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Open Source Blog
A complete open source stack?
February 02, 2006
The release under an open source license of Qluster's openQRM systems management software this week got me thinking about the breadth and depth of open source software now available.
As well as moving up the software stack, from the operating system to database, application server, and enterprise applications, open source software has also moved out the software stack, providing systems and network monitoring tools and security applications, amongst other things.
Is it now possible to build a complete open source enterprise software stack? I put together the following table that suggests you could get pretty close.
Anti-spam - SpamAssassin/SendMail/Thunderbird
Antivirus - ClamAV/Open Antivirus
Instant messaging - Jabber
Email client - Evolution/Thunderbird
Browser - Firefox
Office productivity - OpenOffice.org/Koffice
Mobile infrastructure - Funambol
Content management - Alfresco/Plone
Collaboration software - Openexchange/Sendmail/Zimbra
BI applications - Pentaho/JasperSoft/GreenPlum
CRM applications - SugarCRM/Compiere/Daffodil
ERP applications - Compiere/ERP5/OFBiz
Programming - PHP/Perl/Python
IDE/dev tools - Eclipse/Mono/NetBeans
Web server - Apache
ESB - Celtix/Mule
Middleware tools - JBoss/Apache/ObjectWeb
App server - JBoss/Geronimo
Database - MySQL/PostgreSQL/Ingres
File/print services - Samba
Virtualisation - Xen/OpenVZ
Operating system - Linux/BSD/OpenSolaris
Systems management - openQRM/Groundwork
Network management - OpenNMS/Groundwork
Backup/archive - Amanda
Application security - AppArmor/SE Linux
Storage management - Aperi
Security - OpenSSH/OpenVPN/OpenLDAP
This list is not meant to be exhaustive, by the way, but if there are any glaring omissions (and I've a nagging feeling there are), do let us know. Some of these projects are more mature than others (the Aperi project, in particular has barely got off the ground) but it is interesting to note that in most areas there is very real choice.
I'm not suggesting that a 100% open source technology stack is necessarily practical, but the potential is worth noting. It would be a brave CIO that moved decided to move to open source wholesale - not because of lack of functionality or lack of support - but because of the variety of projects and vendors involved and the work that would be required to get everything up and running.
In that regard it is also worth mentioning the likes of SourceLabs, SpikeSource and OpenLogic, who are out in the market providing open source software configuration, integration, installation and management services, another indication of the maturity of the open source model.
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