Linux in the Enterprise: Application Reviews

No purchase order required!

One of the best features of Free Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) is that no purchase orders are required to test or deploy the software. You may, however, need a big fat pipe to the Internet to download some of the stuff. A quick list of some software that companies may find useful

Groupware

Open Groupware
www.opengroupware.org

Open Groupware aims to create the leading open-source groupware server to integrate with leading open-source office suite products and all the leading groupware clients running across all major platforms, and to provide access to all functionality and data through open XML-based interfaces and APIs.

The group says, “We find it even more important to support open protocols than to provide the source code for a groupware solution, since open protocols provide the real freedom of choice for the customer and allow integration into existing IT infrastructures. Groupware is in a miserable state when it comes to interoperability, we try to fix that issue by cleanly documenting all the protocols used by the OGo reference server and by building protocol bridges.”

While Web technologies develop further and further into the traditional desktop application space, they still do not provide the same ease of use and speed of use of native applications. Further, the Internet still isn’t available everywhere, so we need offline solutions for mobile workers. So the group works on integrating available native clients like Outlook, Glow or Evolution.

Another major problem with a lot of current groupware solutions is that they use proprietary data storage. Open Groupware uses standard SQL databases, documents the database schema and provides an adaptor mechanism to allow free choice of the database server. Crucial business data is stored in groupware systems and should be readily accessible.

Groupware does not end at a calendar, it’s important to enable a team to share information and that information is often held in the form of Office files, like spreadsheets, word processor documents or presentation files. OpenGroupware.org aims to provide a central team storage and processing facility to allow easy sharing of those informations.”

Browser

Mozilla
www.mozilla.org

Microsoft may have scorched Netscape, but the pioneering Navigator browser is rising from the ashes in its open-source avatar as Mozilla. Apart from a browser, the Mozilla.org website provides client software that includes mail and news functionality, and a toolkit for developing Web-based applications.

The Mozilla browser is the default Web browser shipping with most Linux distributions and its recently released Firebird browser has won the acclaim of reviewers.

Chat/Instant Messaging

Gaim 0.60
www.sourceforge.net
Linux/Windows

Gaim is an all-in-one instant messaging (IM) client that resembles AOL’s Instant Messenger. Gaim lets you use AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, IRC, Jabber, Napster, Zephyr, and Gadu-Gadu, all at once. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with AOL, Yahoo, MSN or Napster. The latest release has a ton of new features and an almost completely rewritten GUI and works on Linux as well as Windows.

Database

MySQL
www.mysql.org

MySQL is a popular open-source database. Marten Mikos, CEO of MySQL AB says that MySQL is perfect for the Web. “Fundamentally, what Web services or XML or both change is that suddenly you need low latency data storages. You need data storages that are small, fast and where the connect times are very short, where you can get it up and running weekly, where it’s not like a steam engine that you have to heat for three hours before it starts working, like some of the big databases might be. You need those instantly accessible databases. I think MySQL has an edge because we have always designed the database to be very good at economising memory for connections and memory for opening and closing. We have no extra fluff there,” he explains.

File and Print Servers

Samba
www.samba.org

Samba is an open source/free software suite that provides seamless file and print services to Windows NT networks or as a peer-to-peer system. Samba is freely available under the GNU General Public License.

ERP and CRM

Compiere ERP and CRM
www.compiere.org
Windows/Linux, GNOME & KDE

One of the most active projects on Sourceforge.net, Compiere provides a Tier-1 ERP solution with fully integrated CRM solution to small and medium enterprises worldwide. Compiere is a popular open-source business solution with more than 450,000 downloads. Compiere features:

• Redesigned import product, business partner, chart of accounts, financial report structure
• Resource management definition and schedule resources
• Expense & time reporting enter times (e.g. for a business partner or project) and expenses
  • Create customer orders from expense reports
  • Create invoices to reimburse employees and vendors
• Financial reporting import, financial report structure
  • Define and create financial reports
  • Display/print statement of accounts
• Customer Asset Management: Create/update a customer asset to track status of sold products (e.g. version, guarantee status, etc.)
• Print invoices in batch and create/send PDF invoices.