof the study show that university librariesof India could
save anestimated Rs 417m by adoptingopen source ILS such as Koha, Evergreen,NewGenLib and ABCD.
Practical implications The paper will help decision makersto adopt and use open source ILS in their
libraries.
Originality/value This paper is the rst of its kind that explores the economic impact of OSS on the
adoptinglibraries and also explicitly discusses the businessmodel of open source library software.
Keywords India, Academic libraries, Open source software, Economic sustainability,
Business model, Economic implication
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Open-source software (OSS) is a new way of developing software, which is primarily
developed by the users and for the users. In recent times, the adoption and use of OSS has
increased phenomenally, which is evident from the fact that there are 500,000 open source
projects listed on SourceForge, Rs 3.7m registered users and Rs 4m downloads per day
(SourceForge, 2018). OSS development model produces better and cheaper software than
proprietary development model, and these are of high quality and sustainable software
(Raymond, 2001). Some of the popular examples of OSS are Mozilla Firefox, OpenOfce,
VLC media player, Linux and Apache Web server. It is observed that62.72 per cent of Web
server ran on Apache, Mozilla Firefox captured 28.6 per cent in browser segment, 28.8
per cent of operating softwareran on Linux platform and in the content management system
Open source
library
software
337
Received21 April 2018
Revised19 November 2018
Accepted29 November 2018
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.68 No. 4/5, 2019
pp. 337-355
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-04-2018-0036
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9342.htm
(CMS) and 26.4 per cent of it ran on WordPress (Wheeler, 2015). OSS is dominant in other
segment also, e.g. PHP and Perl are the prominent programming languages. OSS has
witnessed tremendous growth from Linux to Android and has disrupted the way the
software is developed and procured. In recent times, OSS has garnered immense media
attention, and an unprecedented growth and interestare also seen, which can be attributed
to widespread diffusion of internet, changes in licencing rules and corporatisation of OSS
(Lerner and Schankerman,2010).
Many research studies, which are the testimony to the argument of favouring to adopt
OSS, view it as:
technology meant for a common cause;
a powerful force for good;
a public good;
a novel modus operandi of software development with security and risk
management benets; and
curbing vendor licence cost and lock-in (Coleman, 2004;The Economist, 2004; FSF,
2018; Williams van Rooij, 2009;Raymond, 2001).
OSS offers a viable and strong alternative to proprietary software (PS) and has larger
economic implication when it is adopted in any enterprises including libraries. The
economic aspects of OSS are not conned to the licencing cost incurred by purchasing PS,
but have other benets such as experimenting, annual maintenance cost and costs of
training. Libraries around the globe have understood the economic implications of the OSS
and have developed OSS policyto adopt OSS in libraries.
Recently, research studies on OSS vis-à-vis its economics relevance are indeed an
impressive trend in the modern economy. Information goods that share the source code of
OSS are moving increasingly to the centreof the stage as drivers of economic growth (Dalle
and David, 2005). This study seeks to explore the economic impact and business model of
open source library software. For this purpose, a small sample size was statistically
analysed to know the impact of OSS on adopting libraries of institutions of national
importance (INIs) in India. Further, the important economic impacts and business model of
open source library softwareare presented.
2. Literature review
There are a plethora of literature availableon the subject of OSS and its adoption in general
and deployment of OSS in library and informationcentre in particular. A number of studies
have advocated the adoption and use of OSS in enterprises and educational institutions,
including libraries. Raymond (2001),one of the leading voices and proponent of OSS, claims
that the collaborative methods of developing OSS leads to the development of superior
quality software. OSS communities develop and produce software faster and with fewer
bugs, which in turn are more innovative and cutting edge than the proprietary counterpart.
As Raymond, in his seminal essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and
Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary,has aptly stated:
I think the future of open source software will increasingly belong to people who know how to
play Linuss game, people who leave behind the cathedral and embrace the bazaar. This is not to
say that individual vision and brilliance will no longer matter; rather, I think that the cutting edge
of open source software will belong to people who start from individual vision and brilliance, then
amplify it through the eective construction of voluntary communities of interest (Raymond,
2001).
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