An Empirical Analysis of the Business Value of Open Source Infrastructure Technologies

Organizations are increasingly interested in exploring Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) based technologies as viable alternatives to proprietary or commercial solutions, but research on the business value of such technologies is lacking. In this paper, we contribute to this important, yet understudied, topic by examining the antecedents of the business value of open source infrastructure technologies. The paper puts forward a new model for explicating the organizational benefits of these technologies. Our findings suggest that in order to realize benefits from open source infrastructure technologies, organizations should have the human and technological capacities to absorb and utilize them as well as the ability to establish, maintain, and leverage ties with the technologies’ communities of developers and users. The paper focuses on open source databases (specifically, MySQL) as an instance of open source infrastructure technology. A PLS analysis of 149 responses from organizations that have implemented MySQL revealed that absorptive capacity for the database, ties with the technology’s user/developer community-of-practice, and an open source IT infrastructure that facilitates MySQL utilization explain about 20 per cent of the business value of the open source technology. These findings should help organizations realize the numerous potential benefits of open source technologies

Open Source Geospatial Applications to support River Basin Management in Kharaa River Basin, Mongolia

An open access geoportal, developed using open source technologies, delivers a comprehensive overview of all geodata available for the Kharaa River Basin in Mongolia. The Water Quality Monitoring Database is made available in PostgreSQL/PostGIS format and embedded in the geoportal. Web maps in the Geoportal can be linked to monitoring data using interactive queries to the Water Quality Database enabling water managers to create thematic maps on demand for the development of a comprehensive river basin management plan for the Kharaa River Basin

A Comparison of Leading Database Storage Engines in Support of Online Analytical Processing in an Open Source Environment

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) has become the de facto data analysis technology used in modern decision support systems. It has experienced tremendous growth, and is among the top priorities for enterprises. Open source systems have become an effective alternative to proprietary systems in terms of cost and function. The purpose of the study was to investigate the performance of two leading database storage engines in an open source OLAP environment. Despite recent upgrades in performance features for the InnoDB database engine, the MyISAM database engine is shown to outperform the InnoDB database engine under a standard benchmark. This result was demonstrated in tests that included concurrent user sessions as well as asynchronous user sessions using data sets ranging from 6GB to 12GB. Although MyISAM outperformed InnoDB in all test performed, InnoDB provides ACID compliant transaction technologies are beneficial in a hybrid OLAP/OLTP system

Database Principles and Technologies – Based on Huawei GaussDB

This open access book contains eight chapters that deal with database technologies, including the development history of database, database fundamentals, introduction to SQL syntax, classification of SQL syntax, database security fundamentals, database development environment, database design fundamentals, and the application of Huawei’s cloud database product GaussDB database. This book can be used as a textbook for database courses in colleges and universities, and is also suitable as a reference book for the HCIA-GaussDB V1.5 certification examination. The Huawei GaussDB (for MySQL) used in the book is a Huawei cloud-based high-performance, highly applicable relational database that fully supports the syntax and functionality of the open source database MySQL. All the experiments in this book can be run on this database platform. As the world’s leading provider of ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure and smart terminals, Huawei’s products range from digital data communication, cyber security, wireless technology, data storage, cloud computing, and smart computing to artificial intelligence

Database Principles and Technologies – Based on Huawei GaussDB

This open access book contains eight chapters that deal with database technologies, including the development history of database, database fundamentals, introduction to SQL syntax, classification of SQL syntax, database security fundamentals, database development environment, database design fundamentals, and the application of Huawei’s cloud database product GaussDB database. This book can be used as a textbook for database courses in colleges and universities, and is also suitable as a reference book for the HCIA-GaussDB V1.5 certification examination. The Huawei GaussDB (for MySQL) used in the book is a Huawei cloud-based high-performance, highly applicable relational database that fully supports the syntax and functionality of the open source database MySQL. All the experiments in this book can be run on this database platform. As the world’s leading provider of ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure and smart terminals, Huawei’s products range from digital data communication, cyber security, wireless technology, data storage, cloud computing, and smart computing to artificial intelligence

Fingerprint Database Privacy Guard: an Open-source System that Secures Fingerprints with Locality Sensitive Hashing Algorithms

Fingerprint identification is one of the most accurate sources of identification, yet it is not widely used in public facilities for security concerns. Moreover, the cost of fingerprint system is inaccessible for small-budget business because of their high cost. Therefore, this study created an open-source solution to secure fingerprint samples in the database while using low-cost hardware components. Locality Sensitive Hashing Algorithms such as ORB and Image hash were compared in this study as a potential alternative to SURF. To test the design, fifteen samples were collected and stored in a database without verifying the quality of the samples. Then, thirteen other samples were read from the sensor and forty-five permutations were created from the first fifteen samples. The results showed that a low-cost system can secure fingerprint sample in a database using Open-source technologies, but the identification process needs some improvement. Also, the study showed that image hash is a good alternative to SURF when the sensors readings are a force to one position

Humanitarian Mapping within a Student Association: PoliMappers

The lack of availability and accessibility of open geospatial data, especially in developing countries is addressed by various volunteer mapping associations. PoliMappers, a chapter of the YouthMappers network and a student association of Politecnico di Milano, was established with this purpose in December 2016. PoliMappers aims to contribute data to the OpenStreetMap (OSM) database by promoting the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Hence, it focuses on creating awareness on the lack of open geospatial data and on how individuals can have an impact on contributing to open geospatial databases using FOSS. The activities of PoliMappers focus on teaching and promoting the use of such geospatial technologies to run OSM-based mapathons and mapping parties

Open Source Automation Software: Stirring Automated to Integrated Library System

The explosion of the World Wide Web; dynamic nature of information technologies, such as open source; the increase in electronic resources; and the rising expectations of library users have contributed to the changing nature of the Automated Library System (ALS) since its inception in the  1970s. These changes are reflected in the conceptual differences between the ALS and the Integrated Library System (ILS). The ALS is identified as simply a database to house and retrieve a library’s holdings while ILS is identified as robust clusters of systems involving every process and module related to library operations. This article presents a review on the evolving features of some commonly adopted Open-Source ILS Software (Koha, NewGenLib, Evergreen, PMB and OpenBiblio) which had stirred ALS to ILS, as well as justifications and barriers to the use of open source software in academic libraries. Keywords: Automation, integrated library system, library, softwar

P2P XQuery and the StreetTiVo application

In the AmbientDB project, we are building MonetDB/XQuery, an open-source XML DBMS (XDBMS) with support for distributed querying and P2P services. Our work is motivated by the hypothesis that P2P is a disruptive paradigm that should change the nature of database technology. Most of the existing distributed DBMS technologies were developed to be used in (small-scale) local-area networks (LAN). Those technologies usually assume that (i) there is a central controller and/or peers have complete knowledge of the whole system, (ii) peers are uniform and highly available, (iii) placement of data happens in a controlled way and is rarely changed and (iv) a global database schema is used. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have led the distributed DBMS research to reconsider existing technologies in such a new environment, where (i) systems have decentralized architectures, (ii) peers join or leave the network at any time, (iii) placement of data is out of the system's control and it changes frequently, (iv) each peer can have its local database schema (or no schema at all), and (v) data owned by the peers are often incomplete, overlapping and even conflicting

Towards Developing an Online Social Media-based Mobile Learning System

The advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet revolution gave rise to the several learning technologies on the web and mobile platform. During the last decade, the social media network became available for users to socialise and collaborate among peer group. Hence, The integration of e-learning and social media using mobile device as access point is to allow for learning and collaboration anytime, anywhere. This study seeks to provide learning on the social network platform for users to view the application on a mobile device and also foster collaboration among scholars. The system was developed using an open source Content Management System (CMS) Wordpress and Buddypress running on a WAMP or XAMPP server. MySQL was used as database. The usability of the System on the different mobile devices used was evaluated by identifying the usability attributes; designing a questionnaire based on those attributes and then analyzing the results with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results showed that the learning system had a good usability score on mobile device