For all you sysadmins who are still trying to talk management into deploying more open source software - here's your ammunition. "The Practical Manager's Guide to Open Source" by Maria Winslow will open their eyes to the real value of open source software and help you make your case.


This clear and concise book helps technical managers (read: less technical than you) understand what to do with open source in a typical small to mid-sized IT environment. Written by a contributing editor at LinuxWorld Magazine, this book speaks the language of management and addresses concerns that may still be holding them back on open source deployments.


"The Practical Manager's Guide to Open Source" starts out with an explanation of the benefits of open source from a practical, manager-friendly point of view, followed by case studies of successful open source deployments in a range of settings. Winslow provides a simple methodology for surveying any IT environment for those areas where a migration to open source will make the most sense. It's practical advice that can be used to conduct an assessment report. She then shows you how to attach the numbers to those recommendations and calculate the return on investment. It may sound boring, but nothing says "approve this project" like evidence that a lot of money will be saved. Downloadable worksheets are provided that walk you through the process and supply the framework for doing your own calculations. You don't have to be an accountant to generate your own report that will impress management.


Listings of recommended open source projects are also included, along with the kind of information managers will want to know (who's behind the project, awards they may have won, where to get commercial support). The listings are divided into server-side, desktop, and custom application
development. Instead of a complete listing of open source projects, Winslow presents only those used widely in production settings with good success.


If you are still trying to convince management that open source is a good idea, you need this book.

John Terpstra, Samba-Team member, author, journalist, and business mentor