Frequently Asked Questions
You are bound to have a whole range of questions; here, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions.Notice: Undefined variable: tzoffset in /home/pncadmin/public_html/modules/mod_accordian_frontpage_core/helper.php on line 112
Will Open Source work with my legacy systems?
Yes. Part of the ethos of Open Source software is to allow connectivity with other platforms. You can gain the benefits of Open Source whilst retaining and interfacing with your legacy systems.
Who else is using Open Source?
Hundreds of thousands of businesses around the world. And this community is growing fast, particularly following recent comments by President Obama who wants his Government departments to look to open source for flexibility and cost effective solutions.
Is Open Source secure?
Yes. Almost every website in the world (including this one) runs on an Open Source operating system and/or web server software. Encryption for data files, emails, applications and websites (eg: the 'https' padlock on e-commerce sites) can be achieved with Open Source. And with a huge community spotting and fixing security holes, you can be sure that a good Open Source solution will be more secure than any commercial software application.
Do I have to share my software? [Urban Myth alert!]
No. This myth has been around as long as open source itself! If you want to contribute back to the Open Source community and help with the development of a programming language or product, you can share the methods you've used - but you don't have to and you're not legally obliged to. So, unless you decide otherwise, any commercially-sensitive application you develop with PNC will be your own property, your own technology and private for you alone.
Is Open Source as good as Microsoft / Oracle / etc?
In terms of power, speed and features - absolutely yes. In some obscure circumstances you might find some limitations but for the vast majority of businesses and business applications, you can join the growing number of Open Source users. Other differences? You don't get a fancy box with the software.
Open Source is free so what do I pay for?
Whenever you use PNC, you don't pay for software. You pay for our expertise in developing applications using Open Source tools. No matter what language you develop in, you will always need to pay for a programmer, potentially a designer, a user-experience expert, and, a project manager. But if you use proprietary software (from, say, Microsoft or Oracle), you will pay for the software development environment itself and licence fees to run the software you've developed. With Open Source, you pay for the people not the software. And if you want to re-use a module or part of an application, you can - and there are no licence fees.
What is Open Source?
Open Source describes a type of software that has been published with a special licence that allows developers and users to work with the software without paying royalty or licence fees. It almost always also means that you receive the full source code (the original programming instructions) and so can modify and improve the software in any way you want. The opposite is, for example, Word from Microsoft - when you buy the software, it is closed so that you cannot modify the software code to work in a different way. The great advantage of Open Source is that it allows developers around the world to work with a piece of software and, as a team, improve and modify it. It also means you can get a project up and running very quickly and cost-effectively. For example, to create this website we based it on an Open Source content management system. This meant we could publish our site quickly and efficiently but could also tailor it to our needs. And, except for our project management and programming time, the software cost us nothing.
Open Source News
Open source excels on IT expectations
Open source has once again excelled against...
Open source has once again excelled against...
Harnessing Open Source: Social Media and the CIA
The CIA’s investment arm recently bought a...
The CIA’s investment arm recently bought a...
Microsoft war against open source is over
For years, the battle between the open source...
For years, the battle between the open source...
Open letter to EU: Approve Oracle-Sun MySQL deal
As the European Commission continues to evaluate...
As the European Commission continues to evaluate...
Open Source at the London Stock Exchange
The LSE is not just moving from one application...
The LSE is not just moving from one application...