The Challenges of Open Source Software Alternatives

Developing an Open Source Software application is a challenge. Mainly because there are commercial alternatives that have an army of expert developers behind them, experienced supporters and wellestablished business processes in their development and promotion. Nevertheless, web-based applications, that securely handle the users’ personal data are an area of freedom and ease of use, features that make such applications very attractive. The “ease-of-use” part is very hard to achieve, for the developers and the end-users. Dependencies change often in OSS packages, so the fear that something breaks is always around the corner.If the application looks attractive, additional user requirements fall like rain. This poses a problem of continuity, maintenance and operational quality of the packages. In this paper and presentation we shall share our experience in building such a tool, using https://cern.ch/slides, as a showcase and a learning exercise. We shall describe what was available, what was missing, how it was put together, how much effort it took, and what was achieved.