[Fsfe-uk] QnetiQ study

[Tom Coady]

I assume many of you have seen 
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1000435 , a pdf of the 
conclusions of a study commissioned to evaluate OSS in government 
procurement. My eyesight is not too good today (cataracts will be 
removed soon hopefully) so I have not gone through the whole 76 pages 
but the conclusions on page 32 show what we are up against, albeit of a 
completely FUDish nature:

The following conclusions are drawn from a review by the analysis team 
of the findings of the case
study organisation implementations, as detailed in the completed 
questionnaires and documented in
the case study reports included in the Appendices (A-D).
1. The OSS implementation arena we concentrated on in these case studies 
(desktop software) is
immature, and this immaturity affected the size and scale of 
implementations that were included
in this study. Such a small study set has had an impact upon the 
conclusions that can be drawn,
and therefore our conclusions should be seen as indicative only.
2. The 'closed-shop' nature of the OSS community represented a barrier 
to the independent uptake
of OSS solutions. User perception was the main factor here, with little 
quantifiable evidence to
support it. However, the result was that implementation assistance was 
widely used, typically in
the form of contractors and consultants.
3. There is no single consistent implementation control and management 
methodology being
operated by the case studies included in this report. Each operated 
their own methodology,
typically based around the experience of those taking management control 
of the
implementation.
4. None of the case study organisations knew of a recognised 
implementation methodology that
they could use.
5. The independent methodologies operated all contain, to a lesser or 
greater extent, characteristics
of a formal methodology. However, they are all also missing some of the 
characteristics of a
formal methodology, and these omissions led to a lack of recognised 
control of the
implementations.
6. Lessons can be learnt from the good and bad experiences of the case 
studies, and these have been
drawn together to create the list of proposed methodology 
characteristics shown.
7. A number of the characteristics of the OSS implementations reviewed 
are consistent with the
characteristics that would be evident in any other software 
implementation. The maturity of OSS
appears to be such that implementation methodologies associated with it 
have matured
accordingly. The 'black magic' aspect of open source implementations has 
all but disappeared.
8. Further case studies should be undertaken to generate 
implementation-type specific control and
management methodologies.