Finding Open options; An Open Source software evaluation model with a case study on Course Management Systems

This Master thesis was written as part of the Information Management and Science program at Tilburg University. The thesis defence will take place on the 23rd of August, 2005 in room B834 at Tilburg University. Summary The Open Source software market is getting more and more attention. Large IT corporations such as IBM and Novell are investing in Open Source software. Open Source software development is very different from traditional proprietary software. In order to understand Open Source software better, this thesis offers a model for Open Source software evaluation, which can be used as a tool to find the right software package to meet the user's needs. The goal was to get a better understanding of Open Source software and to make the Open Source software process more understandable for those who evaluate this type of software. An introduction to Open Source software is followed by the Open Source software evaluation model, using the criteria found in Open Source literature. Community – the driving force behind an Open Source project Release Activity – showing the progress made by the developers Longevity – how long the product has been around License – is one of the general Open Source licenses used Support – from the community as well as paid support options Documentation – user manuals and tutorials, developer documentation Security – responding to vulnerabilities Functionality – testing against functional requirements Integration – standards, modularity and collaboration with other products Goal and Origin – why was the project started and what is the current goal These criteria form the key terms of the model. The evaluation process is described using these criteria. The practical part of the model consists of two steps. In the first step selection on the candidate list is performed, using four of the above criteria: Functionality, Community, Release Activity and Longevity. These criteria were selected because they can be evaluated quickly for each candidate in order to eliminate non-viable candidates and select the best ones. This step results in a 'short list' of candidates that can be evaluated in depth in the second step, taking a closer look at the software and the project using all ten criteria. In order to test this model on real Open Source software, a case study was performed on Course Management Systems. In this case study the model is applied on a candidate list of 36 systems, and evaluation is …