Foss Support Webinar0108

Slide 1: NOSI/NTEN Webinar The Key Is the Community: How to Get Support for Open Source Software Michelle Murrain, Coordinator Nonprofit Open Source Initiative

Slide 2: What we'll cover  Models of support for software  Models in FOSS vs. Proprietary  Paid support for FOSS  The Key is Community  Types of community support  Strengths and weaknesses of community support  Examples of FOSS community support  How to find community support  What you need to know now

Slide 3: Software support models  If you look at every type of software or online service, there are varied types of support, although not all are available for all software.  This can depend on the type of software, the cost of the software, and the company or developers  It is almost always possible to find some support for software – but the timeliness and appropriateness of that support may differ

Slide 4: In-person support  This type of support is most common when an organization contracts with a hardware/network support consultant or company, for support of their servers and desktops. It generally includes both hardware and software support. Some large-scale software installations also offer in-person support. This is the most expensive kind of support available.

Slide 5: Phone support  This is being able to call someone on the phone, speak to an actual human being, and get help for whatever the problem might be.  This might be support directly from a software vendor, or it might be support from a consultant or company

Slide 6: Live Chat support  This can be an individual chat with a support person via a website or instant messenger

Slide 7: Email or ticket system  Many companies, developers and consutants have ticket systems. An email to them, or a form on a website, will enter a ”ticket” system, which tracks support requests  Some work just by email, without a ticket system

Slide 8: IRC  IRC = Internet Relay Chat  IRC is community chat – many people are in a channel, and can provide answers to questions  This can be run by developers/companies, or independent

Slide 9: Email list  This can be official, or unofficial. It can be just a community of users, or it can include support from the developers/company

Slide 10: Web Forum  This can also be official, or unofficial.

Slide 11: FOSS vs. Proprietary  At this time, all of these methods of support are available for both types of software.  Historically, support for FOSS was based in the community of users and developers of FOSS projects.  Because of this, it is often easiest and most direct to get support from the community for FOSS  However, it is possible to pay for support for FOSS

Slide 12: Paying for FOSS support  Linux vendors, such as RedHat, Novell (SUSE) and Canonical (Ubuntu) have plans where you can get phone support.  IBM, Sun and others provide paid support for their FOSS products  More and more companies are getting into the business of providing support for FOSS in the private sector  Increasing avenues for support in the nonprofit sector, including NTAPs

Slide 13: How to find paid support  Buy a version of Linux from a commercial vendor which comes with support  Buy a version of a FOSS application (database, CMS, CRM, etc.) from a commercial vendor that comes with support  Find a vendor that supports FOSS (see http://snurl.com/1y3h6)

Slide 14: However ... Although it is possible to pay for support for FOSS, getting support from the community is not only a viable, cost-effective source of support, but it has other positive side-effects

Slide 15: The Key is Community  History  Types of community support  Strengths of community support  Weaknesses of community support  Becoming a part of a community

Slide 16: History  circa 1995: Just about all open source software was used by enthusiasts and academics. If you needed help, you had to find others that had used the software – support communities were born.  circa 2000: Use of FOSS broadens beyond enthusiasts and academe. A few companies were beginning to offer support – like RedHat for Linux, MySQL AB for MySQL, and others. Community support matures.  circa 2008: Hundreds of companies provide support for FOSS. FOSS is used by large and small companies and organizations. Communities of support thrive.

Slide 17: Types of community support  Support by application or Linux distribution  User groups (in person)  Email lists  Web forums  IRC channels  Developers/company staff are often present

Slide 18: Types of community support  By interest area or other  Educational users  Nonprofit users (like NTEN-Discuss, NOSI-Discussion)  Other groups  Linux User Groups (LUGS)  These cut across different software applications. More applied to a particular kind of use, but less specific.

Slide 19: Strengths of Community Support  Can get answers almost immediately  As you get to know a community, you get to know individuals who can help in particular situations  Communities of popular applications are large, and have users with a wide variety of technical savvy.  There are usually multiple avenues of support (IRC/Email lists/Web forums)  It is almost always possible to contact a developer  Support by issue area can be very friendly and useful

Slide 20: Weaknesses of Community Support  Unpredictable whether or not your problem can be solved  Unpredictable how long it will take  A very few communities are unfriendly to ”newbies”, or reply to questions with ”RTFM” (Read the ****ing Manual)

Slide 21: And remember ...  When you do a Google search on a problem you are having with FOSS software, most of the time what you get is a result of someone else using community support

Slide 24: How to find community support  Use communities you are already in

Slide 25: How to find community support  Go to the website of the application you are using

Slide 26: Examples of community support  OpenOffice.org forums  ProjectPier forums  Ubuntu IRC  Joomla Forums  Joomla Wiki  Mailman mailing lists  Linuxchix.org  Mailing lists  IRC

Slide 27: Becoming Part of a Community  The key to community is contribution and collaboration – a good general rule is the more you give to a community, the more you will recieve.  User communities really need contributions by members of all levels – this provides support for the widest range of users.  You can influnce the direction of the software

Slide 28: NPTECH examples  NTAPs and Consulting firms getting involved in FOSS communities (Drupal, Plone, OpenACS, Joomla)  Provide organizational support for the community  give back code and resources  get back support that helps clients  FOSS communities benefit  providers benefit  ulimately, clients benefit

Slide 29: Rules to make it all work  These are people who are, generally, doing this out of generosity and their own interest. Don’t treat them like you are paying them.  For IRC, don’t ask to ask your question – just ask it.  When answering others questions, a great rule is: ”be polite, be helpful.”  Give back as much as you can.

Slide 30: So what you need to know now...  You can find helpful support for most FOSS applications  paid support is becoming quite common  community support is very rich  Check out the support during your evaluation process  Read mailing list archives  lurk in IRC channels  Read forums  Join a list/forum immediately – it’s amazing how much you can learn by osmosis, even before you have a problem