NOSI/NTEN Webinar

The Key Is the Community: How to Get Support for Open Source SoftwareMichelle Murrain, CoordinatorNonprofit Open Source Initiative

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

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

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.

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

Live Chat support

This can be an individual chat with a support person via a website or instant messenger

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

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

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

Web Forum

This can also be official, or unofficial.

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

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

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)

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

The Key is Community

History

Types of community support

Strengths of community support

Weaknesses of community support

Becoming a part of a community

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.

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

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.

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

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)

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

How to find community support

Use communities you are already in

How to find community support

Go to the website of the application you are using

Examples of community support

OpenOffice.org forums

ProjectPier forums

Ubuntu IRC

Joomla Forums

Joomla Wiki

Mailman mailing lists

Linuxchix.org

Mailing lists

IRC

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

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

Rules to make it all work

These are people who are, generally, doing this out of generosity and their own interest. Dont treat them like you are paying them.

For IRC, dont 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.

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 its amazing how much you can learn by osmosis, even before you have a problem

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