{"id":35974,"date":"2019-10-31T22:08:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/cern-perehodit-na-otkrytoe-po-pochemu\/"},"modified":"2019-10-31T22:08:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:08:54","slug":"cern-perehodit-na-otkrytoe-po-pochemu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/administrirovanie\/cern-perehodit-na-otkrytoe-po-pochemu","title":{"rendered":"CERN Moves to Open Source Software \u2014 Why?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

The organization is rejecting Microsoft software and other commercial products. We discuss the reasons and highlight other companies making the switch to open source software.<\/p>\n

\"CERN<\/a><\/noindex><\/a><\/noindex>
\nPhoto - Devon Rogers<\/a><\/noindex> - Unsplash<\/i><\/p>\n

Their Reasons<\/h2>\n

\nFor the past 20 years, CERN has utilized Microsoft products \u2014 operating system, cloud platform, Office suites, Skype, and more. However, the IT company denied the lab the status of an 'academic organization', which previously allowed for discounts on software licenses.<\/p>\n

To be fair, from a formal standpoint, CERN is indeed not an academic organization. The research laboratory does not confer academic degrees. Additionally, most of the scientists working on projects are officially employed by various universities worldwide.<\/p>\n

Under the new agreement, the cost of Microsoft packages is calculated based on the number of users. For a large non-profit organization like CERN, this new calculation method resulted in an unmanageable sum. The cost of Microsoft applications for CERN has increased<\/a><\/noindex> tenfold.<\/p>\n

To address the issue, CERN's information department launched the Microsoft Alternatives Project, or MAlt. Despite the name, the goal is to move away from all commercial software solutions, not just those of the IT giant. The full list of applications planned for replacement is currently unknown. However, the first priority at CERN will be to find alternatives for email and Skype services.<\/p>\n

CERN representatives promise to share more details in mid-September. Progress can be tracked on the project website.<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

Why Open Source<\/h2>\n

\nBy transitioning to open source software, CERN aims to avoid vendor lock-in and gain full control over the data collected. There is a lot of data \u2014 for instance, three years ago CERN released into the public domain<\/a><\/noindex> 300 TB of data generated by the Large Hadron Collider.<\/p>\n

CERN already has experience with open source \u2014 some services for the LHC have been developed by the lab's engineers. The organization is also actively involved in the development of the open-source ecosystem. It has long supported a cloud platform for IaaS \u2014 OpenStack.<\/p>\n

Until 2015, CERN engineers collaborated with specialists from Fermilab on<\/a><\/noindex> developing its own Linux distribution \u2014 Scientific Linux<\/a><\/noindex>. It was a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Later, the laboratory switched to CentOS, and Fermilab discontinued its distribution development in May of this year.<\/p>\n

Among the recent open-source projects at CERN, one can highlight the re-release<\/a><\/noindex> of the very first browser WorldWideWeb<\/a><\/noindex>. It was created by Tim Berners-Lee back in 1990. At that time, he was working on the NeXTSTEP platform and it was developed using Interface Builder. Most of the information was displayed in text format, but there were images as well.<\/p>\n

The browser emulator is available online<\/a><\/noindex>. The source code can be found in the repository on GitHub<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nCERN is also involved in open hardware. Back in 2011, the organization launched<\/a><\/noindex> the Open Source Hardware initiative and continues to support the repository Open Hardware Repository<\/a><\/noindex>. In it, enthusiasts can follow the organization's developments and participate in them.<\/p>\n

\"CERN
\nPhoto - Samuel Zeller<\/a><\/noindex> - Unsplash<\/i><\/p>\n

An example of a project could be White Rabbit<\/a><\/noindex>. Its participants are creating a switch for synchronizing data transmitted in complex Ethernet networks. The system supports operation with thousands of nodes and can transmit data with high accuracy over a 10 km long fiber optic. The project is actively updated and is used by large European research laboratories.<\/p>\n

Who else is transitioning to open software<\/h2>\n

\nAt the beginning of the year, several major telecommunications providers \u2014 AT&T, Verizon, China Mobile, and DTK \u2014 reported actively working with open-source software. They are part of the LF Networking<\/a><\/noindex>foundation, which focuses on the development and promotion of network projects.<\/p>\n

For example, AT&T introduced its system for working with virtual networks, ONAP. It is gradually being implemented by other foundation members. At the end of March, Ericsson showed a solution<\/a><\/noindex> based on ONAP that allows segmenting networks at the push of a button. It is expected that open solutions will help<\/a><\/noindex> mobile operators with the rollout of next-generation mobile networks.<\/p>\n

Some universities in the UK are also transitioning to open software. Half of the universities in the country use<\/a><\/noindex> open source solutions, including The Open University<\/a><\/noindex>. Its educational processes are built on the Moodle platform<\/a><\/noindex> \u2014 a web application that provides the ability to create websites for online learning.<\/p>\n

Gradually, an increasing number of educational institutions are beginning to use the platform. Community members are convinced that soon most universities in the country will connect to it.<\/p>\n

\nWe at ITGLOBAL.COM<\/a><\/noindex>\u00a0provide private and hybrid cloud services. Here are some materials on the topic from our corporate blog:<\/p>\n