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It's open-source time IN THINKING ABOUT the role of open-source technologies in the context of my daily duties at InfoWorld, I feel compelled to pull out one of the most overused literary references in all of writing: "It is the best of times, it is the worst of times." I'll start out with the "worst of times" part, and keep it brief: the economy. Anyone who reads InfoWorld already knows the drill: PC sales are down year-to-year for the first time since this statistic has been recorded by IDC; IT salaries are flattening, and even declining in some cases; and companies are trying to do more with less. The "doing more with less" mantra is where the "best of times" side of the equation comes in: There has never been a better time to leverage open-source technologies to solve enterprise technology problems in a very strategic and cost-efficient fashion.
Linux This might seem a rather obvious choice, but as much attention as Linux gets, I still don't think everyone understands just what a fabulous deal Linux really is and can be. If you have ever taken a decrepit old Pentium 166 from the trash heap and turned it into a reliable production server for your office environment, you know the visceral thrills that running Linux on throwaway commodity hardware can provide. At one of my previous jobs, we set up a Pentium 166 two years ago as a production DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and DNS server, and it has been up ever since -- through Y2K, the California blackouts, and the up and down economy. Total software cost: $0. Market value of hardware: $50 (maybe). It's almost enough to bring a tear to a CTO's eye. Apache Commercial vendors of Web server software should simply get out of the business. I refuse to sign a purchase order for basic Web server software. I have run Netscape and IIS, and nothing comes close to Apache for price/performance, configurability, and future promise. As Apache 2.0 continues to mature (it is currently in beta), other Web server software will become increasingly irrelevant. Apache is a no-brainer for most environments. MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) MRTG is one of my sentimental favorites. If you want a simple yet incredibly insightful way to monitor traffic across your switches, hubs, and routers, you can certainly buy a heavyweight enterprise package with a high price tag to do it, but don't waste your time. MRTG generates Web pages that give you a live visual representation of the traffic on your network. I have seen it used to monitor some of the world's higher-traffic Web sites, and a friend's home network -- it scales well in either direction. Your mileage may vary depending on your environment, but a solid selection of high-end open-source technologies in your business can provide a high level of service and contribute mightily to the bottom line. What are you best/worst open-source successes/failures? Write to me at chad_dickerson@infoworld.com. Your message will likely be delivered via sendmail, another key piece of open-source software.  RELATED ARTICLES  Test Center In Focus: Traveling the open-source road?RELATED SUBJECTS Enterprise ApplicationsOperating SystemsMORE > SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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