{ "id": "2001-novemberdecember-affordable-car", "slug": "2001-novemberdecember-affordable-car", "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2001-novemberdecember-affordable-car.html", "year": 2001, "month": "November/December", "monthNum": 11, "headline": "Affordable CAR", "kicker": "SOFTWARE", "author_name": "Aron Pilhofer", "author_title": "Director", "affiliation": "News Journal", "summary": "A journalist discovers open source software like MySQL, Linux, and Apache as cost-effective alternatives to expensive commercial databases and applications for computer-assisted reporting projects. The article explains what open source software is and how it enabled the newsroom to build powerful data analysis tools at zero cost.", "keywords": [ "database", "open-source", "newsroom" ], "topics": [ "Investigative Methods", "Technology", "Data & Databases" ], "technologies": [ "MySQL", "Access", "SQL Server", "Oracle", "Linux", "Apache", "PHP", "CD-ROM", "Internet" ], "full_text": "I was well into a major campaign finance project last year when I realized I had a problem. I needed to analyze a database of two million records, and I knew that was a job I could not coax Microsoft Access into handling.\n\nI needed a high-octane database manager that wouldn't break the News Journal's modest CAR budget. That ruled out SQL Server, Oracle and every other commercial database application I could think of.\n\nAfter a few days of searching for a workaround, a colleague suggested I look into something called open source software. I had heard the term before, but assumed it meant just another flavor of low-end freeware or shareware.\n\nI needed a high-octane database manager that wouldn't break the News Journal's modest CAR budget.\n\nI was skeptical, but even more desperate, so I gave it a shot. An hour after downloading and installing a database application called MySQL, I knew how misplaced my concern was. MySQL was not only the answer to my specific problem, but I was able to find other open source applications that allowed me to extend my newsroom's CAR program well beyond what I thought was possible -- or affordable.\n\nBy the time I left the News Journal in June, reporters could search campaign finance records or voting records using our internal intranet, or, those with more advanced CAR skills could connect to any database in our library using Access as a graphical user interface. The tools we used were all open source: Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL. The cost to the organization was zero.\n\nNo matter the size of your newsroom or budget, open source software may be worth a look for you too.\n\nWhat is it?\n\nOpen source software is often confused with freeware or shareware, but it is neither. It is a radical departure from traditional methods of developing and distributing software.\n\nIn practice, open source means just what it implies: The source code - or lines of instructions that tell the computer what to do - is available for anyone to read, modify and redistribute. But there is a catch: Everyone must play by the same rules. Anything based on an open source application must itself be open sourced.\n\nThe open source license ensures that enhancements, fixes or other changes are freely available to everyone and offers incentive for collaboration. Linux, probably the best-known open source project, involves thousands of programmers worldwide. (For more information, start with the Open Source Initiative web site, www.opensource.org).\n\nThe approach has been remarkably effective, much to the chagrin of corporations like Microsoft (which just launched a public relations blitz to discredit open source software). Linux has steadily increased in popularity, and was the operating system of choice on about 30 percent of all servers sold in the U.S. last year.\n\nApache is the Web server application running about 60 percent of all Web sites on the Internet - ironically, even a few owned by Microsoft. And MySQL is becoming one of the most popular database servers for mid- to large-scale Web sites, including Yahoo Financial, slashdot.org and NASA.\n\nOpen source: the good\n\nCost: Open source software is almost always free for non-commercial uses and usually can be downloaded straight off the Internet ready to install or purchased on CD-ROM for about the price of the media and shipping.\n\nQuality: Because so many developers are working on a project at one time, serious programming bugs are rare and are usually fixed almost as quickly as they are found. Enhancements are added remarkably quickly as well. At present, for example, Linux is the first and only operating system that supports Intel's newest generation microprocessors.\n\nNo matter the size of your newsroom or budget, open source software may be worth a look for you too.\n\nCross-platform compatibility: Open source developers have no incentive to \"lock\" users into a particular operating system or platform in fact, just the opposite. MySQL, for example, runs on 11 different hardware/operating system configurations, including Windows and Macintosh. That makes porting data or code from one platform to another virtually painless.\n\nSpeed: Open source software does not suffer from performance-killing \"feature bloat\" that plagues so much proprietary software. Enhancements are added only when needed, and with a premium placed on performance.\n\nOpen source: the bad\n\nDocumentation: Great programmers rarely make great technical writers, and it shows. The larger projects (including those mentioned here) all are extremely well documented, but that is not true across the board. Patience is a must.\n\nLearning curve: Much of the software useful for CAR is designed for the enterprise-level applications, and not targeted at desktop users or novices. Do not expect to always find a user-friendly interface, a manual free of highly technical compuspeak or point-and-click simplicity. Did I mention patience?\n\nSupport: Official support is nonexistent. The software is usually distributed as-is, without warranty or bundled support. However, there is almost always an active community of users, who are happy to help solve problems that crop up. There are also third-party vendors that offer support packages at a price.\n\nThe \"L\" word: Linux is the project that gave real momentum to the open source movement, and remains the operating system of choice for most developers. Porting applications to Windows or Macintosh is a recent phenomenon. Most ports I have tried run great in Windows, although they are sometimes more stable and faster under Linux. Bottom line: You may have to learn to love the penguin.\n\nWhat's out there?\n\nPlenty, and I am finding more every day. The best repository of open source applications is sourceforge.net. Here are a few I have found useful over the past year:\n\nMySQL: One of the fastest database managers and servers available, period. It is optimized to serve data for Web applications, but MySQL can function as a heavy-duty database manager for desktop use. No built-in GUI, but Access (or any ODBC-compliant database manager) can be used as one. Easy to install on Windows or Linux and great documentation. Web site: www.mysql.com\n\nPostgreSQL: Another high-end database server. It isn't as fast as MySQL but it does support many more features, including views and subqueries. It is not nearly as easy to install under Windows, however, and there is no Macintosh version I am aware of. Web site: www.postgresql.org\n\nMapserver: An open source application to build Web applications using GIS, similar to ArcIMS, but without the hefty price tag. Runs under Windows as well as Linux. Check the Gallery section of the Web site for examples of Mapserver in action. Web site: mapserver.gis.umn.edu\n\nPHP: A scripting language similar to Active Server Pages, but faster and much more flexible. PHP scripts will run unchanged on just about any platform, and has built-in support for nearly every database manager on the market, including Oracle and SQL Server. Web site: www.php.net\n\nFour more\n\nPython: A simple, yet powerful, programming language that is ideal for novice programmers or those who need programs that run on many different platforms. Python applications will run under Linux, Windows, the Macintosh OS, OS/2 and a number of other operating systems. Web site: www.python.org\n\nApache: The popular Web server application in the world, and with good reason. It is fast, secure and runs on 28 different operating system/hardware combinations. Configuration can be tricky, however. Web site: httpd.apache.org\n\nStarOffice: Sun Microsystems recently open sourced this integrated office suite, and it is available for download. The current version 5.2 is so-so, but Sun is promising big things in the upcoming 6.0 release. Web site: www.sun.com/products/staroffice/\n\nGnumeric: A spreadsheet application that rivals Excel feature-for-feature. Gnumeric is Linux-only right now. Web site: www.gnumeric.org\n\nAron Pilhofer can be reached by e-mail at aron@ire.org", "provenance": { "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6", "extracted_at": "2026-07-05", "verified": true }, "similar": [ { "slug": "2003-february-open-source-free-but-worth-the-cost", "score": 0.642 }, { "slug": "2004-november-building-a-no-cost-open-newsroom", "score": 0.451 }, { "slug": "2005-january-february-setting-up-stocking-your-data-warehouse", "score": 0.324 }, { "slug": "2006-march-april-simplifying-database-full-text-searches", "score": 0.257 }, { "slug": "2003-septemberoctober-new-linux-offering-great-for-serving-data", "score": 0.248 } ], "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2001-novemberdecember-affordable-car.html", "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2001-novemberdecember-affordable-car.json" }