Open Source Software Used in the Library

by ashkev

I have been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of free and open source software lately. I found this chart very useful in spelling out some of the arguments, in this case the pros and cons of open source in a K-12 environment. The total cost of Open Source software may be lower than proprietary software, but in many cases, that depends on the in house expertise. In our case, we are a small library with a very limited IT Staff. Basically the in-house expertise is whatever we can teach ourselves easily by trial and error.
Here is a list of free and open source software currently being used by the Cass District Library:

1. Edubuntu — In a server and thin client network currently with seven stations and more coming soon.
2. Xubuntu — Our web page is hosted on a virtual LAMP server running xubuntu.
3. Dansguardian and Squid — for content filtering and proxy server.
4. Ubuntu — On the Assistant Director’s laptop
5. PublicIP — for wireless connectivity
6. Open Office — Many of our staff and patron computers use OO rather than Microsoft Office.
7. hMailServer — We still use a windows machine for e-mail. hMailServer is a great Open Source e-mail solution for the Windows platform.
8. Squirrelmail — Webmail Solution. We run Squirrelmail on the LAMP server to give web access to our staff e-mail.
9. Internet Station Manager — Public access time management solution (currently testing)
10. VMWare Server — This is free, but not Open Source. We use VMWare to run several virtual servers including : Web server, E-mail Server, Content filter/Proxy Server. I also use VMWare to test different platforms.

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5 comments

1 Ruth Dukelow { 10.10.07 at 2:31 pm }

hi Kevin

any chance Cass would be interested in our Evergreen project?

Ruth

2 ashkev { 10.10.07 at 2:40 pm }

Ruth,

I am very interested in Evergreen, and I think that it could be a great solution. We are only about a year into a Migration from Classic Dynix to Horizon, so we are not looking to migrate now. But when we are ready, we will definitely take a look at Evergreen. I think that having it hosted by MLC could make good sense to many libraries as well. I wish you the best of luck with the project.

3 Ruth Dukelow { 10.15.07 at 2:12 pm }

Makes sense not to want to migrate again this soon! We’re going to put up a blog about our pilot project later this week. Url will be http://mlcnet.org/evergreen

4 startoy83 { 10.28.07 at 8:00 am }

ajaxflakes - Read all about the latest developments on web design 2.0 and ajax + lots of tips. TOP 100+ best Free Opensource Software for windows XP and Vista. Thought i should add it might be helpful to others… http://ajaxflakes.com

5 John Arosanyin { 09.23.08 at 7:27 am }

Thanks a lot for this information you have provided.

I am trying to implement evergreen in one of our college libraries and would be glad for any suggestion you can give as I am not conversant with linux/ubuntu environment. we use windows o/s.

2. How do I open/install a .tar.gz software in a windows environment? I’ve just downloaded the internet Station Manager.

thank you and God bless you real good.

John

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