Open Source and Free Software

Open Source and Free Software
Kindly discuss on the following:
1. Describe the basic concepts of open source software (OSS) and free software
(FS).
- The concept of "free software" was developed by Richard Stallman in the 1980s. The
focus is on what the recipient of software is permitted to do with the software: "Roughly,
it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and
improve the software."
"Open source" focuses on the practical consequences enabled by these licenses:

surprisingly effective collaboration on software development. Free software came first.
Later, it became apparent that free software was leading to remarkable collaboration
dynamics. In 1997, Eric Raymond's seminal essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar"
focused attention on the implications that free software has for software development
methodology.
2. Describe the differences between open source software, free software, and
proprietary software, particularly in respect of licensing.
- Software Licenses
Software applications require a software license in order to run. A software license is a

legal instrument that governs how the software can be used and distributed. When you
download or install software, you are asked to agree to the terms of a license. If you are
like most computer users, you probably don't read the entire license in any details.
Software is generally copyright protected, unless it is specifically made available in the

public domain. A typical license grants a user permission to use one or more copies of
the software without copyright infringement.
- Proprietary Software Licenses
Proprietary software consists of software that is licensed by the copyright holder under
very specific conditions. In general, you can use the software, but you are not allowed to
modify the software or distribute it to others.
The original source code for the software is not available, which means you can't see
the actual code written by the programmers. Proprietary software is, therefore, also
referred to as closed-source software. This is done on purpose to protect the intellectual
property invested in software development. If the source code were released, even with
copyright restrictions, competitors could benefit from using this code.
- Free and Open-Source Software
Open-source software, as the name suggests, is software for which the source code is
released. This means that users can look at exactly how the software was created using
one or more programming languages. This is done on purpose so that anyone can
benefit from using the code. A typical license for open-source software gives users the
right to modify and distribute the software.
Open-source software is typically free to use, which has led to the use of the term free
and open-source software, or FOSS. This acronym is widely used, but many people use
'FOSS' and 'open-source software' interchangeably.
Open-source software is often developed in a collaborative manner, where many users

contribute to ongoing improvements. Typically, a user community maintains a website
where the latest version of the software can be obtained and where users can share
ideas on how to use and improve the software.
The license for most open-source software uses what some have called copyleft. This is
a play on the word 'copyright.' To understand what this means, it is worth considering
how open-source software could be misused by someone. Consider that anybody can
download, modify and distribute open-source software. What would stop a company
from creating its own version of the software and then start selling it? That is where
copyleft comes in. The license for open-source software specifically states that a user is
not allowed to put restrictions on its use or distribution. So, by agreeing to the license,
you can't start selling the software later.
Copyleft uses copyright law to make open-source software freely available to be

modified, requiring that all modified and extended versions are to be free as well. The
most widely used example of a copyleft license is the GNU Public License, or GPL. So,
when you look at software and you see that the license is GPL, this means the software
is open source.
3. Discuss why an understanding of open source and free software is important

in a healthcare context, in particular where a choice between proprietary and
open source software or free software is being considered.
- Recognition of the improvements in patient safety, quality of patient care, and

efficiency that health care information systems have the potential to bring has led to
significant investment. Globally the sale of health care information systems now
represents a multibillion-dollar industry. As policy makers, health care professionals,
and patients, we have a responsibility to maximize the return on this investment. To this
end we analyze alternative licensing and software development models, as well as the
role of standards. We describe how licensing affects development. We argue for the
superiority of open source licensing to promote safer, more effective health care
information systems. We claim that open source licensing in health care information
systems is essential to rational procurement strategy.
4. Describe some of the open source and free software applications currently
available, both healthcare-specific and for general office/productivity use.
- Libre Office
- GIMP
- VLC Media Player
- Shotcut
- Audacity
- Mozilla Firefox
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- KeePass Password Safe
- FileZilla
- Linux
5. Introduce some of the organizations and resources available to assist the

nurse interested in exploring the potential of open source software.
- Public health and biosurveillance
Epi Info is public domain statistical software for epidemiology developed by Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler is a tool, originally developed at IBM Research,

for modelings and visualizing the spread of infectious diseases. It is maintained by the
Eclipse Foundation and available under terms of the Eclipse Public License.
Electronic records and medical practice management
Health system management
iHRIS is an integrated Human Resource Information System developed by IntraHealth

International under USAID-funded CapacityPlus project and deployed in more than 20
countries in the world.[32] iHRIS is distributed under the GNU GPL.
Disease management
Breathing Games is a series of research-backed, co-created games to prevent,

diagnose and treat chronic respiratory diseases. They are released under the Peer
Production licence.
6. Create and develop an example of OSS.
7. Describe the organization of health databases.
- The Concept of HDOs. The committee chose the phrase health database organization
(HDO) to refer to entities that have access to (and possibly control of) databases and
that have as their chief mission the public release of data and of results of analyses
done on the databases under their control.
8. Use Boolean Logic to form query conditions.
- Boolean Logic is a form of algebra which is centered around three simple words
known as Boolean Operators: “Or,” “And,” and “Not”. At the heart of Boolean Logic is
the idea that all values are either true or false. Within the Lotame platform, the use of
Boolean Logic allows for the creation of more complex audience definitions, allowing for
audiences to be built to a very specific set of definitions. This article explores the uses
of individual Boolean operators and how they relate to building audiences.
9. Understand methods for querying and reporting from databases (VistA FileMan,
SQL).
- In organizations that operate without a data warehouse or separate analytical

database for reporting, the only source of the latest and up-to-date data may be in the
live production database. When querying a production database, optimization is key. An
inefficient query may pose a burden on the production database’s resources, and cause
slow performance or loss of service for other users if the query contains errors. Hence it
is important to optimize your queries for minimum impact on the database’s
performance.
1. Define business requirements before beginning
2. Define SELECT fields instead of SELECT
3. Select more fields to avoid SELECT DISTINCT
4. Create joins with INNER JOIN rather than WHERE

5. Use WHERE instead of HAVING to define filters
6. Use wildcards at the end of a phrase only
7. Use LIMIT to sample query results
8. Run analytical queries during off-peak times
References:
https://opensource.com/article/17/11/open-source-or-free-software
https://study.com/academy/lesson/software-licensing-proprietary-and-free-and-open-
source-licenses.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3221346/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sisense.com/blog/8-ways-fine-tune-sql-queries-
production-databases/%3famp
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_health_software

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Open Source and Free Software

Kindly discuss on the following:

"Open source" focuses on the practical consequences enabled by these licenses:

Software applications require a software license in order to run. A software license is a

Software is generally copyright protected, unless it is specifically made available in the

- Proprietary Software Licenses

Open-source software is often developed in a collaborative manner, where many users

Copyleft uses copyright law to make open-source software freely available to be

3. Discuss why an understanding of open source and free software is important

- Recognition of the improvements in patient safety, quality of patient care, and

- VLC Media Player

- KeePass Password Safe

5. Introduce some of the organizations and resources available to assist the

- Public health and biosurveillance

Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler is a tool, originally developed at IBM Research,

Electronic records and medical practice management

Health system management

iHRIS is an integrated Human Resource Information System developed by IntraHealth

Breathing Games is a series of research-backed, co-created games to prevent,

6. Create and develop an example of OSS.

7. Describe the organization of health databases.

8. Use Boolean Logic to form query conditions.

- In organizations that operate without a data warehouse or separate analytical

1. Define business requirements before beginning

2. Define SELECT fields instead of SELECT

3. Select more fields to avoid SELECT DISTINCT

4. Create joins with INNER JOIN rather than WHERE

6. Use wildcards at the end of a phrase only

7. Use LIMIT to sample query results

8. Run analytical queries during off-peak times

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