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January 5, 2020

BIC'2003 Issues of Developing Web-Based Systems Using Open Source Software. Ying Wah Teh and Abu Bakar Zaitun tehyw@.um.edu.my, zab@um.edu.my University of Malaya Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology. January 5, 2020. 1. Contents. Introduction

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January 5, 2020

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  1. BIC'2003 Issues of Developing Web-Based Systems Using Open Source Software Ying Wah Teh and Abu Bakar Zaitun tehyw@.um.edu.my, zab@um.edu.my University of Malaya Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology January 5, 2020 1

  2. Contents Introduction Center for Information Technology (CIT) Motivation Open Source Software Web-based Systems Problems Encountered Apache and Linux in Security Issues Guidelines for securing Apache web server PHP and MySql in Development Issues Lack of Expertise and Lack of In-house Skills Lack of Documentation Lack of Vendor Support  Lack of Integrated Development Environment Lack of Component Based Approach Conclusion               January 5, 2020 2

  3. Introduction  University of Malaya started off with a student population of 320 and the number of full-time students has now reached 18,000 with 2238 lecturers and 4,699 supporting staff. UM offers courses ranging from pre-University to Ph.D.  The University’s administrative and educational activities are becoming more and more supported by computerised information systems. Starting with students registration system, to human resource management to inventory system and to Library management system, computerisation is very much in place. January 5, 2020 3

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  5. Center for Information Technology (CIT)  It consists of three units: Network Services Unit, Maintenance Unit and Systems Development and Planning Unit.  With only 30 Systems analyst, 27 programmers and 7 technicians, the CIT has to maintain the Student Information Systems, E-Procurement System, Human Resource Information System, Financial Information System, UMmail systems, Inventory System and the Multimedia Course-online System. January 5, 2020 5

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  7. Motivation  Some of the systems (Student Information System and Financial System) in the University have been outsourced to software consultants.  The amount spent on outsourcing these systems have reached more than RM2 million and the user satisfaction is not as desirable.  Looking at the high cost of running the center and the ever changing and ever growing needs of computerisation, the CIT is now seriously considering Open Source development. Software (OSS) January 5, 2020 7

  8. Open Source Software  software with its source code available that may be used, copied, and distributed with or without modifications.  Emacs, GNU toolset, Apache , Sendmail and Linux. January 5, 2020 8

  9. Web-based Systems  With the explosive growth of Internet users, the increase in confidence of e-commerce applications, the ease of information seeking and retrieval offered by the Internet, web- based information is getting to be more and more widely used.  Not only are organisations developing new web-based systems, they are even converting existing and legacy system to be web-based. January 5, 2020 9

  10. Problems Encountered  starts with OSS in the university’s mail system, and now it is moving toward developing e-procurement.  There are 8 members in the team to develop and maintain the system.  Apache and Linux in Security Issues  PHP and MySql in Development Issues January 5, 2020 10

  11. Apache and Linux in Security Issues  Security issues or threats are commonly faced by Apache web server and Linux operating system are virus infection and attacking of crackers .  When there are virus outbreaks, the administrators from CIT based on the patches release from the Apache and Linux user group web site to update the version of Apache web server and Linux operating system. January 5, 2020 11

  12. Guidelines for securing Apache web server Obtaining as secure version of Apache as possible Securing the underlying operating system Ensuring that vulnerabilities are patched Running only the features and services that you genuinely need Configuring your server correctly Writing common gateway interface (CGI) scripts properly Most of administrators are able to handle the guideline number 1, 2 and 3 There are lack of expertise in handling the guideline number 4, 5 and 6. CIT shuts down mail server for one hour for maintaining purpose every Friday. To provide 24 hours per day non-stop service is the vital issue to be dealt in E-Commerce environment. January 5, 2020 12

  13. PHP and MySql in Development Issues  The major problems facing by using PHP and MySql in development of Web-based systems are lack of expertise , lack of vendor support , lack of in-house skills, lack of documentation, lack of integrated development environment (IDE) and lack of component-based approach. January 5, 2020 13

  14. Lack of Expertise and Lack of In- house Skills  Open languages/software and interfaces. various experts in the area of design, software, hardware, database and communications. source software used different It requires  Personnel resources will be an important issue in PHP programming and MySql database areas.  The oversea consultants will train local IT personnel to acquire PHP and MySql knowledge. January 5, 2020 14

  15. Lack of Documentation  One of issues preventing development of secure open source software is the complexity of code in addition to a lack of documentation which has made it difficult for casual users to understand the code well enough to give a proper review.  The problem of poor documentation can be solved with a disciplined software development process. January 5, 2020 15

  16. Lack of Vendor Support  When the users encounter a problem while using these OSS, the first and almost automatic reaction is to look for solutions and getting information from the web.  The number of reference materials on the web are sometimes not in English. There active OSS users websites in Japanese, Russian and French.  It is recommended to have tools to convert non- English materials into English. January 5, 2020 16

  17. Lack of Integrated Development Environment (IDE)  Most of PHP developers claimed that there is lack of IDE in PHP programming environment, which will cause the slowing down of the development process of applications.  PHPEd Advantage has created IDE environment for PHP developers. If you are a Java developer, it is recommended to use either Eclipse (IBM-sponsored integrated development environment) or NetBeans IDE (Sun Microsystems-sponsored integrated development environment ). January 5, 2020 17

  18. Lack of Component Based Approach  PHP is a page-based web application rather than component-based application. The advantage of the page-based web application is that it is easier to develop and deploy dynamic sites with page-based scripting. The disadvantage of the page-based web application is the unmaintainable code.  It is therefore recommended to use Enterprise JavaBeans [17] , CORBA [18], or .NET to develop component based web application January 5, 2020 18

  19. Conclusion  To address the problem of lack of vendor support or lack of assistance in developing systems using OSS, Malaysia should set up its own OSS incubator group.  Developers using OSS in the country should get together and form their own support group.  From this platform courses related to OSS utilisation can be organised, software tools and expertise can be shared and eventually makes development using OSS a much more rewarding experience. January 5, 2020 19

  20. Thank You Question and Answer ? tehyw@um.edu.my January 5, 2020 20

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