foss in civil engineering

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1 What you should know about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as a civil engineer in 10 slides Xosé Manuel Carreira Rodríguez http://es.linkedin.com/in/carreira 1 st December, 2011

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FOSS in Civil Engineering - Presentation at Institution of Civil Engineers, Madrid by Xosé Manuel Carreira (Civil Engineer)

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Page 1: FOSS in Civil Engineering

1

What you should know about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as a civil

engineer in 10 slides

Xosé Manuel Carreira Rodríguezhttp://es.linkedin.com/in/carreira

1st December, 2011

Page 2: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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What is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)?

• FOSS: software licensed to users with these freedoms:

• to run the program for any purpose,

• to study and modify the code, and

• to freely redistribute copies of either the original or modified program without royalties.

• Original term: “Free software” (confused with no-price) . Free as a bird, not free beer.

• Antonyms: proprietary software, closed software

• Not non-commercial; FOSS is almost always commercial

Page 3: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Why would civil engineers use or create FOSS?Reasons follow from the definition

• Can evaluate in detail, lowering risk

• Can see if meets needs (security, etc.)

• Aids longevity of records,

• Gives transparency to calculations.

• Can copy repeatedly at no additional charge

• Support usually have per-use charges.

• Can share development costs with other users: no need to pay beta-testers.

• Can modify for special needs

• Even if you’re the only one who needs the modification

• Control own destiny: Freedom from vendor lock-in, vendor abandonment, conflicting vendor goals, etc. Avoids risks of depending on proprietary commercial items

• FOSS is a booming in BRICs.

Page 4: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Typical FOSS development model

Developer

Trusted

Developer

• FOSS users typically use software without paying licensing fees.

• FOSS users typically pay for training, consultancy and customisation.

• FOSS users are responsible for paying/developing new improvements and

any evaluations that they need; often cooperate with others to do so.

• Goal: Active development community (like a consortium)

Trusted

Repository

Distributor

User

Source Code →

Bug Reports

Improvements (as source code) and

evaluation results: User as Developer

Development

Community

Page 5: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Main FOSS companies

IBMUses and develops Apache Web Server and GNU Linux

Sells consultancy for FOSS solutions

HP CompaqReleases hardware and drivers totally compatible with GNU Linux

Oracle SunUses GNU Linux

Supports Java language

Supports MySQL databases

Supports Open Office

Supports the Firefox Mozilla web browser

GoogleRuns under GNU Linux and uses FOSS solutions.

Develops Android and Sketch Up partially as FOSS.

Page 6: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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A basic menu for civil engineering

USACEHEC-RAS and HEC-HMS

EPAEpanet and SWMM

A9Tech and the Open Design AllianceA9CAD, EveryDWG and Open DGN

OtherCalculiX and Elmer

Blender

Map Window GIS

Scilab , OpenOffice and Smathcad

Gimp

GhostView and PDF Creator

Page 7: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Blender + CalculiX

Blender as modeller and preprocessor

CalculiX as calculation machine

Page 8: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Map Window GIS + HEC-HMS+HEC-RAS

Page 9: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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MAP Window GIS + Epanet + SWMM

Epanet: Water transportation and distribution

SWMM: Industrial and urban dranage

Page 10: FOSS in Civil Engineering

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Ubuntu Linux + Open Office + Gimp